Market Makers - how does it work

[pkom79]

I’m a beginner in stock investing. I’m going through different tutorials trying to understand how the market works. However sometimes I can’t find the satisfying answer. That’s why I decided to join this forum. Today I need some clarification on market makers.
My understanding is that market makers are institutions or individuals that execute trades when actual sellers and buyer can’t be matched by broker companies (for example there is a lot of investors queuing to sell and there is no one buying). So if I want to buy 25 stocks of XYZ Company and nobody is selling how does my order get to a market maker? How do they choose a market maker (I read that there is 14 market makers per one stock on NASDAQ. Is this true?) Is my order sent to the cheapest one, or maybe they all have the same price? I’m sure more questions will come up but these are the ones for now. I appreciate everyone’s help.

[Stocktrading101]

This should help a lot! It is a link to Investopedia's education center and explanation of what a market maker is. There are atleast 20 more articles below the definition that then go into the other detail which includes order filling.

Market Maker