Non-fungible tokens are a very new type of asset. Until quite recently, they didn’t exist. So it’s understandable that more than a few people have questions about how to create these digital items, how to buy them, and, importantly, how to sell them.

As you will see, it is pretty easy to create or rather mint an NFT, but selling it takes a certain amount of skill, commitment, and know-how. It’s not easy, but hopefully, this article sets you up for success!

Basic Basics

First, before there could be NFTs, the financial technology community had to invent the blockchain. The blockchain is the immutable ledger where these decentralized finance tokens, like cryptocurrencies and NFTs, are built and traded.

As the blockchain matured, people figured out that they could put new kinds of digital tokens on a blockchain and tie them to various types of assets. And so the NFT was born!

Looking to sell NFTs

You may be wondering how difficult it is to pull off one of these decentralized transactions. Let’s start with the basics and go into some detail about the process of selling an NFT on an exchange marketplace.

You and Your Wallet

First of all, before someone can sell an NFT, they have to own it. You can purchase NFTs for resale, but many investors interested in selling NFTs want to create them themselves and recoup the profit from something they have created.

This also applies to artists and creators. Recently, numerous digital artists and designers have begun to immerse themselves in the NFT world. I mean, just take a look at what digital artist Beeple did…he sold numerous pieces of digital art in the millions of dollars.

With that in mind, minting or creating the NFT has a bit of a learning curve, but it is relatively easy after you mint your first NFT. As we’ll show later, selling basically involves linking the wallet where the NFT is held to an open marketplace.

First, you’ll need a wallet. Whether or not you’re minting your own NFT or selling one that you already own, it will need to be contained in a digital wallet with the right format in order to connect to the marketplace and offer it up for sale.

Types of Digital Wallets and Considerations

NFT holders have a choice of different types of digital wallets. Some are specially created by exchanges like Coinbase or Binance to be able to link to the exchange, to minting platforms, or both.

One wallet I use the most is MetaMask, and I go into way more details on how to mint with it here.

A lot of people use something called a Meta Mask wallet. These also have their own linking protocols in order to set NFTs up for sale. I personally use Meta Mask, and I go into way more details on how to mint with it here.

Be sure to understand how the wallet holds the asset keys in order to avoid losing your investment. Some investors put their digital wallets on a hardware device like a flash drive, so in that case, you’ll need to have the hardware available and know where it is at all times.

Hardware holding digital wallets can be kept in a safe place for cold storage along with other valuables.

Minting to Sell: Procedures

As you’re creating a digital NFT to sell, you’ll have to look at various characteristics and attributes and check some boxes accordingly. You may have to upload files that have to do with the NFT asset and make decisions about how to set the NFT up. 

Creators can decide whether to offer the underlying IP rights along with the NFT or not. They can choose how to showcase the NFT on the marketplace prior to sale. Plus, knowing if an auction, timed drop, or fixed sale price is better for your NFT is essential. There are numerous types of sales available on most marketplaces. Check out these useful blog posts to see what I’m talking about:

All of these things require some research and calibration as you work on the exchange to mint your NFT.

In fact, one of our most used articles explains what you need to know to make a successful NFT project here.

Gas Fees

The next point has a lot to do with the sale of your NFT, as well as your minting process, if applicable.

Gas fees are the costs of generating a transaction on the blockchain. And those costs can be high.

Gas fees change with the marketplace and according to the rules of supply and demand. But they’re also higher on some more established blockchains than they are on others.

As NFT experts know, Ethereum was the front-runner in the smart contract and NFT handling up until recently.

What people found was that the high gas fees for Ethereum transactions ate up a lot of the profit involved in the NFT sale itself. It was costing between $75 and $120 just to mint an NFT, and the amount of energy to mint was atrocious.

So then people started moving to blockchains like Solana, FLOW, and Bitcoin SV.

Also, creators started gravitating toward new platforms that allowed for deferred gas fees. That means that you can mint an NFT and sell it, and the gas fees will only be extracted at the end of the process rather than at the beginning.

This allows some of these platforms to trumpet themselves as ‘free’ minting and selling platforms and exchanges.

There’s also a “lazy minting” procedure where the NFT can be minted at the point of sale and defer those costs to the buyer. At least, that’s what some people call it, although, in reality, there’s no way to completely avoid gas fees and other realities of the market. 

This lazy minting sounds easier than the other process, but you have to do your research. Since it’s a little more involved in terms of carrying out the actual transaction, you’ll have to find the right platforms to do business this way. This article shows you how to Lazy Mint with Ethereum on the Rarible platform:

How To Sell an NFT

Promoting Your NFT

With the proper process, you can get your NFT listed on marketplaces like OpenSea and others that are more specialized or obscure. Looking at what’s already available can give you a good idea of how your NFTs measure up and how they may be looked at in today’s market. 

But how do you sell?

One good rule of thumb is to carefully inspect what’s selling on the marketplace that you’re operating in. What types of avatar images and other digital art are people buying linked to NFTs? Are they only purchasing the big collections, or are they going for some more quirky and individualized NFT collections for smaller sellers?

Everybody has heard of CryptoPunks and Bored Apes, but if you can determine which of the less famous collections are getting activity, that is precious market insight. 

You may also want to proactively promote your NFTs on some other avenues or channels. In some cases, you can use different kinds of social media to promote your NFTs to a larger audience. I say this with caps; YOU HAVE TO READ THESE TWO ARTICLES if you intend to start on the right foot:

  1. 11 Essential NFT Tips for Beginners
  2. How to Get More NFT Exposure: 13 Effective Methods

More often than not, the NFTs are only advertised or promoted on the exchange itself, but that doesn’t give you the full range of potential buyers. In fact, if that is your only plan, you won’t sell anything. The market is oversaturated with noob NFT creators that don’t understand how to sell.

Someone holding cryptocurrency may be surfing the web on a platform like Pinterest or Instagram, or Facebook and see your NFTs for sale, and it may pique their interest.

This is a little bit about selling NFTs and what goes into the process. When you’re in the process of figuring out how to sell NFTs (on that very new market, maybe with a lot of competition,) having this sort of background makes it easier to forge ahead.

Connect with others to compare notes and learn more about how NFTs work. Below I have answered some fundamental questions:

Where are NFTs sold?

NFTs can be sold on various digital marketplaces. The largest one is the OpenSea exchange, where many types of NFTs are on display for sale.

However, other companies operate NFT marketplaces and exchange platforms as parts of their own blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystems.

Some NFT marketplaces are adjacent to in-game systems where the NFTs themselves will be valuable to video game players. The NFT community is diversifying, and more platforms are getting involved in the NFT market. 

Here is a list of some of the most popular NFT marketplaces:

Sell NFTS

What is NFT rarity?

NFT rarity involves looking at a particular NFT and seeing how much value it can have based on its uniqueness in the market.

Rarity is often assessed within collections – for example, if there’s a collection of 100 NFTs but only one has a particular trait, that one NFT will be considered a rare part of the collection and can be valued accordingly.

So if out of 100 NFTs of a person’s face in different poses, if only one is wearing a hat, that NFT can command more valuable with more statistical rarity. Collectors will also combine features to look for super-rare instances of NFTs. 

Take a deeper dive with this article on Rarity: How to Know if an NFT is Rare: The Ultimate Guide.

What are NFT floor prices?

An NFT floor price is basically an indicator of the lowest price that someone can buy an NFT for in current market conditions.

NFT floor prices will change over time with various factors like supply and demand and the reputation of any brands or creators linked to a particular NFT. It’s essential for sellers to understand the market dynamics as they price their NFTs. 

You can find even more info on floor prices here: Understanding NFT Floor Prices & Essential Sales Stats

Is an NFT a cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrencies and NFTs are similar in that both of them are made of blockchain tokens. However, they’re very different in a critical way.

Cryptocurrency tokens are interchangeable as part of a marketed asset base. NFTs are different – each NFT is a unique token that can’t be interchanged with others.

That single token on the blockchain represents a smart contract that gives the holder certain ownership rights over a tokenized asset. These rights depend on the individual contract.

Final Thoughts

The NFT game is fun, creative, and exciting. NFTs are the way of the decentralized future. It’s important to know that “yes,” you too can get involved with just a little bit of knowledge and motivation. The technology isn’t super difficult to understand, and to mint, your own NFTs is relatively easy.

The selling part can be a challenge as you will want to create a loyal following or fanbase that is willing to invest in you. Just because you create an amazing NFT doesn’t mean someone will buy it. But in time, if you are able to master creativity, uniqueness, promotion, and marketing, you should be able to make it.

That being said, I suggest adding these articles to your reading list: