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You will never* have any problems with liquidity on SPY, AAPL, or the large options -- there's enough market makers that you'll be able to trade. You might have to chase a price, or if there's a suden move get a fill you don't want, but liquidity is simply not a problem. There are firms that literally trade hundreds of thousands of contracts on those instruments. On the lower liquidity ones -- take notes. Some might only have an OI of 10 contracts, but there is six market makers competiting, and you get a fill at a much better point than the midpoint. My general rule of thumb is on low OI options, that i have not traded before, I ease into. Yes you pay more commissions the first go around, but you learn about it. Also ALWAYS start near the bid -- you might be suprised and get a fill, and then slowly adjust up to the midpoint, or just over. Pay attention to how long it takes to get the order filled, how long it sits there, the way the price moves on the spread as soon as you enter the trade. Also as a general rule, the wider the spread, the less likely you'll be able to easily get in and out (getting out is always harder). But again, simply because there is low OI, does not mean that it is not a tradeable instrument. The ones you have to watch for are the $10.00 stocks with a $2.00 spread on the ATM options. I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole. But if you have a $10.00 stock with only 2 contracts of OI, but the ATM straddle spread is only 0.05? You might be suprised how liquid it is. HOWEVER, that said, still ease in....you might get an instant fill at the best possible price, but have a hell of a time getting out. That's why trading logs are so important, you learn about the options you trade -- and the better feel you get for them the better.