ICT Market Maker Models: Buy Model and Sell Model Explained

Most ICT concepts describe a single feature on the chart: a gap, a block, a sweep. Market maker models zoom out. They try to describe the whole life of a swing, from a quiet range, through a move that collects liquidity, to a reversal and a run back to where it all started. There are two versions: the market maker buy model (MMBM) and the market maker sell model (MMSM).

Think of these models as a storyboard. They help you decide which part of a move you are probably watching, so you avoid buying the middle of a decline or selling the middle of a rally.

What it is

The buy model has four broad phases:

1. Original consolidation. Price ranges in a tight area. This is the "origin" that the model will eventually target.
2. Sell program and engineered liquidity. Price leaves the range lower in a series of lower highs and lower lows. Each pause builds short-term lows and highs where stops collect. The decline often looks convincing, attracting late sellers.
3. Smart money reversal. Price reaches a higher-timeframe discount array, such as a daily fair value gap or order block in the lower half of the range, sweeps one more pool of sell-side liquidity, and turns. A lower-timeframe market structure shift confirms the turn.
4. Buy program and return to origin. Price climbs back through the lower highs it left behind, often retracing into its own gaps along the way, and targets the original consolidation.

The sell model is the mirror image: consolidation, a buy program that engineers buy-side liquidity, a reversal at a higher-timeframe premium array, and a sell program back to origin.

The "market maker" label reflects ICT's framing that dealers move price toward liquidity. You do not need to accept any claim about who moves the market to use the template; it works as a description of how many swings unfold, and it often fails too.

How to identify it

1. Start on the higher timeframe. Mark the daily or H4 dealing range and the PD arrays in premium and discount. Without a higher-timeframe array, there is no reason to expect a reversal.
2. Find the origin. Identify the consolidation where the current leg began.
3. Count the program. Note the swings in the current leg and the liquidity they leave: relative equal lows, short-term lows, obvious trendline touches.
4. Wait for the array. Let price reach the higher-timeframe level you marked.
5. Demand a reversal signal. Look for a sweep followed by displacement and a structure shift on a lower timeframe.
6. Map targets. The first lower highs of the sell program act as internal liquidity; the original consolidation is the final target.

Worked example: GBP/USD buy model

The prices below are illustrative.

On the H1 chart, GBP/USD consolidates between 1.2780 and 1.2820 for most of a day. The daily chart shows a bullish fair value gap between 1.2600 and 1.2620, sitting in discount of the weekly range.

Price falls in three legs, builds equal lows at 1.2625, then drops into the daily gap and prints a low at 1.2610, taking the stops below 1.2625. On the 15-minute chart, price then displaces higher and closes above the last lower high at 1.2665. That is the smart money reversal, and it leaves a small bullish fair value gap around 1.2645–1.2655.

A trade plan based on the model:

• Entry (retrace into the new gap): 1.2650
• Stop-loss (below the sweep low with a buffer): 1.2595
• Risk: 1.2650 − 1.2595 = 55 pips
• Target 1 (bottom of the original consolidation): 1.2780, a reward of 130 pips, about 2.4R (130 ÷ 55 ≈ 2.36)
• Target 2 (top of the consolidation): 1.2820, a reward of 170 pips, about 3.1R (170 ÷ 55 ≈ 3.09)

The lower highs at 1.2700 and 1.2745 are obstacles on the way, where some traders take partial profits. With a $20,000 account risking 0.5% ($100), size = $100 ÷ (55 × $10) = 0.18 lots. A 55-pip stop is wide for an intraday trade, which is why the model is often traded on H1 or H4 swings rather than one-minute charts.

How traders use it

• Context first. The model tells you whether a fresh low is more likely part of the sell program (do not buy yet) or the final sweep into an array (watch for a reversal).
• Target selection. Return to origin gives a logical, chart-based target instead of an arbitrary pip number.
• Combining with time. Reversals that occur inside a kill zone with SMT divergence are often given more weight.
• Fitting entries inside. Lower-timeframe models such as the ICT 2022 model are frequently used to enter at the smart money reversal.

Common mistakes

• Forcing the shape. Not every decline is a sell program. Many swings never return to origin.
• Skipping the higher-timeframe array. A reversal without location is just a guess.
• Entering during the sell program, trying to catch the low before any structure shift.
• Expecting a perfect return. Price often stalls at internal liquidity; a partial exit there is reasonable.
• Ignoring stop size. Wide swings need smaller positions to keep risk per trade fixed.

Summary

Market maker models describe a complete swing: original consolidation, a program that engineers liquidity, a smart money reversal at a higher-timeframe PD array, and a return to origin. The buy model reverses from discount; the sell model reverses from premium. Use the template to locate yourself within a move and to choose targets, but always wait for confirmation, place stops beyond the sweep, and size positions from a fixed risk amount. Next, candle range theory applies a similar sweep-and-reverse idea to individual higher-timeframe candles.