# The bid-ask spread: the trading cost you don't see > Learn what the bid-ask spread is, how to turn it into dollars, and when it costs more than a fund's fee, using real ETF spread data. Data as of Nov 10, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night. ## The bid-ask spread: the trading cost you don't see Data as of Nov 10, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night. As of Nov 10, 2026 , the median ETF's bid-ask spread was 0.14% across 2,473 funds, so a $10,000 round trip cost about $14 . Trading Basics · Lesson 3 of 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Slide the amount to compare one round trip of spread with a year of fee. Amount (hypothetical) $10,000 On $10,000: TINY spread, one round trip $65, TINY fee, one year $58, Median ETF spread, one round trip $14, NOBL spread, one round trip $2, NOBL fee, one year $35. Hypothetical amounts. Spreads as of Nov 6, 2026; the median covers 2,473 funds. Step 1: the spread as a percentage. Over the 30 days to Nov 6, 2026 , TINY's typical spread was 0.65% . NOBL's was 0.02% . The median ETF's was 0.14% . Step 2: the spread in cents. TINY: 0.65% × $64.17 ≈ 42 ¢ a share NOBL: 0.02% × $60.67 ≈ 1 ¢ a share Step 3: a $10,000 round trip. TINY: $10,000 × 0.65% = $65 NOBL: $10,000 × 0.02% = $2 Step 4: compare it with the fee. The expense ratio is the fund's yearly fee: the percent of your money the fund keeps each year to run itself. TINY's fee is 0.58% : $58 a year on $10,000. One round trip ( $65 ) costs more than a full year of its fee. NOBL's fee is 0.35% : $35 a year. A round trip adds $2 . Step 5: trade often, and it multiplies (hypothetical). One round trip a month is 12 a year. TINY: 12 × $65 = $780 , more than 13 times its yearly fee NOBL: 12 × $2 = $24 ### The question My broker says ETF trades are free. So why does my account show a little less than I paid, the moment I buy? ### The idea - Lesson 2 introduced the bid , the ask and the spread between them. When you buy, you pay the ask; when you sell, you get the bid. So a round trip , buying and later selling, costs you the whole spread. - Nobody bills you for it, so it never shows as a fee. But it is real money, earned by the market makers : trading firms that stand ready to buy from you at the bid and sell to you at the ask. ETFIQ shows each spread as a percentage of the midpoint (the price halfway between bid and ask), so funds at different prices compare fairly. ### Worked example The 5 steps beside the drawing at the top work this through on ETFIQ data. Point at a step to light the part of the drawing it describes. The same two ETFs as lesson 2 , both near $60 on Nov 10, 2026 : NOBL (a large dividend fund) and TINY (a small nanotechnology fund). The spread is the same idea in both funds. What changes the answer is how wide it is and how often you pay it . ### The common mistake "My broker charges no commission, so trading is free." A commission is a fee your broker charges for placing the trade. Many brokers now charge none. The spread is a different cost, built into the price itself. You pay it on every trade, at every broker. In a fund like TINY, it can be bigger than everything else you pay. ### Check your understanding Pick an answer to see why. Two of three right passes the lesson. 1. A fund's bid is $30.00 and its ask is $30.06. What is its spread, as a percentage of the midpoint? A 0.02% B 0.2% C 2% D 6% Answer: B. 0.2%. the midpoint is $30.03, and $0.06 ÷ $30.03 ≈ 0.002, which is 0.2%. Not D: 6 is the spread in cents, not a percentage. 2. A fund has a 0.40% spread. You buy and later sell $5,000 of it, four times in one year. What do you pay in spread? A $5 B $20 C $40 D $80 Answer: D. $80. each round trip costs the full spread: $5,000 × 0.40% = $20, and 4 × $20 = $80. Not C: $40 counts only half the spread each time, the buy side or the sell side, not both. 3. Your broker charges $0 commission. Which is true? A Your trade costs nothing B You still pay the spread C You pay the spread only when you sell D The spread goes to the fund company Answer: B. You still pay the spread. the spread is built into the bid and the ask, whatever your broker charges. Not A: no commission is not no cost; the buy happens at the ask and the sell at the bid. ### Takeaways - Turn any spread into dollars: amount × spread is the cost of one round trip. - Check the spread beside the fee; in a thinly traded fund, one round trip can cost more than a year of fees. - The more often you trade, the more the spread matters. ### Do it on ETFIQ See your fund's spread in dollars Your fund ### Where to next --- Source: ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices. Cite: ETFIQ, The bid-ask spread: the trading cost you don't see, data as of Nov 10, 2026. https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-basics/bid-ask-spread/ Licence: https://etfiq.com/license/ Data ETFIQ computes is free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms. HTML: https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-basics/bid-ask-spread/