> What's a "quoted exchange price" if it's not the price you actually pay?
The actual price you have to pay is based on how much you want to buy and how much other people are willing to sell at what price.
People who want to buy give a "bid" price and people who want to sell give an "ask" price. Whenever there is an ask price that is lower than a bid price, a sale takes place. This results in the lowest ask price always being higher than the highest bid price. The quoted exchange price will be somewhere in between the two prices.
If you want to sell right away, the most you can get is the highest bid price on the books. If you want to buy right away, the cheapest you can get it is the lowest bid price on the books. This means that you have to pay more than the quoted exchange price to buy and receive less than the quoted exchange price to sell.
The actual price you have to pay is based on how much you want to buy and how much other people are willing to sell at what price.
People who want to buy give a "bid" price and people who want to sell give an "ask" price. Whenever there is an ask price that is lower than a bid price, a sale takes place. This results in the lowest ask price always being higher than the highest bid price. The quoted exchange price will be somewhere in between the two prices.
If you want to sell right away, the most you can get is the highest bid price on the books. If you want to buy right away, the cheapest you can get it is the lowest bid price on the books. This means that you have to pay more than the quoted exchange price to buy and receive less than the quoted exchange price to sell.