How to buy and sell NFTs in 2024 [And the best Marketplaces to use]

At the time of writing, there has been 8.5 billion dollars in Global NFT Sales Volume this year (Oct. 2024).

In 2023, a total of 11.8 billion was transacted, and in 2022 a total of 26.3 billion.

So, although a part of the initial hype around NFTs faded away, there is still a sizeable market.

And I expect the next bull run to blow ’21 and ’22 out of the water. Because NFTs have matured, and it’s clear that they are here to stay. Where the technology was still novel in the last bull market, it’s now clear that NFTs are not a bubble.

One interesting metric that supports this idea is the one below. It shows that even though the global sales volume is down, the number of unique buyers is actually going up.

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The monthly peak was higher in ’21 and ‘22, but this year the numbers have been way more consistent.

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This information tells me that this just might be the ideal moment to get started.

NFTs now have a proven track record and a steadily growing userbase. The infrastructure has improved significantly, and you’re still early enough to get in before the masses do.

And that’s exactly what this article is for: Getting started right now. 😎

Content

What are Non-Fungible Tokens?

The first thing you need to know is: What does “NFT” stand for? 

NFT stands for “Non-Fungible Token”. And "Non-fungible" means it's one of a kind and can't be replaced with something else.

One ETH, for example, can be replaced with another ETH. You don't really care which specific token you have, as long as you hold 1 ETH.  

But when you own an NFT, you officially own the original version of a digital item. And you do care about what specific NFT you hold. It's not interchangeable with “just any other NFT”.

Simply put, an NFT is a digital certificate of ownership, that lives on a blockchain. Like a special badge that helps prove who owns what in the digital world.

NFTs typically include one or more multimedia files. These media files can consist of images, music, GIF, PDF files... you name it.

They can be used for profile pictures, crowdfunding, supply chain management, gaming, real-world asset tokenization... We've only scratched the surface of what this technology can bring us!

NFT Wallet

If you want to get started, the first thing you'll need is a wallet.

Your wallet is your gateway into Web3. When you’re trading NFTs, you’ll need it to buy, sell, and hold your NFTs.  

If you've only been using centralized exchanges to store your tokens so far, a whole new world is about to open up for you. 

Because what you’ll need to fully connect with WEB3, is a Non-Custodial Wallet. This type of wallet isn’t held by a third party, unlike when you store your crypto on centralized exchanges like Binance or Coinbase. If those exchanges go under, you could lose your crypto. Just as you might lose your money if a bank fails.

A Non-Custodial Wallet is entirely under your control. Only you have access to it. And with this type of wallet, you can connect to DApps such as marketplaces and launchpads.

Every blockchain has multiple wallet providers. What they offer is an interface to interact with your wallet. But you’re not creating a wallet "with" the provider—your wallet is created on the blockchain, and the provider simply gives you the tools to interact with it.

The provider can’t access your wallet. And even if they stop their services, it won’t affect your holdings in the slightest. You can access that same wallet through another provider simply by putting in your private keys or seed phrase.

However, this also means that the responsibility lies entirely with you. If you lose your keys, no one can recover your wallet for you. So make sure to store them safely.

Now, back to NFTs. Do you need a special kind of non-custodial wallet for them? Not really. Some wallets offer a nice gallery to display your NFTs, but practically every non-custodial wallet can hold NFTs just like it holds fungible tokens. 

What you do need, are tokens! You'll need enough cryptocurrency in your wallet to buy the NFT you want.

This currency must match the blockchain your NFT is on. So, if you want to buy an Ethereum NFT, you need ETH. If you want a Solana NFT, you need SOL. If you want to buy a Hedera NFT, you need HBAR. And so on.

These are the most popular wallet providers today:

NFT Marketplace

Once your wallet is up and running, you’re ready to connect to a Marketplace.

Like any tradable asset, NFTs need a marketplace for bidding, buying, and selling. Marketplaces are for secondary sales. If you want to buy a new NFT directly from the creator when it first launches, you'll need to connect to a Launchpad—which we’ll cover later.

On an NFT Marketplace you can buy and sell NFTs. But you can also put in a bid when you think the listing price is too high.

And some marketplaces even offer you the possibility to place bids on NFTs that aren't listed. In this case, you can scroll through an entire collection and place a bid on an NFT if you really like it. The next time the person who owns the NFT connects to that Marketplace, the offer will pop up for them.

This doesn't happen a lot though, as people who don't have the intention of selling, tend to ask a high price if another person is interested in specifically their NFT.

I didn't cover one of the above yet. And that is the "collection offer".

Let's say you would really like to buy a SIWA and the cheapest one on the market is listed for 1000 HBAR. You only have 800 HBAR and it doesn't really matter to you which SIWA you get, you just want to buy any SIWA.

In this case, you can put in a collection offer for 800 HBAR. Now, anyone with a SIWA can take you up on that offer and sell you their SIWA for 800 HBAR. ‍

When exploring an NFT Marketplace, you'll also find yourself coming across other terms such as:

• ‍Floor Price: The cheapest NFT listed out of a collection. If you want to sell quickly, you’ll have to price it near the floorprice.

• ‍Traits:  Attributes of an NFT, mostly used in PFP collections. The rarity of traits can significantly affect the NFT's value. For example, in the CryptoPunk collection, NFTs with the "Alien" trait have consistently sold for the highest prices. Some of them went for over a million dollars.

• ‍Volume: This refers to how much a collection is being traded. High volume means a collection is active and liquid, making it easier to sell your NFT. Check the 24-hour volume if you want to see how much trading is happening at the moment.

• ‍Orders: You can place an order for an NFT from a collection at a lower price than the floor price. If someone is willing to sell for that price, they can take you up on your order. Orders are also called collection offers. You can also put in an order for a specific trait.

If you're curious to see what a Marketplace looks like and how to navigate it, here's a full overview:

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NFT Launchpad

If you’d rather buy an NFT directly from the creator instead of a secondary market, you’ll need to visit a Launchpad.

A Launchpad is a DApp where creators sell their NFTs directly to the public in the form of a “mint”.

An important aspect of any Launchpad is the randomness of the minting process. Most NFT-collections have varying levels of rarity, so it’s crucial that the initial minting process is done fairly and randomly. Launchpads ensure this random distribution.

To show you what this process looks like, I recorded myself minting an NFT. Here's how that goes: 

Connecting Your Wallet

Now you know what kind of wallet you need and where to buy NFTs. But you still need to connect your wallet to these platforms to start using them.

Most DApps use WalletConnect for this. Wallet Connect is an open-source protocol for connecting DApps to wallets.

But when platforms see that a lot of users are using the same wallet, they can also add a direct linking button for that particular wallet.  

Here’s a tutorial for the Wallet Connect option. 👇🏽

And this is how easy it is when using a direct pairing button. In this example I'm using the Kabila Wallet on the Kabila Marketplace.

Make sure you only connect your wallet to trusted DApps. Avoid connecting to sites or entities that you can’t verify as trustworthy.

Top NFT Marketplaces Today

The best way to stay safe is by sticking to well-known marketplaces and launchpads with a proven track record. Here are some top ones across popular chains:

Conclusion

Now you know everything you need to get started with buying and selling NFTs.

We’ve covered Wallets, Marketplaces, Launchpads, DApps, and how to connect your wallet. Nothing is stopping you from diving into the world of NFTs!

If you’re ready to get started, check out the Kabila Market for all NFT collections in the Hedera Ecosystem, including new launches:

https://market.kabila.app/en

Thanks for reading!