20/01/2022
(Part 2)
How to Buy and Sell Your First NFT on OpenSea? A Step-by-Step Guide:
Now, let's see How to Buy NFT on OpenSea?
How To Buy an NFT on OpenSea❓
1: Get a wallet and fund it
You need a digital wallet with funds to buy NFTs. On OpenSea, the currency you will use to buy is Ether (ETH). For this guide, we’ll use MetaMask, the most popular web wallet for NFTs.
⚠️ Important: in case you install the wallet for the first time, be aware of phishing and double-check you visit the correct website URL, read here for more security tips.
If you don’t already have a wallet installed, go to metamask.io and get it as an extension for your web browser and connect it to OpenSea. In order to do so, go to OpenSea and navigate to the top right bar and click on profile. You’ll be redirected to a new page prompting you to connect your wallet. Choose MetaMask.
Grant OpenSea all the necessary permissions to use your wallet and sign the signature request.
Once installed, you are ready to check out the NFT collections available on the OpenSea marketplace. If you don’t have ETH, go to your MetaMask wallet and click on “Buy” — you can make a crypto deposit directly or use a debit/credit card.
2: Browse the OpenSea NFT collections
First, you need to find the NFT you want to acquire. Go to your OpenSea profile and click on “Explore.” There, you’ll see the thousands of NFT collections available.
On the top right bar, you can filter your search by clicking on Trending, Top, Art, Collectibles, Domain Names, Music, Photography, Sports, Trading Cards, Utility, and Virtual Worlds.
3: Found Something You Want? Buy Now or Make an Offer
When you find something you like, you can buy it directly or make an offer. Keep in mind that some NFTs will have the option “Place Bid,” where you can make an offer to the owner to acquire the item. If you see an NFT like this, make sure you see the number of offers already made to have an idea of how much money you can bid.
On OpenSea, bids must be at least 5% higher than the previous one. But for the sake of the example, we’re just going to buy at a fixed price.
4: The Actual Purchase
In this case, we’re buying an artwork called “Great Ball of Fire.”
Hit “Buy now” to proceed to checkout. You’ll see the details of the NFT, like name, its respective collection, the subtotal, and the total. Click on Confirm Checkout.
Next, OpenSea will load up your MetaMask wallet.
Here you’ll see all the details of your purchases, like the estimated gas fees and the amount of time to process the transaction.
You can change the gas fees by clicking on Edit, but keep in mind that lowering gas fees will considerably reduce transaction speed. The best time to buy using MetaMask is when the Ethereum network is less busy.
Check out the Ethereum Gas Tracker on Etherscan to view current gas fees. You can also check the recommended gas prices on ETHgasstation.
When you’re ready to buy, hit confirm and wait until your purchase is processed.
Just sit back and relax! In just a few seconds, your brand new NFT will appear in your collection. Simply go back to your profile and wait until your new NFT appears.
Easy, right? Click on it to see the details of your NFT.
What if You Want to Sell Your NFT?❓
Now, if you wish to put it up for sale, just click on “Sell” at the top right bar, and you’ll be redirected to a new page to fill in the conditions of the sale.
Choose whether to sell it at a fixed price or a timed auction, the currency, and the expiration date for the sale. Listing is free, but OpenSea charges 2.5% of each sale.
Now, if you want to see your NFT on your MetaMask wallet but it doesn’t appear, don’t worry, it’s not that it’s not there — you have to add it manually.
First, click on your NFT and scroll all the way down to Details.
On that section, click on Contract Address — this will redirect you to the Etherscan page of the specific address of your NFT.
Copy that address and go back to your MetaMask wallet. Below, you’ll find the option “Import Tokens.” Click there and choose “Custom Token.” Paste the address that you copied from the Etherscan page.
The token symbol is just the public name tag, and Token Decimals is just a way to view your NFT. It won’t change the amount that you’re holding. For example, if you choose 3, it will give you 0,001. In this case, we’re going to put 0 and proceed to add it.
Now you can see your NFT right below your funds.
💭 Final Thoughts 💬
Buying and selling NFTs on OpenSea is not as hard as you would think. However, be aware that there are a lot of scammers in this field, and prices can be extremely volatile.
It’s not uncommon to see people lose their money to scammers through phishing or rug pulls. The NFT field is also riddled with wash traders who would generate fake trading volume on certain collections to make them more appealing for investors.
In any case, it’s important to keep in mind that this is a very young market that’s heavily unregulated in the majority of jurisdictions. As such, it’s necessary to address it as such and take the precautions needed to protect your capital.
