Novig is a peer-to-peer exchange regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). When you trade on Novig, you're trading with other users, not against the house. There's no vig or juice built into our prices. Instead, Novig charges a small, transparent fee on certain trades. This page explains exactly what those fees are, when they apply, and how they're calculated.
How fees are calculated
All Novig fees use one formula:
Fee = Coefficient × Price × (1 − Price) × Number of contracts
where Price is the contract price in dollars (a contract that costs $0.50 has a price of 0.50 and pays $1.00 if it wins), and the Coefficient depends on the trade type.
Because a contract's price is also the market's implied probability of it winning, the fee scales with how uncertain the outcome is:
Fees peak at even odds. A contract at 50¢ (+100) carries the highest fee per contract.
Fees shrink toward the extremes. Heavy favorites and big longshots pay far less per contract in absolute terms.
Fees scale linearly with size. 200 contracts costs exactly twice the fee of 100 contracts at the same price.
Official fee schedule by trade type
Trade type | Maker fee | Taker fee |
Pre-game straight trades (app/web) | No fee | No fee |
Live (in-game) straight trades (app/web) | No fee | 0.03 × P × (1−P) per contract |
Parlays (app/web) | N/A — parlays can’t be quoted through the app or website | 0.10 × P × (1−P) per contract, already included in the quoted price |
Pre-game straight trades (API) | No fee | No fee |
Live (in-game) straight trades (API) | No fee | 0.03 × P × (1−P) per contract |
Parlays (API) | No fee | N/A — parlays can’t be taken through the API |
The short version
Fee-free under the fee schedule:
Maker fills: when your resting order is filled by another user, you pay no fee, no matter the market or trade type
All pre-game straight trades taken on the Novig app and website
Fees apply when:
You take a straight trade on a live (in-game) market
You take a parlay (the fee is already included in your quoted price)
Makers and takers: who pays
Every trade on Novig matches two sides: a maker, who posted an order that was resting on the order book, and a taker, whose order instantly matched against it.
Under this fee schedule, only takers pay trading fees on Novig. The maker fee is $0 across all trade types. Resting orders provide the liquidity that makes markets work, and the fee schedule reflects that.
How to know which one you are:
If your order executes immediately against an existing order, without resting on the orderbook, you're the taker on that fill.
If your order rests on the book and someone else later trades against it, you're the maker on that fill and pay no fee.
If part of your order fills immediately and the rest fills later from the book, you only pay the taker fee on the portion that is filled immediately, if taker fees apply for that market.
Fees are only charged when a trade actually executes. There is no fee for placing, modifying, or canceling an order that never fills.
Worked examples
Example 1: Live straight trade at +100 (contract price 50¢)
You take 100 contracts on a live market at 50¢. Implied probability P = 0.50.
Fee = 0.03 × 0.50 × 0.50 × 100 = $0.75
| Pre-fee | Fee Inclusive |
Cost of 100 contracts | $50.00 | $50.75 |
Payout if you win | $100.00 | $100.00 |
Profit if you win | $50.00 | $49.25 |
Effective odds | +100 | ≈ −103 |
The maker on the other side receives the full $50.00. The taker fee is added on top of the trade price, not taken out of it.
Example 2: Parlay quoted at 10.9¢ per contract (≈ +817)
You request a parlay quote and receive a price of 10.9¢ per contract. That price is all-in: it reflects a fair market price of 10.0¢ (+900) plus the parlay fee of 0.10 × 0.10 × 0.90 = 0.9¢ per contract. For 100 contracts:
| Amount |
Cost of 100 contracts | $10.90 (fee included, nothing added at checkout) |
Payout if you win | $100.00 |
Profit if you win | $89.10 |
Effective odds | ≈ +817 |
Fees across common odds
Per-contract fees at a range of prices. Straight-trade fees apply to all live (in-game) taker fills and parlay fees apply to all parlays.
Trade type | Odds | Price (P) | Fee per contract | Fee per 100 contracts | Effective odds after fee |
Live Straight | −300 | $0.7500 | $0.0056 | $0.56 | ≈ −309 |
Live Straight | +100 | $0.5000 | $0.0075 | $0.75 | ≈ −103 |
Live Straight | +300 | $0.2500 | $0.0056 | $0.56 | ≈ +291 |
Parlay | +200 | $0.3333 | $0.0222 | $2.22 | ≈ +181 |
Parlay | +400 | $0.2000 | $0.0160 | $1.60 | ≈ +363 |
Parlay | +800 | $0.1111 | $0.0099 | $0.99 | ≈ +726 |
Where you'll see fees when you trade
Straight trades: Order book prices are shown pre-fee, so the market's true price is always visible. When a fee applies, the order ticket shows a full breakdown of contract price, fee, and total cost before you confirm. You'll never pay a fee you haven't seen.
Parlays: Parlays are priced by quote. The price you’ll see in the app is the all-in price: the fee is already included, and the amount shown is exactly what you'll pay. No additional fee is added when you confirm.
Frequently asked questions
Do fees come out of my winnings? No. Trading fees are added to the cost of entering a trade, and under the current schedule, only on the taker's side. Winning contracts always pay the full $1.00 per contract.
Why does the fee depend on the price? The formula ties the fee to the uncertainty of the outcome. Contracts near even odds carry the most risk transfer per contract, so they carry the highest fee; near-certain favorites and deep longshots cost less per contract. This keeps fees proportional across every kind of market instead of charging one flat rate.
How do I avoid paying taker fees? Post limit orders. If your order rests on the book and someone else fills it, you're the maker on that fill, and maker fills carry no fee under the current schedule. Pre-game straight trades on the app are also currently fee-free even when you take.
Are API fees different from app fees? No. The formula and the 0.03 straight-trade coefficient are the same. Parlays cannot be taken via the API.
What is the rounding policy? Fees are assessed to the nearest one-hundred-thousandth of a dollar, with the midpoint rounded up.