OpenSea Review

OpenSea Ratings at a Glance

With non-fungible tokens being made by celebrities like Logan Paul, Grimes and Steve Aoki, digital collectibles are becoming a mainstream movement. Blockchain technology is what makes ownership of digital assets possible, and most non-fungible tokens are secured on Ethereum’s blockchain.

OpenSea is a leading marketplace for non-fungible tokens. The website lets you buy and sell a variety of NFTs, such as domain names, digital art and collectibles using your Ethereum wallet. 

To use OpenSea, you’ll need to use an Ethereum wallet that can connect to decentralized applications (dapps). 

Dapps are programs that are built on Ethereum’s blockchain, allowing you to buy and sell assets through smart contracts. The most commonly used wallet for dapps is Metamask, but OpenSea also supports several other wallets, such as Coinbase Wallet, Fortmatic and Dapper.

OpenSea is a marketplace for digital collectibles. Since the platform uses smart contracts for transactions, the website doesn’t need to hold custody of your collectibles. Instead, you own your collectibles in your Ethereum wallet that’s connected to OpenSea’s website. 

There’s no need to make an account with OpenSea –– all you need to do is connect your crypto wallet. 

OpenSea has over 200 categories of digital assets and over 4 million NFTs on its website. You can bid on these NFTs with Ethereum tokens, such as DAI and Ether. DAI is a stablecoin that’s pegged to the price of $1, making it a less volatile way to buy and sell NFTs. 

These offers are validated by your Ethereum wallet, and if the seller accepts your offer the transaction will be handled by the smart contracts on Ethereum’s blockchain.

Other than offering a marketplace for non fungible tokens, OpenSea lets you create your own NFTs without needing to know how to code. To do so, you can click on the Create tab on OpenSea to create your own NFT collection. 

Don’t expect to make a fortune creating your own NFTs, as most NFTs that aren’t made by celebrities or accredited artists won’t end up selling.

You can make your own NFT collections on OpenSea for free. The only charges on OpenSea are for transactions, where OpenSea takes a 2.5% commission. This is a competitive commission for an NFT marketplace. Popular competitor Nifty Gateway charges a minimum of 5% commission on every sale. 

Due to the high cost to transact on Ethereum’s blockchain, the NFT collection you make will only be minted as a true non-fungible token on Ethereum’s blockchain once a bid for your NFT is accepted. The cost to mint an NFT varies with supply and demand, but you can expect to pay somewhere between $2 and $32 to mint an NFT. At the same time, you can lazy mint your NFT, where the NFT exists, but it is not written to the blockchain until the sale, meaning that the buyer pays the gas fees

Also, certain NFTs have higher transaction fees than others. Some artists take a commission from secondary marketplace sales which is an additional charge on top of the website’s commission. 

And some video game NFTs have extra commissions that are paid to the game developers, so expect to pay anywhere between 5% to 15% commission for these items. You can also set up creator fees for your NFTs, meaning that you will still make a small commission every time the NFT changes hands after the initial sale.

Overall, most customers are happy with the service that OpenSea provides, and most collectors don’t run into any issues. This is because smart contracts are responsible for transacting NFTs and cryptocurrency between buyers and sellers, not OpenSea. 

An issue with transacting through smart contracts is OpenSea’s limited ability to help you with your transaction. Since these transactions are on the blockchain, they’re irreversible and OpenSea can’t modify or cancel transactions made on its website.

Since NFTs have been gaining so much new attention, customer service teams have been overwhelmed with questions from their customers. If you have a problem with your OpenSea account, the website has a frequently asked questions page that answers most common issues with the platform. 

If your question remains unanswered, then you can contact support@opensea.io or join OpenSea’s Discord channel.

OpenSea Mobile App

Currently, OpenSea doesn’t offer a mobile app for its users. You can still use OpenSea on your mobile device, and it’s optimized differently for mobile browsers, making it easy to use on the go. 

To use the platform with a mobile device, you’ll need to use an Ethereum-compatible mobile browser, such as Coinbase Wallet or Opera Touch.

OpenSea is the leading marketplace for NFTs, supporting the widest variety of digital collectibles from ENS domain names to digital art. Its platform is easy to use, and it's one of the easiest and cheapest platforms to create your own NFT collections.

Being that OpenSea is powered by smart contracts, you need to own Ethereum-based tokens to buy NFTs on its website. Getting an Ethereum wallet and transacting in crypto may deter some users, as other platforms like Nifty Gateway allow you to purchase NFTs with a debit card. 

OpenSea vs Competitors

For most collectors, the biggest advantage of using OpenSea is its variety of non-fungible tokens. While OpenSea has the most wide selection of digital collectibles, some other platforms may be a better choice for you, depending on the types of NFTs you’re looking to buy.

Advantages of Using OpenSea

• OpenSea is secured by smart contracts, making fraudulent transactions nearly impossible.
• The platform charges some of the lowest commission fees for buying and selling NFTs.
• You can easily start your own NFT collection without any knowledge of blockchain or coding. Also, this service is free while most competitors charge fees to create NFTs.

Advantages of Using Other Platforms

• Some platforms have exclusive rights to sell on the primary marketplace, such as NBA Top Shots. If you want to purchase a pack of NBA Top Shots, you’ll need to purchase through NBA Top Shot’s website.
• Marketplaces like Nifty Gateway allow its users to buy NFTs with USD. This makes it easier for collectors who don’t own cryptocurrency to buy and sell NFTs.

Frequently Asked Questions