Throughout the year 2021, NFTs have been a cultural phenomenon, frequently making news due to celebrity involvement, as well as the resulting hijinks, scams, and legal battles. However, with some NFT developers making millions of dollars, it’s natural why you’d want to play with with the technology to have a better sense of it.
Before we go into how to construct an NFT utilising two of the most prominent marketplaces, let’s go over some of the basics of what an NFT is and the decisions you may have to make before deciding to sell one of these items. Creating a token is as simple as going to Step 3, if you’re familiar with the process.)
1: STEP IS TO DETERMINE WHAT AN NFT IS
You don’t have to feel bad if you don’t know anything about NFTs when you are here. Friends and family members may have encouraged you to put your cat’s picture up for sale as an NFT. However, it’s generally advisable to have some understanding of what you’re doing before going through the process of developing and selling one.
How NFTs Work
In addition to an explanation of NFTs and the culture surrounding them, we also offer a detailed explanation of the blockchain technology that NFTs are built around. The rest of this guide won’t require you to memorise every word, but we’ll use terms like Ethereum, proof of work, and others that you’ll learn more about if you read our explanations.
However, here’s a succinct TL;DR. Non-fungible tokens, as the name suggests, are digital tokens held on the blockchain. Each NFT is unique and can be used to verify ownership of a digital file, unlike cryptocurrencies, where each coin is the same (there is no reason to favour one Bitcoin over another).
On the Blockchain, NFT Artwork Is Nearly Never Stored
The files aren’t kept on the blockchain in nearly all cases. As a result, the token that serves as proof of ownership is kept along with the link to the file. Also, there’s no rule stating that there can’t be two or more NFTs for the same file – you may have trading card-style NFTs, for example. When there are thousands of the identical NFTs “minted,” or written to the blockchain in large numbers, it can be unusual because there are only 10 copies. In addition, there’s nothing to prohibit someone else from using your NFT file to create their own NFT (though the blockchain entry will show that it came from their account, not yours).
As long as you’re using a marketplace’s easy minting tools, you’ll be confined to formats supported by the marketplace itself. Keep this in mind when you’re putting up your first NFT: it should be an image, video, or audio clip of some kind. For individuals who aren’t quite sure what they want to sell as an NFT yet, such limitations can help them focus their options. As a result of the foregoing…
2: CONFIRM YOUR DESIRE TO SELL AN NFT
Consider these things if you’re only thinking about making an NFT because “everyone else is,” and you’re not sure how to proceed. Transaction fees are the first of several costs to consider. NFTs can be created for free on the platforms we’ll discuss today, but selling them can be a different storey.
A LOT OF MONEY CAN BE SPENT ON A BUSINESS BEFORE A SINGLE NFT IS SOLD.
While most NFTs are traded on the Ethereum blockchain, there are a few that aren’t, and those will be discussed in more detail in the section following this one. It’s common to refer to these charges as “gas,” and depending on how much gas you need, the cost of your transaction will vary greatly. For the most part, you’ll have to pay for everything you do on the blockchain, from minting an NFT and sending it to someone else to bidding on an NFT and purchasing it.
The fact that you paid for gas does not imply that your transfer was successful in and of itself. Even if you spend more money in the hopes of increasing your chances, nothing in life is guaranteed. To be clear, the vast majority of deals will be successful. But if something goes wrong and your transaction isn’t completed, the gas fees you paid will not be reimbursed.
NFTs also have an impact on the environment. “Proof of work” systems, which use a large amount of energy, are commonly used in NFT marketplaces (you can read more about what that means here). If your NFTs are developed on Ethereum, you are using a system that has a large carbon footprint, even if you don’t believe that selling NFTs individually affects the overall energy use of the blockchain.
NFTs are at the Centre of a Climate Issue.
Ethereum has ambitions to switch to a more energy-efficient proof-of-stake mechanism in the future. Other blockchains use less energy-intensive systems. Because that hasn’t happened, some people may be annoyed when others opt to sell NFTs.
3: IS TO PICK A SITE TO SELL YOUR NFT ON.
A single tutorial can’t possibly cover all of the platforms that allow you to sell NFTs on a broad variety of blockchains, much less advise you which one is best for your project. In this article, we’ll go over two of the most popular marketplaces, but keep in mind that if neither of these options is right for you, there are more options, such as AtomicHub, which runs on the Wax blockchain, or Solsea, which is based in Solana.
It’s also worth mentioning that we’ll walk you through the basics in this guide. Even in NFT markets, there are many unexplored avenues to explore that this guide does not cover (things like selling an NFT minted with OpenSea on Rarible, programmatically generating collections like Bored Apes, and so on). If you’re new to selling NFTs, remember that this isn’t designed to be a thorough guide.
Using “lazy minting” technologies, OpenSea and Rarible allow you to produce NFTs on Ethereum without having to pay a cent. By using lazy minting, you can produce an NFT and sell it without committing it to the blockchain and incurring any transaction costs. As soon as someone buys your NFT, you’ll be charged for writing it to the blockchain, as well as for transferring it. Using this method prevents you from paying as much as $30 (or more) to mint an NFT that no one wants.