How to Choose the Best NFT Marketplace?

NFT – a buzzy term that most of us happened to hear about in 2021 for the very first time, is the latest way to recognize the possession of digital stuff using a blockchain ledger. An NFT, built on the same fundamental blockchain technology as cryptocurrency, is a unique cryptographic token that cannot replicate. An NFT presents a great opportunity for content creators to get monetary remuneration for their works. These digital assets have allowed the artists to not just rely on galleries or auction houses to sell their masterpieces; rather, they can sell their artwork to a buyer as NFT. By selling their work as NFT, a content creator can get a handsome share of the profits. To create and sell NFTs, a seller needs a marketplace where he can list his NFTs for sale. The industry is full of marketplaces to support you in creating, selling, and buying NFTs, but it seems hard to decide which marketplace would fit your NFT. If you are confused about which marketplace you should stick with for your NFT, this blog would be a perfect guide.

Growth of NFT Marketplace

As per a report by non-fungible.com and L’Atelier BNP Paribas, NFT market was valued at $250 million in 2020. The report further revealed the growth rate of 299% in the NFT marketplace for the same year. In January 2022, the trading volume across all NFT marketplaces surpassed $862 million, which was 85% up from December 2021. Footprint analytics reveals that the number of leading marketplaces has reached 40.

Acknowledging this tremendous growth, sole creators and firms, including retail, entertainment, music, fashion, and more, have started to explore ways to connect with the realm of NFTs. Some sellers opt to develop their own NFT marketplace, but the majority partner with the NFT marketplace of a third party as they find it more feasible.

What is NFT Marketplace and Its Significance?

An NFT marketplace is the gateway for NFT buyers and sellers to trade their digital assets. NFTs are stored, displayed, purchased, sold, and sometimes created/minted at this platform. An NFT marketplace is a similar platform for NFTs as Amazon is for goods. Some marketplaces even offer tools to develop your NFT within minutes. Once an NFT is created, the NFT marketplace allows the content creator to put up his NFT for sale. Here an NFT marketplace bridges the gap between the buyer and the seller. The buyers select a marketplace based on their needs, browse it for NFT and buy their preferred item through bidding. Therefore, an NFT developer must consider and pick the best NFT marketplace to ensure a profitable trade of his digital asset.

Selection of the best NFT marketplace is very crucial as it could impact whether your NFT sells or not. As with any investment, selecting the right marketplace can unlock the revenue streams, whereas the wrong one can extremely backfire – NFTs are no exception. The most important question that the sellers and the buyers are anxious to find the answer to is "What would be the best NFT marketplace to achieve maximum value?" It is so because it’s not always clear which marketplace fits best for them. Therefore, it's vital to research which marketplace suits your NFT and which blockchain it is using. You must understand the landscape of available NFT marketplaces and identify the best fit for your NFT. Partnering with the right marketplace is the crucial first step to getting customer engagement and defending your position in this new digital trend.

Things to Consider While Selecting an NFT Marketplace:

While selecting the NFT marketplace, you must focus on the following points:

1. Either your Project is Single or Multiple?

• Best NFT marketplace for a Single Project
  Major marketplaces that support a single NFT project include:
• Axie Infinity
• CryptoPunks
• NBA Top Shot
• Mobox

These marketplaces have a lower fee. So, if you have a single NFT to sell or buy, you must opt for any of the marketplaces mentioned above.

• Best NFT marketplace for Multiple Projects
  If you have multiple NFT projects, then any of the following might be the best choice for you:
• OpenSea
• Rarible
• Nifty Gateway
• SuperRare

2. What information does the NFT Marketplace provide?

Whether it’s about single or multiple projects, a buyer needs a complete set of information to assist him in making a purchase. The best NFT marketplace must provide the following information to its buyers:

• Number of available NFTs
• Individual price of each NFT
• The number of sales and buys
• The number of Holders
• Historical Trading Information

3. Security

The security that an NFT marketplace provides is crucial for both the creators and the buyers. The best NFT marketplace must provide the following:

• Advanced encryption of private information
• Identity Verification
• Insurance for transactions so that fraud is prevented.

4. No Dubious Costs

It would be best if you did not go for the marketplaces that demand uncertain costs even before you access their user interface.

5. Digital Wallet Facility

A good NFT marketplace must be convenient, regardless of your location or the device. It must be wallet compatible and support various NFT wallets and payment options.

6. Marketplace Ratings

Before deciding about the NFT marketplace, consider the opinions of other people who have experienced that particular marketplace. A detailed study of their reviews would enable you to reach an informed decision.

Selecting a marketplace that could be a perfect fit for your NFT is a hard decision. A detailed consideration of the points mentioned above would help you make a good decision.

Types of NFT Marketplaces

NFTs have succeeded in becoming the major industry. However, like most developing technologies, NFT has several competing marketplaces to sell, trade, or buy NFTs. So, it’s hard to choose which would be the best fit for a typical NFT. A content creator/seller/trader must concentrate on the key differences between the main types of NFT marketplaces and carefully choose the ideal market for his NFT.

NFT platforms/marketplaces range from streamlined (low-cost, more generic) to augmented (high-priced, specialized services). While selecting a marketplace, a content creator or seller must consider the key differences between both types.

1. Streamlined Marketplace

A streamlined platform resembles a traditional medium like Amazon, eBay, Mercari, and Etsy, where the marketplace offers services like hosting auctions and fixed-price sales for a broader range of NFTs. These marketplaces provide limited additional services and have large and diverse user bases because of their breadth. The best example in this group is OpenSea which is considered the largest and leading NFT marketplace. The streamlined marketplace offers generic services to a wide range of NFTs. The predominant focus of such marketplaces is on ensuring effective transactions. They accept credit cards as well as crypto payments in Ethereum and Bitcoin. They even sometimes get specialty tokens. Users can opt for fiat currency or cryptocurrencies as streamlined marketplaces support both. It is best for trading activities.

2. Augmented Marketplace

The primary focus of augmented platforms is Narrow Niches. These marketplaces offer just one specific service to the users instead of the full range of services. The best examples are SoRare and NBA Top Shots, which show NFTs of just one type of nature. Such platforms offer multiple value-added services, including minting, marketing, curation, etc. They further deliver pricing recommendations and portfolio trackers. For instance, SuperRare - which has the main focus on visual Arts, provides the services of general curation and recommendation. SoRare – with the main focus on digital sports cards, holds soccer competitions. In such competitions, the card users make purchases on the platform. The augmented marketplace being highly specialized, offers the sellers a full-service experience.

Which Marketplace is A Perfect Fit for You?

Each type of marketplace has its positives and negatives. For instance, the augmented marketplaces count for a high transaction fee or "take rate" as they offer value-added specialty services. On the other hand, streamlined marketplaces demand decreased initial and perpetual costs. However, these marketplaces either want sellers to invest their resources or outsource experts for designing, creating, and marketing their NFTs. So, be very careful and conduct proper research to select the marketplace that could be the most profitable for your NFT.

Choosing the best marketplace for your NFT depends on your needs. If your company desires to establish a brand by targeting a specific pre-determined set of audiences, it must go for the augmented marketplace for its NFT. The players who have huge fandom in sports and games must prefer the Augmented platform as they need to target a specific audience of sports lovers.

A streamlined platform is the best fit for firms and sole creators with broader appeal. If you do not want your NFT to orient with any specific industry and target a wide range of audiences, then a Streamlined marketplace is perfect. For example, Coca-Cola preferred a streamlined marketplace, "OpenSea," for its vintage “Loot Box” NFT. This NFT contained digital forms of an old-fashioned Coca-Cola cooler, logo, and jacket. It also included an original Coca-Cola refrigerator that was fully stocked and delivered to the winner's home. Since this collection did not belong to a particular industry, Coca-Cola found a streamlined marketplace ideal for their NFTs collection.

There are several NFT marketplaces, each offering somehow different features and fee structures. It isn't easy to choose which one is the best fit for your NFT. Let’s discuss some of the leading NFT marketplaces!

1. Cypto.com – The Best Marketplace for NFT Buyers

When deciding where to buy an NFT, the 1st choice of most buyers is Crypto.com, which is based on Ethereum. This platform is among the leading cryptocurrency exchanges, where more than ten million people are using it. Crypto.com, besides delivering the services of crypto-trading, has also initiated its NFT marketplace in 2021. It offers a convenient process of investing; you need to sign up for an NFT account on crypto.com. Moreover, it provides you with an NFT application that enables its users to make purchases and sales of NFTs through their mobile devices.

Features

• NFT Categories: Art, gaming, sports, celebrities, music, and crypto.
• NFTs availability: Via auction or fixed price
• Network/Token: Ethereum and Crypto.org chain
• Trade Volume: > 5,000 ETH/week
• Transaction Fee to buy an NFT: NILL
• Purchase: A buyer can purchase via credit or debit card, or Ethereum-based cryptocurrency
• Transaction Fee to sell an NFT: Just 1.99% fee
• Gas Fee: No

2. Binance – Best Low-Fee Marketplace for a Trader

As indicated by the name, this NFT platform is run by Binance, i.e., globally the largest cryptocurrency exchange. This marketplace offers a wide collection of tradable assets NFTs on Ethereum Blockchain and Binance Smart Chain. This marketplace is convenient to navigate.

Features

• NFT Collections: Art, sports, gaming, entertainment, collectible and more.
• NFTs Availability: via auction or on fixed price just by using crypto or Binance Exchange.
• Token: Binance Smart Chain or Ethereum.
• Trade Volume: > 40million USD per month.
• Purchase of NFT: via crypto from Binance Exchange.
• Transaction Fee: Very low, just 1%.

Additional Feature offers a “Mystery Box” – buyers can buy a mystery box and get a random highly-valuable NFT. Another significant feature of this marketplace is that if you already have a Binance account, you can use the NFT marketplace with the same credentials. It permits its users to mint their NFT at very low fees that can be paid in the native token of this marketplace called BNB.

3. DraftKings: Best Marketplace for Sports Collectibles

DraftKings is a betting company with a primary focus on sports betting. It launched its marketplace in 2021, and now it boasts limited-edition assets from popular sportspersons. Collectibles from Naomi Osaka, Wayne Gretzky, Tom Brady, and Tiger Woods are some of the famous NFTs listed on this marketplace. Today, this marketplace offers more than 300 sports collectibles. These collectibles range from cheaper to finest price points. Users who have already opened an account on DraftKing scan access this NFT marketplace with the same login permits.

Features

• NFT Categories: Sports collectibles
• NFTs collection: 116
• Network/Token:Polygon
• Purchase: Bysing PayPal
• Transaction Fee to sell an NFT: 5%
• Gas Fee: Yes, while buying an NFT

4. Rarible – Leading NFT Marketplace for ART

It is a leading marketplace for art. However, it also hosts a wide range of several other digital assets. Users can buy NFTs with the help of a debit or credit card. Moreover, this marketplace also supports various wallets, including MetaMask and Coinbase.

Features

• NFT Categories: Art, games, metaverses, music, domains, and memes
• Network/Token: Ethereum
• Collection Size: 400,000 plus
• Trade Volume: More than 390,000/week
• Transaction Fee to sell an NFT: 2.5% for both
• Gas Fee: Yes – 0.010ETH on average while purchasing NFTs
• Purchase: Via Debit or Credit card. Also supports crypto wallets.

5. OpenSea – Overall Best NFT Marketplace for Buying, Selling, and Trading

Concerning trading volume, OpenSea is believed to be the best and the largest marketplace to purchase and sell NFT. It was the first marketplace to introduce NFT trading. Today, its number of users has reached more than one million. OpenSea is just like the Amazon of the NFT marketplace, which holds the stock of every NFT. This marketplace is easy to use. Just sign up for your account on it for free and start to create/mint, sell and browse within minutes.

Features

• NFT Type: Art, photography, sports, music, virtual worlds, etc.
• Token Used: Ethereum, Klaytn, Polygon.
• Number of Collections: more than 1,000,000
• Trade Volume: greater than 5bn USD/month
• Transaction Fee for sellers: 2.5% fee for sellers
• Transaction Fee for Buyers: just the standard network fee, no additional fee.
• Gas Fee: at the time of account registration and disbursement.

Distinguishing Features that make OpenSea a preferable marketplace

OpenSea marketplace accepts more than 150cryptocurrencies for payment. Hence, it makes the purchase and sale of NFTs very convenient for investors as they can use their crypto balance to complete any transaction. Moreover, it is favorable for fourteen various crypto wallets. It is very suitable for users to connect their digital wallets to the OpenSea marketplace by making a few clicks.

According to the existing industry standards, OpenSea is considered the best NFT marketplace because of the following reasons:

1. It provides a wide range of NFTs like Art, sports, music, etc. It allows buying, selling, and discovering certain digital assets like Cryptokitties, Decentraland, Axies, and ENSnames.

2. It features above 700 projects of numerous kinds like collectible games, digital arts, virtual worlds, music, and card games.

3. It includes the assets of ERC721 and ERC1155.

4. It offers an item mining tool to its users. This minting tool enables users to develop the content and create an NFT.

5. The platform of OpenSea is now boasting that it has become a gas-free NFT marketplace with the support of cross-blockchain. Moreover, this marketplace supports Polygon cryptocurrency, which allows you to make trades without paying any fees.

Wrap Up

In the crypto space, NFTs had come into vogue during the last year when they succeeded in getting a significant market. Owing to the spectacular upsurge in the trends of NFTs, we are witnessing several new platforms being introduced. However, these dozens of marketplaces have made it quite hard to determine the best one for your NFT.

NFTs collection is amusing if you select the right marketplace offering relevant and innovative features. Therefore, before you sign up for any NFT marketplace, you must consider the marketplace's significant features to get a delightful experience. Ethereum is the most used blockchain, but it demands a higher gas fee to create your NFT. If you are a beginner collector or have a low budget, don’t go for the marketplaces using Ethereum blockchain technology, as it has high gas fees. Don’t forget that each NFT fits the needs of its specified target audience; therefore, you must choose a marketplace that best suits your needs. In general, a digital wallet-compatible marketplace with lower gas and transactions fees is a perfect fit for any NFT to maximize your returns.

At present, the OpenSea marketplace is mostly in the public eye and is preferred by investors. Although this marketplace has been using Ethereum blockchain technology, recently, it has claimed that it has become a gas-free marketplace. As the hype of NFTs is continuously growing, 2022 will probably witness an influx of more leading marketplaces. With a bundle of options for sellers and buyers, selecting the right marketplace would assist you in selling or buying the right NFT while maximizing returns.