The recent surge in Non-Fungible Tokens has sparked curiosity in the minds of many investors. Artists, Celebrities, and companies are seeking to launch their NFTs. However, the cost of Gas Fees makes the buying and selling transactions too expensive and confusing, especially if you are a beginner.
This is due to the ever-rising Ethereum, the blockchain backing up most NFTs. This guide will explore gas fees, their importance in these transactions, and how to buy and sell NFTs without paying the Gas Fees.
What are NFT Gas Fees
To understand how we can buy and sell NFTs without paying the high gas fees, we must begin by looking at what gas fees are. A gas fee is a network-specific transaction cost on the (CRYPTO-ETH) blockchain. Gas Fees are the amount paid by the buyer or the seller to compensate for the power consumed during the blockchain transactions when minting the NFT on the Ethereum blockchain.
The unit of measurement for gas fees is Gwei, where One unit of Gwei is equal to one-billionth of an ether (0.000000001 ETH). Gwei is a small fraction of the Ethereum Native Token. Gas Fees fluctuate according to the complexity of the transaction, how much energy is required in the transaction, and the congestion on the network.
If the NFT transaction is complex and higher computation energy is required, the gas fees will be higher. You should also expect high gas fees when there is congestion on the network.
Why do Gas Fees Matter?
Blockchain technology has become a vital part of the tech industry as it maintains all transactions that have ever taken place on the blockchain network. All miners share a distributed ledger on the blockchain. Non Fungible Tokens(NFTs) exist and are created on the blockchain to give ownership to the buyer.
A series of blockchain transactions are executed to create an NFT, which requires transaction fees. These fees are known as Gas Fees. The miners use their computers to validate and maintain all NFT transactions. Ethereum is the most common blockchain backing up NFTs, followed closely by Solana and Polygon.
Users must pay gas fees to buy or sell NFTs or tokenize any blockchain asset. This is similar to the fees one pays when swiping a credit card. The miners utilize computing power to upload digital files on the blockchain as digital assets to create a token (Minting NFTs). Thus, gas fees are necessary to compensate the miners for using their computers to execute and store transactions.
Gas fees also reduce the risk of scammers and hackers from the blockchain with false transactions, as each transaction has costs.
Why are NFT Gas Fees High
Ethereum Blockchain has the highest gas fees where most NFTs are based; consequently, gas fees for NFTs are very high. As mentioned earlier, gas fees depend on the type of transaction and the network demands on the blockchain. Gas fees run between $5 to $500 depending on the following metrics:
- Miner gas fee tip: If you are an NFT artist, you may tip a miner to verify your transaction before others in the queue.
- Data: The larger the data in the transaction, the higher the gas fees required to complete the transaction.
- Network operations: The gas fees are proportional to the number of network requests on the blockchain.
At the height of the NFT Mania at the close of business in 2021 and the onset of 2022, several artists had highlighted that they had spent a lot of money on Gas Fees. The NFT surge had led to more network demands, thus escalating network demands on the Ethereum blockchain and other notable blockchain networks such as Solana and Polygon. This led to NFT gas Fees outweighing the NFT prices.
How to Buy NFTs Without Paying Gas Fees
Using Unique Platforms
There are numerous ways in which you can lower gas fees when buying your NFTs. The Ethereum blockchain backs most NFTs; thus, NFT purchases on other platforms will be lower as there is a lesser network demand. The PoW-to-PoS switch has benefited many NFT artists by significantly lowering gas fees.
However, other platforms have emerged where you can avoid incurring high costs in purchasing your NFTs. These platforms have devised ways to buy your NFTs using your credit card other than crypto. This method helps the user bypass the Ethereum Blockchain.
Using Sidechain Networks
Using a sidechain network is another way to save on gas fees. A sidechain network is a blockchain that operates away from the parent chain, but a two-peg connects it to the main chain to enable the transfer of digital assets. Sidechain networks allow users to verify their transactions much faster and use less gas fees.
Buying Directly from the Artist
Buying the NFTs directly from the artists if they are willing to sell them without the gas fees is another way to evade the high gas fees; you will likely find this option on NFT marketplaces.
Timing your Transactions
Picking the right time to buy your tokens may help you save on gas fees. This is the most straightforward strategy to reduce your gas fees, although not necessarily purchase your NFTs with no gas fees.
The Ethereum network gas fees may range from as high as 50 Gwei to 7 Gwei in a day. When buying your NFT, you should buy the tokens with lesser market demand. The gas fees are mostly high during weekdays and at midnight and are lowest at lunch hour.
Slower Transactions
Another way to significantly lower your gas fees when buying NFTs is lowering your miner tip or priority charge. Miner tips are required to incentivize the miner to verify your transactions much quicker; however, if time is a non-issue, in your case, reducing these charges will save you more fees. Standards transactions are cheaper.
Setting a Maximum Fee
You can manually set a maximum fee for your transactions; this comes in handy when the network is congested hence unpredictable base costs. The network often determines the base costs; thus, failing to set the maximum fee may lead to paying extremely high gas fees in your transaction.
Utilizing Gas free products
There are currently gas-free products in the market; however, these products are currently unconventional. They solve the gas-free problem in the NFT industry. The product applies the meta-transaction notion that allows third parties to pay the gas fees on behalf of the buyer. This has made the NFT purchasing process easier and faster, thus more sales and revenue.
How to Sell NFTs Without Gas Fees
Gas fees are also involved when selling your NFTs; sellers often need to be made aware of this, leading to them making losses. However, a few ways exist to evade the gas fees or significantly reduce your expenditure. Some of these ways include;
Minting Free NFTs
Create your NFTs on a platform that does not eat too much into your profit. One such platform is the MetaMask Wallet. Here is a step-by-step guide on how you can make free NFTS
1: Download and configure the MetaMask Wallet
You can do this by downloading the wallet on the MetaMask website. You can import the wallet using the recovery phrase if you already have the wallet.
2: Connect MetaMask to your preferred NFT marketplace
You can do this by visiting your preferred marketplace and clicking on the wallet option in the tab’s upper right corner. Then choose MetaMask then confirm the connection once a pop-up appears. Once connected to the market, you can see your profile and make your NFTs.
3: Create and Mint NFTs on preferred Marketplace
Here you may decide to sell one NFT or an NFT collection; however, it is recommended that you mint a popular NFT Collection as they perform better on marketplaces than single NFTs. You can add items to the collection and decide how many you want to mint. Upon clicking Create, your first NFT will be created; however, the item is still unavailable for purchase and cannot be located in the search box.
4: Create a List of your NFTs
Click on the sell icon on the marketplace to sell your NFT to begin the selling transaction. Here you can set the price for your NFT. After feeding in all the information, click on the complete listing to make your NFT available for purchase.
Using Top Platforms
There are a few marketplaces where you can bypass the gas fees. Some of these platforms include;
OpenSea
This is the most popular NFT marketplace in the crypto sphere currently. It has a “lazy minting” feature permits creators to sell their NFTs without incurring gas fees. The “lazy minting” functionality enables NFT developers to create NFTs with fewer costs as it decreases the entry barrier.
This saves up on gas fees until the NFT is purchased. This ensures that the developers only create NFTs that sell without losing money. You can create NFTs on OpenSea by clicking on the Create icon at the upper right corner of the website. Users can organize their NFTs without paying gas fees in advance.
Rariable
Rariable is another popular marketplace where you can sell your NFTs without gas fees. Rariable also launched a lazy mint functionality that has provided artists with an affordable way of selling their NFTs without incurring gas fees. The platform also allows the seller to pass on the minting fees to the buyer enabling them to sell the NFTs for free.
Versify
Versify is a platform that has made it easier for artists to sell their NFTs as they do not need to pay their gas fees. Buyers do not also incur gas fees when purchasing their tokens. Versify also allows users to use their credit cards, enabling artists to sell their NFTs to people who are not vast with blockchain technology and crypto wallets such as MetaMask.
Final Take
Buying and selling NFTs requires incurring gas fees which could be more transparent and convenient for most beginners. However, there are a couple of ways to circumvent the rules. As NFTs take a toll on the tech and e-commerce industry, we hope that some solutions discussed in this guide will be implemented to make NFT transactions easier for users.