{"id":1142513,"date":"2021-10-17T15:58:27","date_gmt":"2021-10-17T12:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etoro.com\/buy-sell-and-close-position\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T10:36:40","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T07:36:40","slug":"buy-sell-and-close-position","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.etoro.com\/en-sg\/trading\/buy-sell-and-close-position\/","title":{"rendered":"Selling and closing a position: What is the difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The term \u201cselling a stock\u201d sounds pretty straight forward. And it is. However, in the investment world it can have two different meanings. On the eToro platform, we use two distinct terms in order to prevent confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Closing a trade<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>On the eToro platform, closing a trade or closing a position means that I am terminating an investment that I had previously made. For example, you had one share of EasyJet stock which is now trading at $832. If you choose to close your position this means that you are ending your investment in EasyJet stock and you will receive the $832 back to your account. When you close the position, you no longer own a share of EasyJet stock.<br>In the image below, you can see what the screen looks like when you are about to close a trade with EasyJet stock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.etoro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/buy-sell-and-close-position-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-279430 wp-image-desktop\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.etoro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/buy-sell-and-close-position-1.png 512w, https:\/\/www.etoro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/buy-sell-and-close-position-1-300x206.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/help.etoro.com\/s\/article\/how-do-i-close-a-position-web?language=en_GB\">Learn how to close a position<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Closing a trade is not only related to investments in stocks. It is connected with all types of investments of financial assets on the eToro platform. Closing a trade is synonymous with the popular phraseology of selling a stock. However, selling a stock, or any other asset, has another meaning on the eToro platform, which we will now explain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Selling an asset (aka \u201cshort selling\u201d)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSelling\u201d a financial asset, sometimes referred to as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.etoro.com\/trading\/short-selling\/\">short selling<\/a>\u201d or \u201cshorting\u201d is different from \u201cclosing a trade\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s say, you want to purchase Amazon stock or any other financial asset on the eToro platform. Here is the screen you will see:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"437\" height=\"483\" src=\"https:\/\/www.etoro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/buy-sell-and-close-position-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-279406 wp-image-desktop\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.etoro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/buy-sell-and-close-position-2.png 437w, https:\/\/www.etoro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/buy-sell-and-close-position-2-271x300.png 271w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 437px) 100vw, 437px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the top of the screen, you have the option to BUY (green circle) or SELL (red circle) the stock. You might say: how can I sell a stock I don\u2019t own? Good question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The answer is that \u201cselling\u201d refers to \u201cshort selling\u201d. This means you are opening a position where you believe that the Amazon stock will decline in value. Your position is called a Contract For Difference or CFD as can be seen in the image (blue rectangle). Here, you are not actually selling the asset, but rather entering into an agreement with eToro where your position is \u201cselling\u201d oil. In this agreement, the terms are agreed upon between you and eToro where if the asset goes down in value, you gain a certain amount of money and if it rises in value you lose a certain amount of money, all based on the amount you invest. You can learn more about selling <a href=\"https:\/\/www.etoro.com\/?p=31213\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">BUY an asset<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the image above, there is the option to SELL &#8211; which we spoke about &#8211; and also to BUY. Here \u201cbuying\u201d is synonymous with \u201clong\u201d. Buying is what it sounds like &#8211; you are purchasing the asset. For example, if you buy amazon stock, you would say \u201cI am going long on Amazon.\u201d This means that you are opening a position where you believe that the Amazon stock will rise in value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are three takeaways from this blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cClosing a trade\u201d means terminating an investment. In the laymen\u2019s terms it would be called \u201cselling\u201d a stock or a financial asset.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Selling an asset, synonymous with \u201cshort selling\u201d, means entering into a contract with a broker, or simply an investment, where you believe an asset will decline in value.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Buying an asset, labeled \u201cBUY\u201d on the eToro platform, means that you are buying an asset that you believe will rise in value.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The term \u201cselling a stock\u201d sounds pretty straight forward. And it is. However, in the investment world it can have two different meanings. On the eToro platform, we use two distinct terms in order to prevent confusion. Closing a trade On the eToro platform, closing a trade or closing a position means that I am&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":1142515,"parent":1165213,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"sticky_cta_settings":"","footnotes":""},"asset_type":[],"class_list":["post-1142513","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<title>Buy to Open vs Buy to Close Differences - eToro<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Selling and closing a position can be confusing. 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