# Trading Support

### Common Issues

#### "Why was I liquidated?"

Oracle price hit your liquidation price. Check Trade History for details.

Uses **oracle price**, not last trade price. In cross margin all positions share margin - a loss in one increases the risk for all other positions.

Liquidations on Ethereal are triggered when your account exceeds maintenance margin. See [Liquidations](/trading/perpetual-futures/liquidations.md)

#### "My TP triggered but I lost money"

TP/SL triggers on oracle price, executes at market price. 

Your TP triggered when oracle hit your target, but the fill happened at a worse price due to slippage. More common with large positions, thin liquidity, or volatile periods. Ethereal is not able to gurantee execution pricing, especially during periods of volatility.

Default slippage for TP/SL positions is 5%

#### "I can't open a position / insufficient margin"

Available Margin ≠ Total Balance.

**Available = Total − Position Margin − Order Reserves − Unrealized Losses**

Close positions to increase available margin. Unrealized losses and unrealized gains are not used in withdrawable margin as a security precaution.

#### "My limit order won't fill"

Limit orders only fill at your price or better. Market moved away from your price. Order stays open until price returns, you cancel, or it expires.

#### "I used a limit order, but I was still charged a fee"

If your limit order uses liquidity available in the orderbook, then it is a taker order.

Use "post only" if you want to gurantee your order is not matched with a maker in the book.

***

### Liquidation

#### How It Works

Liquidation triggers when account equity falls below maintenance margin.

* Uses oracle **price**, not last trade price
* Liquidation price shown when you open a position
  * Note: If you have multiple positions open, all positions (EX: BTC and ETH long) share the same margin, and can increase/decrease your liquidation price.
* Once triggered, positions are transferred to the liquidator, see [Liquidations](/trading/perpetual-futures/liquidations.md) for more info
* Details visible in Trade History

#### Cross Margin

All positions share one margin pool. If you have 3 positions, BTC, ETH and SOL, all long, they share the same margin pool - if all go down, it decreases the amount of margin available for all other positions, and increases your liquidation price.

***

### Order Execution

#### Limit Orders

Fill at your price or better, or not at all.

No partial fills unless order was partially matched before price moved.

#### Market Orders

Execute immediately at best available price. 

#### TP/SL Orders

**Trigger on oracle price. Execute as market order.**

Gap between trigger and fill is normal.

**Example: TP triggered at $100, position closed at $98**

| What Happened                 | Why                       |
| ----------------------------- | ------------------------- |
| TP triggered                  | Mark price hit $100       |
| Fill at $98                   | Market price at execution |
| Result: less profit (or loss) | Slippage                  |

**More slippage with:**

* Large positions
* Low liquidity markets
* High volatility
* Tight profit targets

**Slippage tolerance:** Market TP/SL has default tolerance. If market moves beyond this, order may not fill.

For full order mechanics: [Ethereal Docs - Order Types](https://docs.ethereal.trade/)

***

### Margin

#### Available Margin

**Available = Total Balance − Position Margin − Order Reserves − Unrealized Losses**

| Component         | What It Is                         |
| ----------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| Total Balance     | Everything in your account         |
| Position Margin   | Locked in open positions           |
| Order Reserves    | Reserved for unfilled limit orders |
| Unrealized Losses | Current losses on open positions   |

#### Freeing Up Margin

* Close or reduce positions
* Cancel open limit orders
* Unrealized losses reduce available until you close

See [Margining](/trading/perpetual-futures/margining.md)for more info

***

### Still Need Help?

Open a ticket in [Discord](https://discord.gg/etherealdex) #support with:

* Wallet address
* Transaction hash (if applicable)
* Screenshot of error
* What you were trying to do


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