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Reading an options quote: which price will I actually get?

When you sell an option, the bid is the price you can count on, the ask is what you'll pay to buy it back, and the mid is a fair target that may or may not fill. The "last" price is history. Here's how to read each one, and what a wide spread costs.

Options guide · 8-minute read · Updated 2026-10-27

The short answer

An options quote shows a few prices. As a seller:

• Bid: the highest price a buyer is offering right now. Sell at the market, and this is roughly what you get.
• Ask: the lowest price a seller is asking. Buy to close at the market, and this is roughly what you pay.
• Mid: halfway between the two. A fair target for a limit order. It may not fill.
• Last: the price of the most recent trade. It could be minutes or hours old, and it's often not a price you can get now.

The gap between bid and ask is the spread. Every time you open and close, you give up part of it.

Each number, in plain words

A made-up stock, XYZ, trades at $50. Here's a quote for a 30-day $48 put (an illustration, not a trade idea).

The "last" here is $0.90, higher than the ask. That happens. The stock moved since that trade. If you based your plan on $0.90, you'd be wrong by 15 cents before you started.

Some platforms also show a mark. It's usually the mid, used to value your position. A mark isn't a price anyone offered.

Which number you'll actually get

When you sell to open:

• A market order fills at or near the bid. Fast, but you give up the most.
• A limit order at the mid often fills on liquid options, sometimes after a short wait. On thin ones, it may never fill.
• A limit between bid and mid is a common middle ground. You give up a little for a better chance to fill.

When you buy to close:

• A market order fills at or near the ask.
• A limit at the mid works the same way in reverse.

Most sellers use limit orders on options for this reason. Limit order vs market order for options and mid price and limit orders for sellers go deeper.

What a wide spread costs

The same $48 put on two made-up stocks. One has busy options, the other thin ones. The fair value (the mid) is $0.80 on both. A week later, XYZ has dipped and the mid has risen to $1.40. You decide to close.

And even when things go well, the thin option collects less. You started $30 behind the mid on the first click.

How to tell if a spread is too wide

A rough habit: compare the spread with the mid.

On the thin quote above, the spread is $0.60 on a $0.80 mid: 75%. That's a trade where the market maker takes a big slice before the stock does anything. Checking option liquidity shows other signs, like Open interest and volume.

Quotes change with the stock

An option quote is only good for the stock price it was made at. If XYZ moves 20 cents while you're typing, the bid and ask move too. On liquid options, quotes update many times a second.

So: refresh the quote right before you send an order. Check the stock price on the same screen. And don't chase. If your limit doesn't fill, step it a few cents toward the bid, not straight to it.

How this fits the wheel

In the wheel strategy you open and close many small trades. The spread is paid on every one. A few cents per trade adds up across a year, especially on cheap options where a few cents is a big share of the premium.

That's one reason many wheel sellers stick to stocks and ETFs with busy options chains. The premium you see on a thin chain isn't the premium you'll keep.

Try it today (no money needed)

1. Open the Options chain for two stocks: one well known, one small.
2. Find a put about 30 days out on each. Write down the bid, ask, mid and last.
3. Work out spread ÷ mid for both.
4. Note how far "last" is from the mid on each. Check when it traded, if your platform shows it.
5. Read how to read an options chain for the rest of the columns.

Questions