OpenSea NFT Marketplace Guide
How to Buy, Sell, and Trade NFTs on OpenSea
NFTs are drawing mainstream attention as they move to the center of crypto gaming, the metaverse, and Defi. Much of that attention will inevitably be focused on the marketplaces where NFTs are traded. OpenSea is the go-to marketplace for digital assets and collectibles on the most robust NFT ecosystem in crypto: the Ethereum network.
The marketplace was founded by Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah in 2017. It was the first NFT marketplace that listed Cryptokitties, a wildly popular first-generation NFT. Since then, OpenSea’s catalog has grown to include a vast number of collections.
This deep dive is a beginner’s guide to investing in, collecting, and trading non-fungible digital assets on OpenSea. At the end of this guide, you’ll know how to buy and list items, hold auctions, set royalties, and speculate about the future of the marketplace.
What You Need to Explore OpenSea
To explore OpenSea, you’ll need:
- A mobile phone or computer (the latter is preferred)
- A compatible Web3 wallet
- Crypto to fund your wallet
A mobile phone or computer
While OpenSea works with mobile web3 wallets, it is advisable to use a computer while following this guide as the user interface is easier to navigate.
A compatible Web3 wallet
A Web3 wallet, also called a crypto wallet, is an application that allows you to interact with decentralized applications (called dapps). Web3 is the web 3.0, the third iteration of the world wide web and all the protocols that underpin it. Regular browsers like Chrome are native to Web2, rendering them incompatible with blockchain-powered applications.
Web3 wallets act as a bridge between web2 browsers and web3 dapps, serving as both a wallet for storing cryptocurrency/NFTs and a light node that allows regular browsers to access dapps and explore the web 3.0.
MetaMask is the recommended wallet for the Ethereum blockchain although OpenSea is compatible with a host of other wallets like Coin 98, Trust Wallet, Math Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, etc., as shown below.
To use MetaMask, install it on your web browser or mobile phone. For browsers, head over to the MetaMask website and click download, then choose “Install Metamask for Chrome” or FireFox as the case may be.
Unfortunately, Mac’s Safari browser is not currently supported.
Features of OpenSea.io
OpenSea processes an average monthly trade volume of $2.72Bn from collections listed across eight major categories. In January 2022, OpenSea reported trade volume of $5Bn.
Helpful stats and rankings
The Stats section provides statistical data which investors can use to gauge the performance of interesting collections.
Multichain support
OpenSea supports the Ethereum blockchain, the Polygon network, and the Klayton blockchain. Given Ethereum’s high gas fees, Polygon’s POS network is a cheaper alternative for retail investors who don’t have the big bucks to pay for gas on the Ethereum Mainnet.
No-code NFT creation
OpenSea also supports the creation of NFTs using a graphical interface. Creators can create collectibles in a few clicks and sell them on the marketplace.
Flexible buy and sell options
OpenSea provides several buy, sell, and resale options. The major ones are fixed-price listings and reserve auctions. We’ll touch more on that soon.
NFT transaction history
NFTs listed on OpenSea usually come with a history of previous transactions. You can use an NFT’s contact address to track how many people owned the digital asset before you.
Assets Listed on OpenSea
OpenSea’s catalog includes a variety of collections under eight major categories that can be accessed by clicking the “Explore” icon. These categories include:
Art
The magic money-making jpegs we’ve come to know and love.
Music
Artists can sell copies of their tracks and albums as NFTs.
Domain names
Permanent Web3 Domains from services like ENS (Ethereum Name Service) and Unstoppable Domains are traded in this category. You can also get names for avatars in metaverses like Decentraland and Crypto Voxels.
Virtual worlds
Everything from plots of land on Sandbox, to windmills and ranch houses in TownStar, to mighty beasts on Illuvium, can be obtained in this category; provided it’s on the Ethereum or Klayton blockchain.
Trading cards
Founders’ collection cards and other valuable pieces from card-based blockchain games are traded in this category. If it’s a card, it’s here.
Collectibles
This category is a mixture of digital collectibles from other categories. These could be regular 2D NFT jpegs, 3D voxels, or assets in open-world metaverses.
Sports
Sport fans can get NFTs like digital trading cards of sports stars, NFTs for racing games like Zed Run, or sport-related jpegs like SportPunks.
Utility
Items that have use in games or open-worlds are found in this category. They are usually playable characters or land NFTs.
How to Connect your Wallet to OpenSea
Navigate to the top right corner of the homepage and click on the wallet icon. Then select your preferred wallet from the list.
How to Set up Your Profile
After connecting your wallet, you can access your profile where you’ll see the NFTs you’ve collected, created, and hidden, as well as your recent activities and offers for NFTs you have listed for sale.
To edit your profile, click on the settings icon at the right side of your profile or navigate to the dropdown menu under your profile icon at the top right corner of the homepage and click settings.
In the profile settings, you can set a profile name, write a short bio, link to your social media handles and website, and set up an email to receive updates. You can also add profile and banner images.
The Notification Settings allow you to set notifications for when bids higher than a certain amount are placed on your listing or when the price of an item you’re bidding on changes.
You can also set notifications for when someone outbids you, when people bid on items you’ve listed, when you’ve successfully purchased an item, and when the price for items you own change significantly.
The Offers Settings allow you to set minimum acceptable offers on items being auctioned. And finally, the Account Support setting is a point of contact between you and OpenSea’s team to help resolve technical issues.
How to Find Great NFTs
There’s no guaranteed way to find great NFTs; the success of a collection depends on factors like the development team, the quality of the art, perceived utility, the strength of the community, and hype.
You’re however not left to your own devices as OpenSea’s filter panel provides an array of tools to aid your search for the next 10X collection. Using the filter parameters and features, you can sift through the sea of assets to find rare gems.
The filter panel
The filter panel includes:
The status filter which has four status options: Buy Now, On Auction, New, and Has Offers. These four parameters cover all possible availability conditions of NFTs on OpenSea.
The Buy Now filter shows fixed-price NFTs that you can buy on the spot. This is useful for filtering out NFTs that aren’t for sale.
The On Auction filter shows NFTs that are currently on auction. Useful for keeping track of NFTs of interest.
The New filter only shows newly released NFTs. Great for getting in early on potential collections.
The Has Offers filter shows which NFTs on auction have offers. It can be used to gauge interest in collections.
The price filter lets you toggle between currencies; usually USD and Ether. You can also set price parameters to pull up NFTs within a price range.
The collection filter allows you to narrow your search to certain collections.
The chain filter focuses your search on one blockchain network, and
The category filter allows you to explore specific categories.
The Homepage
OpenSea’s homepage displays notable upcoming drops, top collections over adjustable time frames, and currently trending collections in adjustable categories. It’s another great way to find NFTs.
How to Buy NFTs on OpenSea
Purchasing NFTs on OpenSea is easy once your wallet is connected and funded. There are three major types of listing that affect how you buy; we’ll cover them in the how to sell section.
On the buy-side, listings are either at a fixed price or auctioned. With auctions, the highest bidder at the end of the auction period buys the item.
The third option is a hybrid between fixed-price listings and auctions where you can bid for the item or out rightly buy it at a set price called the reserve price.
You can make an offer aside from the set buy price and possibly negotiate a lower price with the seller.
To buy an NFT, click on an NFT of choice. If it’s on auction, click “Place Bid” to place a bid (usually higher than the last for English auction). For a fixed-price listing, click “Buy Now”, confirm checkout, and approve the purchase on your Web3 wallet.
Accepted payment methods
The vast majority of NFTs are priced in ETH, however, some sellers accept DAI, USDC, or USD via a credit card.
How to Sell NFTs on OpenSea
There are three major types of listings that investors can take advantage of on OpenSea.
Types of listings
Fixed-price listing: items are listed at a fixed price until they are sold.
English auction: items are bid on for a set period, called the auction period. When the auction period elapses, the highest bidder gets to buy the item. This is the popular ‘traditional auction’.
Dutch auction: a seller lists an item above the perceived market price and buyers bid in decreasing order of magnitude below the set price until a suitable price is chosen.
Usually, the bid that is most appealing to the seller is chosen. In this case, it’s usually the highest bid, which is usually the first one since bids are made in decreasing order of magnitude.
Accepted Currencies
OpenSea supports two major currencies: Ether and USD. On the Ethereum network, sellers can list their items in ETH, DAI, and USDC, while the Polygon network supports payments in Polygon-native ETH and MATIC (although MATIC-priced items aren’t common).
Fees & Royalties
OpenSea charges a 2.5% commission, but only when an item is sold; you aren’t charged for listing. When reselling, you cannot adjust the royalty settings as resellers are not entitled to royalties.
However, as a creator, you can set royalty at any value below 10%.
Primary and Secondary Markets
OpenSea serves as both a primary and secondary market for collections. You can list your NFTs from other marketplaces on OpenSea, you can list a collection that minted on a private server, or list in-game items (like Axies). In these cases, OpenSea serves as a secondary marketplace.
On another hand, creators can debut their collections directly on OpenSea instead of minting separately then listing; making OpenSea a primary market.
Minting NFTs, Gasless Functionality
Ethereum’s infamously high gas fees are known to hinder retail investors, especially where NFTs are concerned. Luckily, thanks to OpenSea’s integration with the Polygon network, creators and investors can mint their creations at negligible gas fees.
The Future of OpenSea and the NFT Marketplace
With the rise of gaming NFT platforms like NFTb and Babylon that support INOs (initial NFT offering), OpenSea will need to make some major upgrades to secure its place as the top NFT marketplace in the ever-expanding space.
An INO is a public sale event where crypto gaming projects that utilize NFTs sell them (usually before the official game launch). Usually, projects sell boxes that contain a bundle of goodies that players can use in-game.
OpenSea will also need to expand to other blockchains like Solana and the BSC with rapidly growing NFT ecosystems.
Conclusion
This guide covered the basics of creating a profile, connecting your wallet, buying, setting royalties, listing, and selling NFTs on OpenSea.
Drop us a line in the comments if you found the guide useful. We’d love to hear from you.
In summary,
- OpenSea remains the largest NFT marketplace with a robust wallet support.
- You can find valuable NFTs using the filter panel to the left of the screen when exploring or by scrolling down the homepage to view highlighted collections.
- You can also use the stats page to view detailed statistics about NFTs listed on the marketplace.
- OpenSea currently only works with the Ethereum and Klayton blockchains, and the Polygon network.
- You can purchase NFTs with ETH, DAI, USDC, or USD via a credit card.
- As a reseller, you’re not entitled to royalties.
- When buying and selling NFTs, be consistent with the network you use.
