Ask price, also called offer price, offer, asking price, or simply ask, is the

price A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, the price of production has a different name. If the product is a "good" in the ...

seller Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...

states they will accept. The seller may qualify the stated asking price as firm or negotiable. Firm means the seller is implying that the price is fixed and will not change. In bid and ask, the term ask price is used in contrast to the term

bid price A bid price is the highest price that a buyer (i.e., bidder) is willing to pay for some goods. It is usually referred to simply as the "bid". In bid and ask, the bid price stands in contrast to the ask price or "offer", and the difference betwe ...

. The difference between the bid price and the ask price is called the

spread Spread may refer to: Places * Spread, West Virginia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Spread'' (film), a 2009 film. * ''$pread'', a quarterly magazine by and for sex workers * "Spread", a song by OutKast from their 2003 album ''Speakerboxxx/T ...

Stock exchange

In the context of stock trading on a stock exchange, the ask price is the lowest price a seller of a stock is willing to accept for a share of that given stock. For over-the-counter stocks, the asking price is the best quoted price at which a

market maker A market maker or liquidity provider is a company or an individual that quotes both a buy and a sell price in a tradable asset held in inventory, hoping to make a profit on the ''bid–ask spread'', or ''turn.'' The benefit to the firm is that i ...

is willing to sell a stock.

Mutual funds

For

mutual fund A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV ...

s, the asking price is the net asset value plus any sales charges. It is also called asked price or offering price or ask.

Commodities

The ask price is the lowest price a seller of a commodity is willing to accept for that commodity.

Auctions

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

s the ask price is the

reservation price In economics, a reservation (or reserve) price is a limit on the price of a good or a service. On the demand side, it is the highest price that a buyer is willing to pay; on the supply side, it is the lowest price a seller is willing to acce ...

. Some auctions may not have such a price. This price is the minimum that the seller will agree to for the object being sold.

References

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