Getting Started With PredScout: Your First Paper Trade
Ethan Cole·5 min read·Start with Paper mode when you first use PredScout. It lets you practice buying and selling with simulated funds while you learn where everything is. You do not need to deposit real money for this walkthrough.
This PredScout tutorial takes you from signing in to placing a practice order and finding it in your portfolio. Keep Paper selected throughout the steps.
1. Create your account or sign in
To get started with PredScout, open the PredScout homepage and select Start Paper Trading. If you are signed out, choose Sign in / Sign up in the prompt.
On the account page, you can:
Enter your email address and select Sign up, then complete verification in the secure sign-in window.
Select Continue with Google and follow the sign-in steps.
Select Sign in if you already have an account.
Once you finish, return to PredScout. If the email sign-in window does not appear, check whether your browser blocked the pop-up.
2. Check that Paper mode is selected
Look for the Live / Paper switch at the top of the page and select Paper. The banner underneath should say that orders use simulated funds.
Paper is your practice environment. Live uses real funds and sends real orders to Polymarket. Check the selected mode each time you begin a session, especially if you have used both.
You can explore markets in Paper mode before making a decision about live trading. Simulated gains and losses are practice results, and they may differ from what would happen with real orders.
3. Find a market you understand
When learning how to use PredScout, start with a question you can explain in your own words.
Open Markets.
Search for a topic, or choose a category such as Sports, Crypto, or Weather.
Find an event that is still open and gives you enough time to read the details.
Select Trade on its card to open the event page.
One event page can contain several markets. For example, a price-related event may have a separate Yes/No question for each price level. Read the full question for the specific row you plan to use.
You will also see Vol, short for trading volume, and Liq, short for liquidity. Volume describes trading activity. Liquidity concerns the orders available to trade against. You can leave those filters unchanged for this first walkthrough.
4. Read the question, rules, and outcome
Before selecting a price, check the market's question, closing time, and Rules & resolution information. Use the Polymarket link on the event page if you need to inspect the original market's rules.
For a Yes/No market:
Yes means you are buying shares in the question being resolved as Yes.
No means you are buying shares in the question being resolved as No.
A share is one unit of the outcome you buy. A price of 40¢ means $0.40 per share.
For example, 10 shares at 40¢ cost $4 before any fees. Under Polymarket's standard outcome-share model, a winning share pays $1 when the market resolves, while a losing share is worth $0. In Paper mode, the money and results are simulated.
Click the Yes or No price for the market you want to practice with. Check that the trading panel shows the correct market and outcome before continuing.
5. Place your first Paper order
The steps below show how to use PredScout's simple order form. Use a small practice amount so it is easy to follow what changes in your balance and position.
Select Buy in the trading panel.
Select Simple, then Market. A market order attempts to trade immediately at available prices. It can still fail or be canceled if the execution conditions are not met.
Enter an amount in Amount (USD). For example, use the $25 shortcut if your available Paper balance and the market's minimum allow it. This is a practice example, not a suggested live-trading amount.
Turn Instant order off. This gives you a preview step before submission. With Instant order on, the action button submits directly.
Select Preview. Review the selected outcome, amount, and any estimated shares, price, or fees shown. Use Edit if something needs changing.
Confirm that Paper is still selected. Submit using Simulate Buy YES or Simulate Buy NO, depending on your selected outcome.
Read the result message. Order filled means the purchase completed. Order submitted alone does not mean you already own the shares.
You may also notice a Limit option. A limit order lets you specify a price and may remain open while waiting for a match. You can explore that after you are comfortable with this first order.
6. Find your order and position in Portfolio
Open Portfolio and keep Paper selected. These tabs answer different questions:
Tab | What to look for |
|---|---|
Orders | Your submitted order, its status, and how much has filled. |
Positions | The outcome shares you currently hold after a buy fills. |
Trade History | Completed trades that changed your holdings. |
An order is an instruction to buy or sell. A position is what you hold after a trade completes. An open order may have no filled quantity, so it does not necessarily create a position yet.
If you see P&L, it means profit and loss. The displayed value of an open position can change as market prices move. That change is different from the result of a completed sale, and all figures in Paper mode remain simulated.
Before moving on, find your order in Orders and, if it filled, find the matching outcome in Positions.
7. Practice selling shares
Once your practice buy has filled, you can try the other half of the workflow while the market is still tradable.
Return to the same market and select the outcome you own.
Choose Sell in the trading panel.
Keep Simple and Market selected.
Enter the number of Shares to sell. Notice that this field uses shares, whereas the market-buy example used a dollar amount. Stay within the quantity available to sell.
Keep Instant order off, select Preview, and review the estimated proceeds, which are the simulated funds you would receive.
Submit the corresponding Simulate Sell order and check its status in Portfolio.
After a successful sale, the number of shares in your position should decrease. Selling the same outcome you bought closes some or all of that position. Buying the opposite outcome creates a different holding.
If something does not work
What you see | What to check |
|---|---|
Sign up instead of an order button | Sign in, then return to the market. |
Insufficient Paper balance | Reduce the practice amount and check your simulated balance. A real-money deposit is not part of this walkthrough. |
A message that Paper Trading is not enabled | Choose another market that supports Paper Trading. |
A closed market or unavailable trading window | Check the market's status and choose an open market. |
No matching orders or a liquidity error | There may be no suitable orders to trade against. Try another open market or check again later. |
No position after submitting | Check Orders for the actual fill status, and make sure Portfolio is showing Paper mode. |
If the submission status is unclear, check Orders before submitting again. This helps you avoid creating an extra order while trying to find the first one.
Choose what to explore next
You have completed the basic workflow when you can identify your selected mode, open a market, preview an order, and find its result in Portfolio.
Next, learn how to use PredScout to compare traders through Smart Traders. You can also browse Series to find markets that repeat on a schedule.
When you are ready to test following another trader, open Copy Trading with Paper selected. A copy strategy follows eligible trades under the settings you choose. Start by understanding a trader's activity and the strategy's limits before enabling it.