Help understand bid and ask

[SSS38]

Hey

If i buy EUR/USD i can only sell it back as that pair right.

I buy EUR/USD I sell back as USD/EUR

Thanks

[NicksFX]

Can I recommend the baby pips school of pipsology? It will answer this question and many more.

[tommor]

No. You are not buying or selling anything. By “buying” EUR/USD you are entering into a private bet with your broker that the value of the EUR will rise against the value of the USD. The bet is in whatever is the currency of your account - AUD if you’re in Australia trading through an Australian broker, CHF if you’re in Switzerland trading through a Swiss broker etc. etc.

[Pippo]

I answered a similar question earlier today:

Understanding Buying a trade

The easiest way to think about this is that you are not physically buying or selling anything. You are making a bet on the direction of the exchange rate of a currency pair. For example, if you think GBP/USD will go up, you buy or “go long”. If you think GBP/USD will go down, you sell or “go short”.