Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are a revolutionary new art form that is taking the world by storm. With its popularity exploding in the mainstream, it might be worth knowing how to sell NFT art. This can even be done for free on some of the more popular NFT marketplaces.
In this step-by-step guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about turning your digital assets into NFT art.
In this guide:
What is NFT minting?
NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token and is used to prove ownership of a specific asset. In general, we refer to digital assets when we talk about them. NFT minting simply refers to creating it on the blockchain.
What can be an NFT? Basically everything we have and own in the digital space. It can be a tweet, a piece of digital art, or even a music album, but the most successful we’ve seen in 2021 have been art collections.
Do you want to know the Top 10 cryptocurrencies with the highest profit potential for 2022? You can see the list by clicking here.
With the help of blockchain technology, artists from anywhere in the world can reach art collectors and sell their work securely. The best news about this is that anyone can create and learn how to sell NFT art.
But the process of tokenizing a digital asset, or minting NFTs, incurs a terrible gas fee. Most of them are created on Ethereum, so we will talk about minting on Ethereum. But the popular network has a big disadvantage when it comes to gas transactions and fees, generally high gas fees. This will be a sore spot until the network switches to Ethereum 2.0.
While the process of minting an NFT is not much different than uploading content to a streaming platform, the gas fee is not an insignificant amount and can fluctuate over time. We recommend checking the current prices of Ethereum gas fees on Etherscan before minting and executing trades.
To mint and craft, you’ll need a cryptocurrency wallet, like MetaMask, and some Ether (ETH) to pay for gas fees. However, in this guide, we will show you how to create and sell NFTs for free using the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains.
Coin NFT for free
To find out how to sell NFT art, you first need to choose an NFT marketplace where you can mint your NFT for free. You will also need a cryptocurrency wallet to pay fees and receive payments if your NFT is sold.
You can create and sell NFTs on many specialized platforms. We will cover the most popular platforms for NFT trading: OpenSea and Rarible. As for the cryptocurrency wallet, there are many wallets compatible with these platforms, but we will use MetaMask since it is one of the most popular among cryptocurrency users.
However, an important aspect of these popular NFT marketplaces is that they allow free minting of NFTs, but still charge a service fee of 2.5% (of the selling price) for each NFT listed. This fee goes to the platform and not to the blockchain network.
This step-by-step guide will help you understand how to create and sell NFTs, regardless of how new or experienced you are with the crypto space.
How to mint free NFT on OpenSea?
Step 1. Install and create a MetaMask wallet
MetaMask is one of the most popular cryptocurrency wallets and works as a browser extension on your device. If you haven’t used it before, go to the MetaMask website and download the wallet.
Do you already have a MetaMask wallet? You can then import it using the secret recovery phrase. If you are new, create a new wallet following the indicated steps. Be sure to write down the passphrase (using pen and paper), as you’ll need it to get your wallet back if something happens to your device. You will also need to set a password for the wallet, which you will need each time you want to connect it to a new app.
Your wallet should look like this.
Step 2. Connect MetaMask to OpenSea
Go to the OpenSea marketplace and click on the top right wallet icon to connect your wallet. Select MetaMask and confirm the connection from the wallet (a popup will appear). After your wallet is connected to the NFT marketplace, you will be able to view your profile and create your first NFT.
Step 3. Create and mint free NFT at OpenSea
You can choose between an individual or NFT collection. Considering the most popular NFTs, we recommend minting a collection of NFTs as they seem to be more successful than individual NFTs.
To create a single NFT, click Create (in the top right menu). If you want to mint an NFT collection, click on the account icon (top right, next to the wallet icon) > My Collections > Create a Collection.
The steps are quite similar for both individual and collection. The NFT collection will require additional details and after creating it, you will be able to add items to it and select the exact number of each NFT to be minted. You can always burn some of these later if you want to create more scarcity for your NFTs.
For each item or NFT, you will need to provide a few details, including:
Since we are talking about how to create and sell your NFTs for free, it is important to select the Polygon blockchain, rather than the default Ethereum.
Most of you have heard that Ethereum is the blockchain for NFTs, but there are other blockchains that support smart contracts and NFT minting. Polygon is one of the top networks for NFT and crypto transactions, offering significantly lower fees and faster transaction speed. In this case, it allows OpenSea creators to mint NFTs for free.
Click Create and your first NFT will be minted. However, the item is not for sale and you will not find it if you try to search for it using the search box.
Step 4. List your NFT
To list your NFT, click Sell (top right).
You can set the desired price for your NFT.
Once you have configured all the details, click Complete Listing and the NFT will be listed for sale.
Please note that OpenSea has a 2.5% service fee, which will be deducted from the selling price, after the NFT has been sold.
And that is! You now know how to create and sell NFTs on OpenSea.
What is “Lazy Minting”?
Lazy Minting, also known as Gasless Minting, allows NFTs to be minted at the time of purchase (and not creation) and was created to eliminate any upfront costs for new artists. Deferred minting is a feature available on the most popular markets, including OpenSea and Rarible.
Lazy mining was introduced in late 2021 as gas fees proved to be an issue for creators, particularly those who are new to the field and don’t want to spend a lot before knowing if their work will sell.
With lazy mining, it is possible to delay the cost of minting an NFT by using advanced techniques until it is sold to its first buyer. It is practically minted on the blockchain until it is first sold. The data about it is stored in the IPFS, a decentralized file storage system, until it is minted.
The transaction that allocates the NFT is also responsible for gas fees. That is why the creator does not have to pay any additional cost for minting. A portion of the purchase price goes towards creating the NFT record on the blockchain.
How to mint free NFT in Rarible
Another popular NFT marketplace for NFT art, in-game collectibles, and other NFT assets is Rarible. We’ll walk you through all the steps necessary to learn how to sell NFT art for free on Rarible. Since you will need a crypto wallet to connect to Rarible, we will use the same MetaMask wallet as we use for OpenSea.
Another popular marketplace for NFT art, in-game collectibles, and other NFT assets is Rarible. We’ll guide you through all the necessary steps to learn how to sell free NFT art on Rarible. Since you will need a cryptocurrency wallet to connect to Rarible, we will use the same MetaMask wallet that we use for OpenSea.
Step 1. Install and create a MetaMask wallet
This step is identical to the first step in the OpenSea platform. If you don’t have a MetaMask wallet, install and create a wallet on your device. Be sure to keep your secret recovery phrase safe, in case something happens to your device.
Step 2. Connect MetaMask to Rarible
Go to Rarible.com and connect your MetaMask wallet by clicking Login > Login with MetaMask.
Step 3. Create and sell NFTs on Rarible
Once you have confirmed the connection to the marketplace from your wallet and accepted Rarible’s Terms of Service, you can click Create (top right) and create a new NFT in Rarible.
Choose the Ethereum blockchain and choose Single or Multiple NFT.
Choosing multiple means that you want to create an NFT collection, which is considered a more popular option. However, for the purpose of our guide on how to create and sell NFTs for free, there is no difference, and that is why we will choose Single.
You will then need to enter all the details of your new NFT, including:
It is important to choose the Rarible (RARI) collection if you want to benefit from the free minting feature.
Also, you need to make sure that the free minting option is enabled, which is actually the “Lazy Minting” option in Rarible. By checking this option, the NFT is minted only when the NFT is first sold on the platform and the buyer will pay the gas fees for the minting.
Once you’ve entered all the details and made sure everything is ok (because you can’t change any of these later), scroll down and click Create Item to create your first NFT in Rarible.
After creating the NFT, it will be available for sale on Rarible. However, until someone actually buys the NFT, it is minted on the Ethereum blockchain, the NFT will not be recorded on the blockchain.
Congratulations on learning how to sell free NFT art on Rarible!
How to sell your NFTs?
Now that you have learned how to sell your NFTs for free on OpenSea and Rarible, you need to focus on the two main aspects of selling NFTs, which are building a community around your NFTs and promoting your NFTs.
Create a community
Building a community around your NFTs is an important step that every new NFT artist should focus on. For example, OpenSea and other popular NFT marketplaces use social proof to approve NFT art. OpenSea requires that you include at least a count of the social media channels you use to manage your NFT collection and share it with the public.
Make it a point to let your audience know you are interested in NFTs. Spread the word as soon as you have your first NFT collection.
Promote your NFTs
You need to learn how to market your NFTs to have the best chance of selling your digital art. You can’t just list it and expect people to buy it. Your NFTs should be promoted to your followers on all available social media channels. Most NFT artists and creation labs use Twitter, Telegram, Discord, and Reddit to keep in touch with their fans.
OpenSea or Rarible to sell NFT?
Now that you know how to sell NFT art on OpenSea and Rarible platforms, you may be wondering which marketplace is better. This comes down to their community, established fan base, different platform features, and personal preferences. While there are some differences between OpenSea and Rarible, they tend to borrow features from each other, if the market likes a particular feature.
In the end, these are the two most popular NFT marketplaces and they are quite similar. However, one important difference is the ability to mint NFTs on different blockchains. OpenSea offers creators the option to mint NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain or the Polygon blockchain. Rarible offers creators the ability to mint NFTs on Ethereum, Flow, and Tezos. Since NFTs are a fairly recent trend, this difference may not exist in the future, as the two NFT marketplaces will aim to encourage new NFT creators to join the crypto space.
Another feature available on Rarible is the ability to request a verified badge. Artists may like this feature better, and this could play a role in choosing the best platform for selling NFTs.
