text: can you sell stocks at any time? i have a very (i repeat very) basic idea of how the stock market works.  so my question is this: if you have purchased your stocks, and arrived at the time you think would be a good time to sell them, is it possible that no one would want to buy and you would just be stuck with them?  or will you always be able to get rid of them whenever you want? it's very rare that there will be just one side even with the most illiquid of stocks.  it happens once in a while for a short period of time for some things.  usually, there will be someone out there who will give you a very bad price, but you should still be able to get out at some price if you really want to.  check the liquidity and volume of the stock that you have along with the bid/ask spreads and it should give a general idea.