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DONUTFLIPPER

Walking the order book

READING THE RISK

3 minute read

A profit figure is a calculation. How much that calculation deserves to be trusted is a separate question, and the site answers it separately.

Confidence is not a probability

A confidence of 80 does not mean an 80% chance of profit. It is a score out of 100 for the evidence: how deep the order book is, how steady the price has been, how fresh the reading is, and whether the whole profit rests on one unusual order.

It never changes a money figure. It sits beside one and says how much weight it deserves.

75 and aboveSolidThe evidence supports the number.
50 to 74Worth checkingReal, with weaknesses worth reading before you commit.
25 to 49ThinThe headline depends on conditions that may not hold.
Below 25Do not act on thisThe site is telling you the number is not worth trading on.

The one to watch for

A very large profit with a low confidence is the classic shape of a trade that is not really there. It usually means the best price comes from one small order — if that player cancels, the price you were counting on disappears.

Delivery is its own risk

An order is a request, not a purchase. Some items fill in minutes; some barely fill at all. A trade whose ingredients nobody is selling is not a trade, however good the arithmetic looks.

Before you commit

  • Is the data live, or old enough to check in game first?
  • Does the confidence have a warning attached — and have you read it?
  • Is the profit resting on one small order at the top?
  • Can you afford a small run rather than the whole one?