A strategy that looks profitable on a chart can look very different once every cost is subtracted. Maker and taker fees, slippage and funding payments are small on any single trade, but they compound across dozens or hundrels of trades. Understanding where these costs come from helps explain why gross results (the raw price move) and net results (what actually lands in the account) can tell two different stories.
Maker fees versus taker fees
Exchanges typically charge two different fee tiers. A maker order adds liquidity to the order book, such as a limit order sitting unfilled until someone else trades against it. A taker order removes liquidity immediately, such as a market order or a limit order that crosses the book and fills right away. Because makers help the market function, their fee is usually lower; takers typically pay more.
Example (hypothetical numbers): suppose an exchange charges 0.02% for maker orders and 0.055% for taker orders. On a position worth 10,000 USDT, opening and closing with taker orders both ways costs roughly 11 USDT in fees (0.055% × 2 × 10,000), while doing the same with maker orders costs about 4 USDT (0.02% × 2 × 10,000). That 7 USDT difference might sound trivial, but for a trader placing many similar-sized trades per month, the fee tier chosen repeatedly adds up to a meaningful share of expected profit.
Slippage: the gap between expected and filled price
Slippage is the difference between the price a trader expects when placing an order and the price actually filled, usually caused by moving markets or thin order books. Market orders are more exposed to slippage because they accept whatever price is available immediately.
Example (hypothetical numbers): imagine a trader intends to enter at 50,000 but, during a fast move, the order fills at an average of 50,045. On a 0.2 BTC-equivalent position, that 45-point gap translates into roughly 9 USDT of extra cost before the trade has even moved in either direction. In calmer markets slippage may be negligible; during high volatility or around news events it can grow substantially, and it is rarely visible until after the fact.
Funding on perpetual futures
Perpetual futures contracts use periodic funding payments between long and short holders to keep the contract price aligned with the underlying spot price. Funding is paid or received depending on position side and the prevailing rate, and it recurs every funding interval for as long as a position stays open.
Example (hypothetical numbers): if the funding rate is 0.01% per 8-hour interval and a trader holds a 5,000 USDT position through three intervals, that's roughly 1.5 USDT paid or received over 24 hours (0.01% × 5,000 × 3). On its own that looks minor, but a position held for several days during a period of persistently one-sided funding can accumulate a cost (or credit) that materially changes the outcome of an otherwise correct directional view.
Why gross and net results diverge
Gross result is simply the price difference between entry and exit multiplied by position size. Net result subtracts every fee, every instance of slippage, and all funding paid or received over the life of the trade. A strategy with a small average edge per trade can see that edge largely absorbed by costs, especially when trading frequency is high, position sizes are large relative to fee tiers, or positions are held through many funding intervals. Reviewing net numbers over a meaningful sample of trades, rather than looking at individual wins, is one way to see whether costs are a minor drag or a dominant factor.
Leveraged trading carries a high risk of loss, and costs like fees, slippage and funding add to that risk by reducing the margin for error on any given trade.
Comparing gross and net results is easier when every closed trade is recorded automatically rather than reconstructed from memory. BitMe's trade journal builds an equity curve, win rate, profit factor and P&L breakdown from closed USDT/USDC futures trades, which makes it simpler to see how much of a strategy's edge actually survives after costs.