If your order did not fill, or filled at a different price than you expected, it almost always comes down to liquidity, price, or timing. These are normal parts of trading in any order book market and are not platform errors.
Why didn't my order fill?
Reason | What it means |
Your limit price was not reached | The market never traded at the price you set |
Not enough liquidity at your price | There were not enough matching orders at your level |
Order priority | Orders fill based on price and time — earlier orders at the same price fill first. Yours was in the queue. |
Spread too wide | Buyers and sellers are not aligned on price |
Your order must match an existing order to fill. If no one is willing to take the other side at your price, your order stays open. Even if the market briefly touches your price, earlier orders at that level fill first.
What you can do: Adjust your limit price closer to the market, switch to a market order for immediate execution, or wait for the market to come to you. Go to Portfolio → Order History to check open order status.
Why did my price change before my order filled?
Prices on Catalyst change in real time as other traders place orders, news breaks, and sentiment shifts. A market order executes at whatever is available at the moment it runs, not the price you saw when you clicked.
If your order fills across multiple price levels, your final execution price is the weighted average of all fills. This may differ from any single price shown in the order book.
The displayed price is the best available price at that moment, not a guaranteed execution price. Use a limit order if you need to control the exact price your order fills at.