Offer price

The sell side of a two way price, identical in meaning to the ask price. A market maker shows both sides at once: a bid, at which it is willing to buy, and an offer, at which it is willing to sell. The offer always sits above the bid, and the distance between them is the spread.

The number displayed on a retail platform is assembled rather than quoted by one house. Prices arrive from several liquidity providers, the best sellable price among them becomes the raw offer, and any mark up the firm applies is added to it. Each side moves independently, which is why a spread can widen because the offer rose while the bid did not, and why the two sides of a quote can update on different ticks.

The name is written from the quoting party's point of view, and that is where the confusion starts. The party who buys is dealing on somebody else's offer, which is what the desk phrases lifting the offer and paying the offer describe. The second point is arithmetic rather than vocabulary: a long position opens at the offer and closes at the bid, so it is valued below its opening cost from the moment it exists. That opening shortfall is the spread already paid, not a movement in the market.