A TAKER is when you place an order at the market price that gets filled immediately, you are considered a taker and you will pay a fee for books.
A MAKER is when you place an order which is not immediately matched by an existing order, that order is placed on the order book. If another customer places an order that matches yours, your fee will be 0% and you are considered the maker.
You will pay a taker fee when you place an order that gets partially matched immediately. The remainder of the order is placed on the order book and, when matched, is considered a maker order. The fee is 0% for that part of the total order.
Example:
Let's look at the following example:
ORDER BOOK
- Peter sell 1 BTC at $100
- Claire sell 1 BTC at $90
- Dave buy 1 BTC at $95
- Helen buy 1 BTC at $85
If we add a buy order at $100, it will immediately match the order No. 1 and No. 2. We are a taker and we will pay a taker fee.
If we add a sell order at $95 or less, it will match right away the order No. 3, and we are the taker.
If we add a buy order at $91 it will not match any order at the moment, and we will be a maker and we will pay a maker fee, whether there is any (it will probably be 0).
If we add a sell order at $99 for a BTC, it will not match any order at the moment, and we will be a maker (it will probably be 0).