The success of the NFT market is reshaping the way people think about digital art and collectibles. And for some investors who were lucky enough to buy into NFT projects at the right time, they’ve been rewarded many times over.
Perhaps you’ve heard all the buzz and want to get in on the action?
Whether you are a creator, collector, or investor, selling NFTs is a great way to get involved in the NFT community. And if you’ve been keeping your eye on some of the astonishing prices NFTs have been selling for lately, you might be thinking it could also be a good way to make some extra money.
Luckily, for those of us who are just arriving in the NFT space, it’s not too late to get started.
No matter your reason for selling NFTs, there are several different ways you can sell non-fungible tokens. This blog will walk you through the process of selling your first NFT and provide information about where to sell, how to sell, and how to stake your NFTs.
How to Sell an NFT You Bought
To get started selling NFTs, you’ll first have to buy or mint a digital asset as an NFT. When you mint an NFT, a digital certificate that proves ownership and authenticity is created and stored on a blockchain. The Ethereum network was the first blockchain to support NFTs and remains the most popular, but other blockchains such as Solana and Tezos also support non-fungible tokens.
Once you own an NFT, then you can sell it. Although the steps to selling an NFT are relatively simple, selling involves some understanding of NFT marketplaces, crypto wallets, and cryptocurrency in general.
Listed below are some of the basic steps involved with selling an NFT:
- Buy or create an NFT
- Choose a marketplace
- Load your crypto wallet
- Name and describe your NFT
- Set the price of your NFT
- Connect your crypto wallet and list your NFT for sale
- Promote your NFT
That’s it! However, each part of this process involves making important decisions about how you want to sell your NFT. Let’s take a deeper look at some of the things you’ll need to do to sell your first non-fungible token.
Where to Sell Your NFT: Top Marketplaces
If you want to get into buying and selling NFTs, one of the first things you need to do is choose an NFT marketplace. You can think about an NFT marketplace like Amazon or eBay: they are places where you can buy, sell, trade, auction, and in some cases create non-fungible tokens.
There are several NFT marketplaces to choose from, and some are more niche-oriented than others. So, before you decide which marketplace is best for you, do some research and put thought into what marketplace you want to use.
For beginners, it’s probably best to use an open marketplace that allows anyone to sell NFTs, rather than a curated NFT marketplace that seeks out specific artists to create collections.
To connect to an NFT marketplace and buy, create, or sell digital assets, you first need a cryptocurrency wallet. Some of the most popular crypto wallets include:
- MetaMask
- MyEther wallet
- Coinbase Wallet
- Torus
- Fortmatic
- WalletConnect
Once you download your crypto wallet and load it with the correct cryptocurrency, you can then connect to an NFT marketplace and buy or sell NFTs. Listed below are a few of the most popular open NFT marketplaces and what they offer for sellers:
- OpenSea. This is the first NFT marketplace created and remains the largest open marketplace for NFTs and crypto collectibles. It runs on the Ethereum blockchain and allows users to create, buy, sell, and auction all sorts of digital assets, from digital art to music and other collectibles.
- Rarible. Another big player in the NFT marketplace space, Rarible is an open market where a variety of digital assets can be bought, sold, and created. It is built on the Ethereum blockchain and the NFTs you create or list for sale can also be viewed and managed on OpenSea. However, to use Rarible you will have to purchase the marketplace’s own token $RARI.
- Mintable. This open marketplace also uses the Ethereum blockchain and aims to be like OpenSea and Rarible. It is backed by Dallas Mavericks’ owner and billionaire Mark Cuban and provides sellers with guides to succeed on the platform and the option to create their own NFT store.
- Magic Eden. If you’re looking for an alternative to the Ethereum blockchain, which can come with expensive gas fees, Magic Eden hopes to be the OpenSea of the Solana blockchain.
Some marketplaces use a myriad of tokens and others have their own proprietary tokens, like Rarible. When you want to sell an NFT, make sure that the cryptocurrency in your wallet corresponds to the cryptocurrency used by the NFT marketplace you choose.
Selling NFTs for Creators
For artists and creators, NFTs are an exciting new way to sell art and discover new audiences. Some NFT marketplaces are specifically geared towards curating and promoting the work of digital and other types of artists. These marketplaces tend to seek out established artists and high-quality artwork. However, even if you’re not a famous artist, giving curated NFT marketplaces a look could be a smart move for your career.
Two of the best-curated NFT marketplaces for artists and creators to sell digital assets include:
- Nifty Gateway. NFTs can be bought and sold on this platform using a debit or credit card, the Gemini token (the native cryptocurrency to the platform), or with prepaid ETH. All creators must apply to have their work verified and curated by the platform, and artists can choose what percentage of royalties they wish to receive from secondary sales of their work. Also, it is a custodial platform, so the NFTs are stored on the platform and there are no expensive gas fees.
- SuperRare. This marketplace runs on the Ethereum network and artists must apply with original artwork that is not tokenized anywhere else on the internet. Creators receive 85 percent commission for first sales and 3 percent commission on any secondary sales.
If you’re an artist or creator, selling your work as NFTs can open a new realm of possibilities. Furthermore, NFTs have entered a variety of genres, and musicians, filmmakers, and even authors are beginning to experiment within the NFT space.
How to Sell an NFT on OpenSea
Because OpenSea is the most popular NFT marketplace and has the highest sales volume to date, we think it’s the best place to sell NFTs for beginners. For this walkthrough, we’ll assume you’ve already minted, created, or purchased an NFT on a secondary marketplace and you’re ready to sell.
Listed below are the steps involved with selling your NFT on OpenSea:
- Go to opensea.io and click on your profile image in the upper right-hand corner, then click Profile. Choose the NFT you wish to sell from your wallet.
- Click Sell in the top right corner. This will take you to the listing page.
- On the listing page, you can choose the price and the type of sale; “Fixed Price” or “Timed Auction.” If you set a fixed price, your NFT will only sell if a buyer pays the asking price. With the time auction option, you can choose the length of time that your NFT is available for sale. Default options include 1 day, 3 days, or 1 week — but you can also customize the duration of the auction using the calendar feature. If it’s your first time listing on OpenSea, you’ll also need to approve WETH for trading.
- Give your NFT a name and write a description. Try to think of a creative name for your NFT that can help catch the eye of a buyer. In your description, try to describe the feel, mood, or “soul” of your NFT. Try to give collectors a reason for why they should buy your NFT.
- List your NFT for sale
- To see your NFT listed on the marketplace, go to your profile page and click the Activity button.
If this is your first time selling an NFT on Opensea, you must initialize your wallet by paying a one-time “gas fee.” This gas fee varies depending on the traffic on the Ethereum network at the time you pay but usually ranges between $75 and $200. To find times when the gas fees are lower, you can use Etherscan’s gas tracker to monitor traffic on the network.
Also, if the digital asset that you wish to sell was minted on a platform other than OpenSea, you may have to give an additional approval signature for the NFT to be sold by OpenSea on your behalf.
How to Trade, Swap or Stake Your NFT
Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether, NFTs are not highly liquid assets. That is because to sell an NFT, you need to find a sole buyer who wants it. Fortunately, several platforms are working hard to increase the liquidity of the NFT market, and many of them are doing a great job.
By using one of these platforms, NFT holders can lend or “stake” their NFTs to the app and earn money through financial fees and interest on their assets. If you have an NFT and you’re not sure if you want to sell, staking can be a great option. Staking an NFT means you are locking up your NFT on a platform or protocol, and in exchange for lending your asset to the platform you receive a reward or APY that is based on the worth and rarity of your NFT.
Some of the platforms that are increasing liquidity in the NFT market and allow for NFT staking include:
- NFT20. This is a permissionless p2p protocol that allows users to trade, swap, and sell NFTs on decentralized exchanges like UniSwap or SushiSwap. On this platform, anyone can deposit an NFT and create a pool or add their NFT to an existing pool and receive ERC-20 token derivatives in exchange. These tokens can be exchanged for other NFTs, speculated on, or staked to earn daily $MUSE (the platform’s native token) rewards.
- Boxswap. This platform enables collectors to swap crypto-collectibles and ERC-20 tokens with other users on the network. A community of liquidity providers is created through staking NFTs, so NFTs can be bought or sold instantly.
- Onessus. Here you can stake in-game NFTs from the Onessus blockchain games via its native crypto $VOID. APY can be as high as 80 percent during some staking periods.
- Only1. This platform that is built on the Solana blockchain uses social engagement and other factors to determine APY and enables multiple users to stake $LIKE, the platform’s native currency, on the NFT creators they want to support.
- Uniswap. The leading AMM, this decentralized crypto exchange uses smart contracts to aid automated transactions between different cryptocurrencies that are built on the Ethereum blockchain. The platform is governed by the community and enables users to swap and stake digital assets in an open and accessible community.
- SushiSwap. This software runs on the Ethereum blockchain and functions much like UniSwap, but with many updated features. SushiSwap uses a collection of liquidity pools to make buying, selling, swapping, and staking NFTs and cryptocurrencies fast and easy.
If you’re having trouble selling your NFT on an NFT marketplace like OpenSea or Rarible, using one of these DeFi exchange platforms that provide high liquidity to the NFT market could be ideal. Also, staking your NFT instead of selling it can be a great way to start earning passive income. And one of the best things about staking is that at the end of the day, you are still the owner of the NFT.
When to sell an NFT
NFTs are still a new technology evolving every day. As more and more people from around the world enter the space, we should expect to see a myriad of new and creative NFT projects unfolding. In other words, it’s an exciting time to be involved in NFTs and the NFT community.
So, if you’re wondering whether it’s the right time to start selling NFTs, we think there’s never been a better time than now. The sooner you can get involved with NFTs and start learning how to buy, sell, and maybe even create your own NFT, the more likely you’ll be successful in the NFT market for years to come.