Thanks to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and their immense popularity in recent times, the one question on every creator’s mind is how to create and sell their own NFTs.
The entire NFT space blew up last year, going from $340 million in 2020 to $24.9 billion in 2021, translating to a whopping 7200% increase in value. Now, with so many brands and celebrities turning their attention (and money) to NFTs, it would be a safe bet to assume that NFTs are here to stay a little while longer at least.
If you are tossing with the idea of getting involved in the world of NFT, you’re in the right place. This article will serve as a simple and straightforward guide to creating, minting, and selling your very own NFTs.
Let’s begin!
What is NFT minting?
Being new to the world of NFTs, you may have heard the term “minting” thrown around here and there. NFT minting is simply the process of creating an NFT and then getting it registered on the blockchain. Before you can sell your NFT artwork or collectibles to the consumers, you first need to mint them on the blockchain.
Doing this would create a unique NFT for that digital asset. While being stored on the blockchain, the NFT will be encrypted using a unique code or key that will represent who the owner of it is.
This way, your digital asset becomes an NFT on a smart contract blockchain.
How to Create, Mint, and Sell NFTs
Step 1: Decide What You are Minting
The first thing you want to determine is what kind of NFT you would like to create. Some of the most common choices for NFTs are art pieces such as cartoons avatars or any other kind of visual imagery. The most popular example is that of Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days, which sold at Christie’s for $69.3 million.
Essentially any digital file can be turned into an NFT, including audio and video formats.
For your NFT to be unique, the work must be your own original creation or something that you rightfully own.
Step 2: Choose an NFT marketplace
There are a ton of marketplaces online where you can create, mint, and sell NFTs. The best type of NFT platform for you would depend on your individual needs and the type of NFT you are trying to mint and sell.
One of the most popular and the earliest NFT marketplaces is OpenSea. This marketplace is based on the Ethereum blockchain and presently boasts the most largest user base and trading volume.
Another option is Rarible, which lets you mint your NFT collection on blockchains including Tezos, Ethereum, and Flow.
Both OpenSea and Rarible offer the option of creating and listing your NFT on their platforms for free. In these cases, your work is only minted on the blockchain once it is sold. The buyer of your work will pay the transaction fee that is required to mint the NFT on the blockchain along with the gas fee after the first sale.
Other popular choices for NFT marketplaces include:
- SuperRare – an invitation-only NFT platform.
- Magic Eden – based on the Solana blockchain, it boasts lower costs and higher transaction speed.
- Nifty Gateway – facilitated some of the most popular NFT sales including that of musician Grimes’ videos. Allows purchases and sales in fiat currency.
One important consideration before choosing an NFT marketplace is to look at the type of tokens it supports. Some marketplaces support a wide variety of crypto tokes while others are much more closed and utilize only a specific proprietary token.
You should also ensure that the security of the marketplace you have decided to interact with is top notch and has no history of successful breaches.
Step 3: Create a Digital/Crypto Wallet to Pay for Your NFT
Once you’ve landed on the perfect NFT marketplace for your purpose, it is time to create a crypto/digital wallet that is compatible with that particular platform.
Crypto wallets provide you with a private key. This private key allows you to access your crypto assets, including your NFTs and cryptocurrencies. With the help of this key, you can also send and receive crypto coins in your wallet.
Two of the most popular digital wallets are Coinbase Wallet and MetaMask, both of which are based on the Ethereum blockchain.
You can set up these wallets without having to own any cryptocurrency. You can buy the cryptocurrency coins later from a crypto exchange.
You can also use services that allow you to buy cryptocurrencies directly with credit cards, such as MoonPay.
Keep in mind to never misplace or forget your private key. If you lose it, you will essentially lose access to all your crypto assets.
Step 4: Add Some Cryptocurrency to Your Wallet
Once you have set up your digital wallet, you can now add some money to it. If, for instance, you are using the MetaMask wallet, you would need to add some ETH to it. To do so, enter your account and click on the “Buy” button.
You can then select “Buy ETH with Wyre.” Doing this would redirect you to a page where you can pay using your debit card or Apple Pay.
If you don’t want to part with your money yet, you can skip this stage and set it up later on.
Step 5: Connect Your Wallet to an NFT Platform
In order to create your NFT, you’ll need to connect your chosen digital wallet to the NFT platform you plan on using.
For example, if Rarible is your platform of choice, you should go to its website. Locate the button that reads “Connect wallet” in the right-hand corner of the screen and click on it.
You will then be asked about your wallet provider after which you can connect your wallet with Rarible.
Step 6: Upload and Mint Your Collection
Your crypto wallet is ready. You can now begin creating.
Taking OpenSea as an example, you will go to the menu options that are present at the top of the web page and click “Create.” You should then proceed to connect your wallet to the platform, after which you can upload your NFT file.
After the upload, you can add a name and description along with choosing whether you want the NFT to be minted on Ethereum or Polygon.
There are several optional features as well, such as adding a cover photo and selecting royalties. If you want to make money off of your NFT pieces, you can specify a royalty percentage. Royalties can be added up to 10%.
You can add multiple NFTs to form an NFT collection. Once you have uploaded your collection, your new NFT will be minted on the blockchain once it gets sold. As a first-time seller on the Ethereum blockchain, OpenSea would require you to pay a one-time gas fee.
If you choose to sell a Polygon NFT, you would not need to pay any gas fee. However, there are extra steps involved in that case. Buyers with ETH will have to first transfer their money from the Ethereum blockchain to the Polygon blockchain. Executing this transfer also requires a gas fee.
At the final stage of the process, you would set a price for your NFT and decide the duration that it will be on sale. Once you have done that, click “complete listing.”
Your NFT is now up for sale!
How Much Does It Cost to Create an NFT?
Let’s address the most important question associated with selling NFTs: how much does it cost to create an NFT?
When you mint an NFT, you need to use a cryptocurrency wallet that is native to the blockchain that your NFT is stored in. This wallet is used to pay the transaction fees associated with minting and selling your NFT.
Before your transactions occur on the blockchain, you would be required to pay some gas fees as well.
Gas fee is a necessary cost that you have to pay in order to get the network up and running and perform transactions. It serves as an incentive for the miners on the network to verify and add your transaction to the blockchain.
The cost of gas fees varies depending on the current supply and demand of gas along with a few additional factors.
The transaction cost and the gas fee depend on the blockchain you choose to use. Let’s have a look at some of the most popular options.
For Ethereum
For NFTs, the most popular blockchain is the Ethereum one.
There was a time when minting an NFT on the Ethereum blockchain would cost a transaction fee upwards of $50 to $100.
Fortunately, that is no longer the case. In fact, if you opt for lazy minting instead of regular minting, you can mint an NFT for free on the Ethereum blockchain.
In lazy minting, your NFT only gets minted after it is purchased rather than before. In this case, the selling price covers the minting fees. That means the buyer does the minting of the tokens and not the seller.
If, however, you opt for regular minting, there is a gas fee involved. The value of gas fees fluctuates and it depends on the current ETH value. You can keep an eye out for the latest gas fee costs here.
For Polygon
When it comes to Polygon, there are no upfront costs to minting your NFT. However, the platform charges a 2.5% service fee. This fee is subtracted from the selling price once the NFT is sold.
For Solana
Many people choose Solana’s blockchain, if not Ethereum’s. Solana is a relatively affordable alternative to Ethereum in terms of gas fees.
If you want to use the Solana blockchain, you would need a crypto wallet that supports its native cryptocurrency and then connect it to a Solana marketplace. Some popular Solana marketplaces include Magic Eden and SolSea.
With its blockchain, you only need to pay the Solana transaction fee.
Note that minting an NFT on the Solana blockchain will ultimately require three blockchain transactions. That includes two approval transactions for the minting and a third one for setting the price of your NFT.
These prices are subject to fluctuation and the total cost depends on the market value of SOL.
The Bottom Line
Minting and selling an NFT may seem a bit intimidating at first, thanks to the technical jargon that comes hand in hand with the crypto and blockchain world. Hopefully, this article was able to show you that it is not as complicated as it seems.
With only a few steps, you too can create and sell your original creations on NFT marketplaces and let technology help you set your creative foot forward.