OpenSea Review

Sebastian Parker
Sebastian Parker
Last Updated on September 20, 2021

What is OpenSea?

OpenSea is one of the best NFT marketplaces around. It has an active community, and tens of thousands of transactions take place on the platform every day. OpenSea also supports easy trading with Ethereum tokens right from your browser.

opensea logo

How does OpenSea work?

OpenSea is currently trending as the largest peer-to-peer marketplace for digital items. It allows users to buy, sell and discover rare collectibles like blockchain assets or tokens that are backed by unique in-game items from their favorite games. 

opensea site

Here’s how it works:

A user can view all items that are for sale on the platform. They can then sort by type, rarity, or price to find exactly what they want.

The seller provides OpenSea with information about their item, including its value and any restrictions, e.g., only willing to trade it for another game asset.

The seller places the item for sale on OpenSea with a price set by them.

Users can browse and purchase items from sellers who have listed an asking price or place their own listing to buy, sell, or trade digital assets for games they love.

Related:

What currencies can you use on OpenSea?

ETH, MATIC, and Klaytn are operational on OpenSea. OpenSea is also not available for Android and iOS devices (though you can use the mobile MetaMask app easily to trade NFTs). Additionally, at this time, OpenSea does not support fiat currencies such as USD and EUR.

What types of NFTs can you buy on OpenSea?

OpenSea is the largest NFT marketplace to purchase any collectibles like CryptoKitties or Spells of Genesis. There are over 1000 different types of items available that you can buy now on OpenSea.io. The inventory changes daily depending on what’s hot in the blockchain gaming world. You can find digital cards, in-game items, and even crypto-collectibles from games that haven’t been released yet.

If you want something you can access anytime without having to do anything else, digital goods are your best bet. In addition to NFTs of all types, several regular digital devices carry everything from ebooks to video courses on blockchain development. You can buy now from the marketplace with a few simple clicks and have them delivered to you instantly.

How do you buy an NFT on OpenSea?

OpenSea is a decentralized marketplace for crypto assets. You can buy, sell and discover NFTs (non-fungible tokens) on OpenSea, so it’s pretty cool to learn how to purchase items in the game with cryptocurrency.

You can buy NFTs on OpenSea in three ways:

You can use any cryptocurrency wallet that supports Ethereum tokens to purchase NFTs directly from the interface. Alternatively, you can place an order with another user using either their public address or your own wallet’s address through the “trade” feature. 

OpenSea also provides a third option for buyers to purchase NFTs. The OpenSea.io marketplace allows users to buy in bulk directly from its partner, Rare Bits. Accounts on both platforms are linked through your Ethereum address with the same email and password login details used when signing up at either platform. If you have a Rare Bits account, you can head to the OpenSea.io marketplace and connect your OpenSea account.

These are some of the crypto wallets used:

Metamask – Web Wallet

MetaMask- an extension for Google Chrome and Opera Browser to use in Desktop Wallet or open up any website/app that uses the ERC20 token standard. I recommend this wallet because it’s very easy to install. You can choose between a light & dark theme, and there is no need for an additional application on your computer because your browser is already used for MetaMask.

Trustwallet – Mobile Wallet for Android and iOS, supporting multiple ERC20 tokens. You can also use myetherwallet.com to access it from your mobile browser as well. Just select “Send Ether & Tokens” and then tap on the dropdown that says “View w/ Address Only” to choose your token.

IMToken – Mobile wallet for Android and iOS. Supports ETH, ERC20 Tokens & NEP-NFTs. You can download the App on Google Play or Apple Store. Just open it up to send ETH/ERC20 tokens from your Trezor.

You can also use a website called Etherscan to check the status of any transaction involving ETH, ERC20 tokens, and NEP-NFTs. Easily follow along with transactions in which you’ve previously participated. Besides, it has a tracking feature so that when an address visits the site, you will be alerted.

Coinbase wallet- Coinbase Wallet offers access to the decentralized web through a dapp browser. To use Coinbase Wallet, you do not need a Coinbase account.

Do you need to store your NFTs?

You first need to decide whether your NFTs will be stored on exchanges, mobile wallets, or in cold storage. If they’re being traded for a short time and then back into a wallet, it makes more sense to keep them with an exchange. However, if the primary use case of your token is for long-term storage, you should be looking to implement cold storage mechanisms.

How do you sell an NFT on OpenSea?

First, you need to put up price listings of your items on the marketplace. Listing is free of charge, and it will take up to 24 hours until your price listings are live. To sell an NFT on OpenSea.io, you must have one or more photos of that asset in JPEG format. You can also add a video if applicable, e.g., CryptoKitties.

Opensea selling

Initially, your NFT will be listed as unsold. The price you set should reflect the market value of the item. However, consider that buyers may try to underbid you during an auction or purchase it directly for the lowest possible price (fixed-price sale), which is currently $0.003 per NFT unless there is a reserve price set for the item.

When you’re ready to list your asset on OpenSea, click “List an Item” and follow the listed steps: go to My Items, choose the one you want to sell, enter its name in “Item Name” and click “List.”

Selling NFTs on OpenSea

OpenSea is a cryptocurrency marketplace for blockchain items. Sellers can list their own NFTs on OpenSea, and buyers purchase them using 0x tokens or ETH. It’s a fast way to get liquidity without having your own website. You don’t have to handle customer support issues by yourself if you use an automated email system.

Selling NFTs on OpenSea is a fast way to get liquidity without having your own website. You don’t have to handle customer support issues by yourself if you use an automated email system. Selling NFTs on OpenSea is also cheaper than listing them anywhere else besides the blockchain itself, which makes it easier to get your NFTs into the hands of other people.

OpenSea fees

OpenSea fees are not that high. You only pay to create an item listing, and then at the end of 30 days, you will get paid for it if your items are sold. The good news is that if your items are not sold, you will get a refund for the listing fee.

Is OpenSea safe to use?

I would like to start with the most pressing question: is it safe to buy on Opensea? The answer here depends mostly on how you choose your price listings. If you only purchase items from sellers with a good reputation, there should be no reason for concern about scams or frauds. However, if you want to buy items from new sellers and the prices look very attractive, then there is a good chance that it’s not legit. My advice here would be to stay away from an easy deal as it might turn into a scam quickly after your purchase.

Another thing worth mentioning is that Opensea will inform you when something seems suspicious. They are not experts in crypto-collectibles, but they do their best to ensure users are safe while using the platform.

The last thing I want to touch upon here is the safety of your funds during a transaction. You can’t use a credit card on Opensea, but there are other ways to pay for items. As mentioned by the platform itself, if you have made a purchase, your funds will be held in escrow until both parties agree that all is well and the transaction can proceed. Your money should not get stuck here forever as long as you are cautious with who you buy from.

If you are new to collecting crypto-collectibles, then there is always some risk involved. 

Pros and cons of OpenSea

Pros

This is an open platform that allows you to buy and sell items. You have the possibility of creating your own store or just selling things one by one. It’s a great place for gamers who want to try new games before buying them – they can check out virtual game cards and accounts on OpenSea. As well as this, you can purchase hard-to-find items at a reasonable price, which may make this the go-to place for some people.

OpenSea is a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange. You can find almost any coin there, including Ethereum or Bitcoin. The platform has many users, and the number of listed coins keeps growing every day. Compared to other exchanges, it offers better prices than most popular platforms like Bittrex or Kraken, although their trading volume is not very big compared to them either.

Cons

The biggest disadvantage is the lack of a mobile app, and it’s not very intuitive to use on desktop either. It doesn’t offer coin-to-coin trading, limiting your options when you want to buy coins that cannot be traded directly by Ethereum or Bitcoin.

The platform is still in beta, and it’s not fully developed yet. It can be hard to navigate on the website, although they are working on improving user experience every day. Another issue is the lack of information about different coins, but there are plans for adding more info soon, like coin details or price history charts which would improve the platform even more.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does OpenSea make money?

OpenSea takes a small fee from every sale. The buyer pays the miner’s fee for sending tokens to OpenSea, which is typically around $0.50 per transaction in Ethereum and ERC20 token transactions. After that, sellers pay a flat 30% listing fee upon finalizing their sell order on the exchange contract.

OpenSea is a decentralized marketplace meaning there’s no overhead, and it doesn’t make money on the spreads between buy and sell orders like many traditional online marketplaces. Its goal is to build great technology, and that is its only source of revenue for now. However, it may explore alternative options in the future, such as selling premium services to power users.

What is the best wallet to use for OpenSea?

OpenSea is an ERC-20 token that you can use to trade on their platform, so it would be best if you managed the tokens with a wallet located in your control. There are different types of wallets available for users depending on what they need or want out of one, but there are two main categories: hardware and software wallets.

Hardware: A hardware wallet is a physical device that you can connect to your computer and use as a storage space for cryptocurrencies, such as OpenSea tokens. This type of storage allows users to store their funds offline, so hackers cannot access them or steal the currencies from people’s computers. The most popular hardware wallets are Trezor and Ledger.

Software: A software wallet is a program that you install on your computer, phone, or tablet to store cryptocurrencies in it. The most popular software wallets are Exodus Wallet and Coinomi. There are many other options available for users if they need more features than what these two programs offer, but they are the most popular ones.

Can you sell on OpenSea for free?

Yes, you can sell items for free on OpenSea. The only cost is the 0.15% transaction fee. There are no listing fees or seller commissions.

Besides, you don’t need to create an OpenSea account to use the platform. Anyone can use OpenSea for free and anonymously. The platform provides a public API that allows anyone to access the data on the marketplace without any registration or personal details required. 

You can also make your content private or paid, and in both cases, it will be anonymized. If someone wants to bypass all of the anonymization steps, they can remove some of the scripts.

OpenSea is also a great place to buy crypto collectibles. Prices on OpenSea are typically lower than similar items listed on Decentraland or Cryptokitties marketplace, for example.

How do you get verified on OpenSea?

The verification process takes time, but it’s not complicated. Suppose you have an account with another exchange. In that case, it makes the process even more manageable as they can quickly verify your identity and address by looking at your other exchanges’ records. 

The only reason for verification on OpenSea is to withdraw more than $100,000 per month. These limits are expected, and most traders do not exceed them anyway.

Verification takes up to five days, but once this process has been completed you can deposit or withdraw as much money as needed without any additional restrictions. It is worth noting that there are no fees for depositing and withdrawing crypto on OpenSea.

Do you need MetaMask for OpenSea?

No. You don’t need to use an Ethereum wallet like Metamask or MyEtherWallet on OpenSea because it has its own built-in messaging system that allows users to chat with one another without the hassle of using a command-line interface or third-party service.