Price improvement

Price improvement occurs when you pay less or receive more on a securities transaction than the bid and offer prices being currently quoted.

In other words, the price you pay to buy is lower than the offer price or the price you collect for selling is higher than the bid price.

Price improvement may occur for a variety of reasons, from a change in market price to the diligence of your broker in seeking out the best price. For example, your broker may fill your order from the firm's inventory or net it against a sell order from another client of the firm. Or the order might be sent to a particular market for execution if a better price is available.