Non-fungible tokens have been taking the digital art as well as collectible industries by storm recently. Digital artists and celebrities alike are getting in on the NFTs market. The sudden surge in NFTs popularity can be attributed to a recent auction that was record-breaking where an NFT piece of artwork was dealt off at $69 million Ethereum. From how much attention the NFTs market is getting, it is quite obvious that there is a big population of people interested to know how the trade occurs. This is your guide.
How can you sell NFTs?
There are two paths one can take when selling an NFT. You have the option of creating your own NFTs, auctioning them, and ultimately selling them in a marketplace or you could buy an NFT piece that is already existing then resell it in yet another marketplace.
Creating NFTs
The creation of NFTs is a very simple and easy process altogether. To get this started, you need to have an account in whatever marketplace you desire but the marketplace has to allow you to create your NFTs. For example, Rarible and Opensea are marketplaces that give their users the freedom to not only buy and sell but also to create their own NFTs. As if that is not good enough, another special thing about these marketplaces is that the user does not have to know about cryptographic hashing or the blockchains for them to be able to make the tokens (ER-721).
The platforms take your videos, images, 3D models, and any other asset you may want it to and turns them into NFTs. This can be considered asset tokenization in a different way. Media involvement in some way is needed for your NFT to have value in the marketplace. For example, for an artist’s work, their reputation is what will give the NFT they are selling its value.
How much does making your NFT cost?
Several platforms charge the users to make NFTs. Opensea is one of the few that does not make you incur any costs to make your NFTs. The only money you get charged by Opensea is when you are making your very first NFT, afterwards all the others you make are completely free. For the other marketplaces, if they are using Ethereum NFTs, then as the user you need “gas” to create tokens. Ethereum gas’s cost varies and this depends on the network involved. On average, we can say that the number of people on a website will determine the price of the gas. The more the people, the higher the price. A tip to consider if you are starting would be to try out when there are not as many people on the website, such as during the weekend.
Can anyone make NFTs?
Whoever can make an NFT or even access the marketplace is not limited in the slightest. Anyone can make NFTs. You only need an account to sell NFTs. It is worth noting that the buying process of NFTs is way simpler than selling. This is because when buying, you are completely aware of the value of whatever token it is you are interested in. When creating your own NFTs and selling, on the other hand, it is not as simple.
It is not simply anyone who will be able to create their own NFT then expects a very rewarding valuation for the hard work they have put in their piece of art. This can be compared to how artists live in the real world. It is hard for artists who are not popular to make sales even if they are very talented.
The process of selling NFTs
Once you have identified some cool digital art pieces for example that you want to sell, the steps are very much easy to follow. The example used below is from the website of Rarible that is linked into Opensea.
- On the Rarible.com website, click on the top right “create” option.
- You will then create a multiple or single collectible. Multiple collectibles in this case happen when you want to include a collection; could be of collective cards created by you or photographs.
- Click on the “choose file” to have your file. It could be in MP3, PNG, GIF, or any other type of file. It is important to note however that the maximum size of the allowed file is 30 MB.
- You then either have the option to enter the price you would want your work to go for, or to leave it as “put on sale”.
- Next, you will put in the name of your NFT work together with a short description.
- You will then set your royalties. Doing this will allow you to be able to continue earning if your work is resold in the secondary market. Your royalties are based on the pricing of your work from the time you put it up for sale.
- Select the option that says “connect wallet and create”
- You then connect your wallet that you are supposed to have set up already. At this point, you should tap on the MetaMask option.
- You are then required to pay the fee for ‘gas’ for the listing to be processed. In the case that is provided, this is either in the ether which would be 0.044091, or in dollars which would be 75.64.
- Click on the option ‘start’ to use your digital wallet in signing the sell order.
- You then click on the option to ‘sign’ that will be in the pop-up for MetaMask.
Just like that, your NFTs are listed. In the above example, you can access them by searching for them on OpenSea or Rarible. The sale page will show all the offers and when it sells, it will be reflected on your digital wallet. You can then use the funds to purchase other NFTs or simply cash out using an appropriate app such as Coinbase.
Conclusion
The popularity associated with NFTs is rapidly increasing. It can be said to be a fresh new way that allows one to sell their valuables that are digital online with proper authenticity. Many industries are joining in and it is safe to say that it is here to stay. If you are looking into getting started, do not shy away it may be just what you have been waiting for.