an exchange is a place (a website) where you to exchange your money to bitcoin and vice versa. in other words sites that you trade on such as Coinbase.
the 1% is pretty high compared to other places. i am not sure about the exactly percentage of each of these places but you can check them out yourself. they are usually 0.15 to 0.25% for each trade depending on some stuff like the amount you have traded before, some places have a fixed percentage some don't.
Thank you.
I am looking for those "other places" you mentioned.
If anyone has a positive experience with one that pays quickly enough to do day trades, please, let us know.
here is a list of them:
http://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/#marketsthe famous places are those with highest trade volume (mostly bitstamp and bifinex).
and i don't know what you mean by pays quickly, you deposit an amount on the site (fiat or cryptocurrency) and then trade as fast as clicking can be. and withdrawing and depositing cryptocurrency is fast but money may take some time since it has to go through a bank