Buyers, sellers and brokers

Every trade has two sides: a buyer who wants to own the share, and a seller who wants to give it up. The market's job is to match them. But buyers and sellers rarely meet in person — they act through brokers.

A broker is a registered intermediary that lets you place orders on an exchange. You tell your broker what you want to buy or sell; the broker sends that order to the market and reports back what happened.

The journey of an order

1. 1Place the orderYou choose a company, a quantity and a price (or 'market' price) in your broker's app.
2. 2Broker checksThe broker verifies you have the funds or shares and passes the order to the exchange.
3. 3MatchingThe exchange's system matches your order with an opposing order — a willing buyer for a seller, or vice versa.
4. 4Trade confirmedA trade is recorded at the agreed price. Settlement then moves money one way and shares the other.

Fictional example: you want 100 shares of GreenLeaf Foods Ltd. Another investor wants to sell 100 shares. Your broker and theirs send orders to the exchange. The moment the prices agree, a trade happens — and the market reports the new price to everyone.