Slippage = the gap between what you think you'll pay vs what you actually pay when your order hits.

Happens most when:

→ Low liquidity pools

→ Fat orders relative to depth

→ High volatility windows

If you're market buying $10k of a low-cap alt with $50k daily volume, expect to eat 5-15% slippage easy.

Use limit orders or split into smaller chunks if you don't want to get rekt by your own buy.