"Is LPing even buying the token at all?"
Yes, but you can think about it as "buying" the token as the price falls into the range you determine.
ALSO when you "buy" the token with an LP, the tokens don't get automatically sent to your wallet.
Instead, they REMAIN at the same prices that you bought them at, and switch to limit sell orders. So if price comes back up, being in an LP will sell back out of your tokens back into sol. This is when you get fees in sol.
You get fees in the token when price comes down because your sol gets converted to the token. You are "buying" the token when this happens.
When price goes back up, you get fees in sol because your tokens get converted/sold back to sol.
You *could* withdraw your tokens from the pool once enough of your sol gets converted and hold it spot if that is your thesis. I never do that, and you might as well just use Meteora limit orders
If price goes up from where you setup your pool, you can always chase up price and open new pools to bid it.
Again this ALL pertains to going to one sided buy side positions. But if you are new, hopefully this allows you to get the jist of the common buyside/oneside strategy.
Live soon btw :)
@MeteoraAG @met_lparmy