Anya Zhukova · October 24, 2024 · 10 min read If you’re interested in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology and want to make money off of it, you’ve probably heard of NFTs. They allow you to turn pieces of art and digital work into NFT tokens and then sell the tokens in the NFT marketplace.
In this step-by-step guide, we’ll show you how to create your own NFT art, and how to sell it online for the first time.
What’s an NFT?
NFTs or non-fungible tokens are pieces of unique data stored on a blockchain. An NFT could be a video, image, a GIF, or any form of digital art. NFTs represent digital ownership of a piece of art, music, and many other file types.
The “non-fungible” part is what makes NFTs stand apart from fungible assets like gold, silver, paper money, and cryptocurrency. Their fungibility means that, for example, you can exchange $100 for any other $100, or that one ounce of gold has the same value as any other ounce of gold..
NFTs as digital assets are all unique. You can’t exchange one NFT for another NFT, making them non-fungible.
It’s important to remember that an NFT isn’t an object but instead a string of characters that you can use as proof of ownership. An NFT can also publicly certify that your digital file is authentic and not a copy.
How Do NFTs Work?
NFTs require the creation of digital tokens, through a technique called cryptography. In the crypto world, this token creation process is referred to as minting. Typically, to mint NFTs, you have to pay to create smart contracts.
Smart contracts are pieces of software code that allow a blockchain to store information in a secure and transparent way. Ultimately, these codes are what manage the ownership and transferability of NFTs.
How Much Does Selling NFTs Cost?
When you sell NFTs, you should also expect to spend some money on it. Most NFTs rely on the Ethereum blockchain for transaction validation, and even NFT creation can cost you money.
The exact amount of money you’ll have to pay to sell your NFT depends on Ethereum “gas fees” that vary depending on time of day, and from one platform to another. While you can’t avoid paying gas fees, you can minimize them by waiting for gas prices to go down. You can use websites like Etherscan to find out the current cost of Ethereum gas. Another reason there’s no fixed price for creating and selling your NFT is because the NFT gas fees also depend on the size of your digital asset and how complex the transaction is.
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On some NFT platforms, buyers pay gas fees to validate a transaction on the blockchain through their digital wallet. On other platforms, you as a seller have to pay gas fees to mint and sell NFTs. While there are no exact numbers on how much minting and selling NFTs cost, here are the average estimates:
- $70 to produce (mint) one NFT
- $15 to list your NFT
- $50 to auction the NFT
If at some point you decide to abandon the idea of selling your NFT, you’ll also have to pay a couple of bucks for destroying your token.
There are many different platforms and blockchains where you can mint and sell your NFTs, all of them have their own advantages and disadvantages for NFT creators. Some of the most popular platforms are Rarible, Opensea, and Superrare.
Before picking a platform that suits your needs, you need to do the research to find out gas prices and transaction fees in advance. While the popular blockchain among NFT creators is Ethereum, other popular choices include Polkadot, Tezos, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, and Cosmos.
If you’re just dipping your toes into the NFT business, follow our instructions to use the OpenSea platform and Polygon blockchain, since this combination allows you to create and list your NFT for free (without paying gas fees).
How to Create Your First NFT
Before you can create your first NFT and sell it on the OpenSea platform, you need to connect your crypto wallet to OpenSea. Don’t have a crypto wallet yet? Not a problem. There are plenty of services that you can use to create a wallet. Metamask and Coinbase are some of the most popular ones. They’re also beginner-friendly and allow you to have your Metamask wallet or Coinbase wallet ready to use in just a few minutes.
How to Create a Cryptocurrency Wallet Using Coinbase
In this tutorial, we’ll use Coinbase as an example. To create a Coinbase crypto wallet, follow the steps below.
- Open the Coinbase website. In the top right corner, select Get Started.
- Fill in the form to create a Coinbase account. When you’re finished, select Create account at the bottom of the screen.
- You’ll be asked to verify your account by email. After this step, you can start using your Coinbase account and transfer cryptocurrency to it.
- Go back to the Coinbase website and log into your account.
- Under Assets, select Get Wallet.
- This will prompt you to install the Coinbase Wallet browser extension. If you’re using Chrome, select Add to Chrome to continue.
- When you open the browser extension, select Create new wallet.
- Make sure to backup your wallet and save the recovery phrase to your password manager or somewhere else where you can access it in case you need it. This phrase is the only way to recover your crypto wallet should you forget your password details later. Then follow the onscreen instructions to initialize and then finish creating your Coinbase wallet.
You can now access your Coinbase crypto wallet from the list of browser extensions. You can use it to quickly view your crypto balance, as well as see your NFTs and a list of transactions.
How to Create Your First NFT Collection on OpenSea
The next step is connecting your Ethereum (ETH) wallet to the OpenSea platform. Note that you don’t need to have any crypto in your wallet, you can use this method even if your balance is at zero.
Once your wallet is connected to OpenSea, follow the steps below to create your first NFT.
- On OpenSea, you initially need to create an NFT collection. To do that, choose My Collections from the site’s menu, and select Create a collection.
- On the next page, you’ll need to fill in all of the important details about your NFT artwork. You need to upload a logo image, featured image, and banner image for your collection, come up with a name and a description for your NFTs – all of that is important for capturing the attention of your potential buyers. You can also come up with a customized URL for your OpenSea collection which will make it easier to share the link. You can also choose a category for your collection (art, collectibles, music, photography, etc) and even add your personal links as an NFT artist.
- Further down the page, you’ll find an important option to add Creator Earnings. This is a percentage fee that you’ll collect when a buyer re-sells your NFT. You can set it to anything you like, or leave it at zero. If you choose to add a fee, you’ll also need to fill in your payout wallet address.
- The next step is selecting the Blockchain.Select Polygon to avoid paying gas fees. Then choose payment tokens that can be used to buy your NFTs.
- Finally, select the Create button at the bottom of the page to finish setting up your collection.
How to Mint an NFT
Now that your NFT collection’s ready, you can mint your first NFT on OpenSea.
- Go to the OpenSea website and open your collection.
- In the top right corner, select Add item.
- On the Create New Item page, upload an image, video, audio, or 3D model to mint as an NFT. The file types supported include JPG, PNG, GIF, SVG, MP4, WEBM, MP3, WAV, OGG, GLB, and GLTF. The maximum file size is 100MB.
- You can fill in more details about your NFT on the same page. You can add the item description, a link to a webpage with more information about the item, as well as add any unlockable content that can only be revealed to the owner of the item.
- After you fill in all of the details, scroll down and select Create.
That’s it, your NFT will be minted in just a few seconds. After your NFT’s minted, you can edit it to change the description or any other details.
How to Sell Your NFT
When you minted an NFT, you can list it on OpenSea and wait to make your first sale. To sell your NFT, open it from your collection and select the blue Sell button in the top right corner of the screen.
Select the price for your item in ETH, and the duration. On OpenSea, the minimum price you can set is $2. If you don’t want your NFT to be available immediately, you can set any day in the future to be the start date of your sale. OpenSea also allows you to reserve your NFT for a specific buyer. If you choose that option, you need to fill in the buyer’s crypto wallet address.
We set an ambitious 1ETH price for our piece of art. The price and the sale duration are two things you won’t be able to change later, so you shouldn’t rush when completing this step. We recommend having a look around to see how much other users are asking for similar art pieces before you decide on yours.
To finish listing your NFT, select Complete your listing. OpenSea will request you to submit your electronic signature through your crypto wallet.
That’s it, you’ve successfully listed your first NFT on OpenSea! However, minting and listing your NFT is much easier than actually selling it. On Opensea, you can only choose the duration of your sale. On other platforms like Rarible, you can also set up a timed auction or unlimited auction to improve your chances of selling the token.
Another way to increase your chances is to have a following on a social network that you can use to promote your art. For example, you can advertise your NFTs on your Instagram account, your Facebook page, or on specialized subreddits. You can do small giveaways to promote your collections and get the potential buyers’ attention.
A Pro Tip for Selling Your NFTs
The NFTs that sell well are mostly those coming from established artists (see Beeple and his collection for example) and social media influencers with big following.
However, for those who are new to selling NFTs there’s also a way to profit from selling their tokens. When you create your NFTs, you need to think how the buyer could utilize them in more than one sphere. In other words, what value does your NFT have aside from being a digital asset stored on the blockchain?
If it can be used in real life in one way or another – that’s an NFT that has a potential to become popular among buyers and sell. A good example are the NFTs that illustrate and raise awareness about the conflict in Ukraine. They’re also used to raise money for charities.
