A type of order or bid that is submitted by investors who then pay at the offer price that will be ultimately specified for the initial public offering (IPO). This involves no price limits within which a particular price is determined for submitted orders. By nature, market orders, as opposed to limit orders (price-limited bids), don’t convey to the underwriter much information about the maximum price a bidder is willing to pay for a specific number of shares.

This type of order is also known as a strike order.