Why does the buy estimate for a market order look higher than the current price on Pluang?

The buy estimate looks higher because Pluang deliberately calculates it using the stock's ARA price — the highest price the stock is legally allowed to reach that day — rather than the price showing on your screen. This is a worst-case figure, not a prediction of what you will pay. It exists so that enough money is set aside to cover your order even if the price jumps sharply between the moment you confirm and the moment your order reaches the exchange. In almost every case the order actually matches at a lower price, and the difference is returned to your wallet once the trade completes. Seeing a high estimate is expected behaviour, not an error and not an extra charge.

Market orders for Indonesian stocks are available in the Pluang app and on the web trading platform. The two platforms differ elsewhere: Session validity, GTC and Stop Loss / Take Profit are app-only, and web trading offers Limit orders with good-till-end-of-day validity.

A worked example:

Why Pluang does it this way:

• A market order has no price ceiling of its own — you have accepted whatever the market offers, so Pluang cannot know in advance what the order will cost.
• The exchange's daily upper limit (ARA) is the only number that is guaranteed to be enough. Reserving that amount means your order can never fail simply because too little was held.
• Reserving less would risk a rejected order in exactly the situation where speed matters most — a fast-moving stock.

What this means in practice:

• You need enough RDN balance to cover the estimate, not the eventual price. If your balance only covers the likely real cost, the order may be blocked before it is even sent.
• The estimate is not a fee, a markup, or a deposit you lose. It is your own money, held temporarily.
• The amount held is released as soon as the order completes — you do not need to request it back or contact support.

On the sell side the logic is mirrored. A market sell also shows an estimate of your proceeds rather than a guaranteed amount, for the same reason: the price is decided by the market at the moment the order matches. Treat the figure on the review screen as an indication, and the order detail after matching as the real number.

Related questions:

Q: Am I actually charged the estimated amount on a market order?
No. The estimated amount is held from your RDN as pending order balance while the order is in progress — it is reserved, not spent. Once the order matches, only the real cost is deducted and the remainder is returned. You are only ever charged for the shares you actually receive, plus the standard fees on that real transaction value.

Q: What is the ARA price and why is it used for the estimate?
ARA stands for Auto Rejection Atas, the IDX's daily upper price limit for a stock. No order can execute above it on that trading day, which makes it the absolute maximum a market buy could possibly cost. Because it is a hard ceiling set by the exchange rather than a Pluang figure, it is the safest possible basis for reserving funds.

Q: Will my order be rejected if my balance only covers the likely real price?
It may be. The check is made against the estimate, not against what the order is likely to cost, so a balance that would comfortably cover a realistic fill can still be too low to pass validation. If your order is blocked for insufficient balance despite the stock looking affordable, this is usually the reason — top up your RDN, or reduce the number of lots.

Q: How long does it take for the unused amount to come back?
The difference is returned to your wallet once the order completes and the actual price is known. There is no separate claim step and no fee for the return — it happens as part of settling the order. If an amount still appears held after the order shows as fully matched, contact Pluang Care so it can be checked.