How to Create and Sell NFTs: From Mint to...

What is creating and selling an NFT

Creating an NFT means deploying or reusing a smart contract that implements a token standard, then calling a mint function that assigns a new tokenId to your wallet and sets a tokenURI that points to a JSON file describing the item. Selling it means listing that tokenId for sale on a marketplace where a buyer can purchase it, with ownership transferred on chain and fees and royalties handled by the marketplace.

The token itself is the on-chain record, contract address plus tokenId. The media file lives elsewhere and is referenced by hash. For 1-of-1 art, most creators use ERC-721 where each tokenId has one owner. For editions and game items, many use ERC-1155 where one contract can track many token types with balances per holder.

Who this guide is for

This guide helps you if you already make digital work and want to test whether on-chain sale fits your practice.

It is a good fit for:

Illustrators, photographers, and designers who want to sell directly to collectors without gallery consignment
Generative or creative coders who want to release a small set with hash-seeded traits
Game, music, or product teams who need editioned passes or inventory with clear provenance
Web3 job seekers who need to understand minting, contracts, marketplace fees, and creator earnings before interviewing with a marketplace or studio

It is not for you if you expect quick or passive income, want to avoid managing keys and fees, or plan to copy existing art. Most new tokens and collections sell slowly or not at all, liquidity fell sharply after 2021, and you are responsible for custody, storage, pricing, and accurate records. If you only need background for a role, read "How it works" and "Pros and cons" and skip the deployment steps.

How creating and selling actually works

Wallets and custody

You need a self-custodial wallet. MetaMask, Rabby, and Coinbase Wallet are common for Ethereum and Layer 2 chains. When you create a wallet, the app generates a Secret Recovery Phrase, a 12-word phrase that is the master key for all accounts in that wallet. MetaMask documents this at support.metamask.io/start/user-guide-secret-recovery-phrase-password-and-private-keys.

Write the phrase on paper and store it offline in a private place. Do not store it in cloud notes, email, or screenshots.
MetaMask cannot recover the phrase for you. Anyone with the phrase can move your assets.
Your password only opens the app on that device. It does not replace the phrase.
For higher value, use a hardware wallet and keep a small hot wallet for daily mints. Practice with a tiny transfer on a testnet or on Base before moving larger sums.

You will need a small amount of ETH to pay network fees. The exact amount depends on the chain you choose. On Ethereum mainnet, a contract deployment can cost several dollars in gas. On Base, it is usually cents.

Contracts and standards

An NFT is not created by uploading a file alone. You deploy a smart contract that implements a token standard, then call mint functions that assign tokenIds and set a tokenURI.

ERC-721 is for unique items. One contract tracks many distinct tokenIds, each with one owner. This is the standard for most 1-of-1 art and profile picture sets. Spec: eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-721 and ethereum.org/developers/docs/standards/tokens/erc-721. Proposed in January 2018 by William Entriken, Dieter Shirley, Jacob Evans, and Nastassia Sachs.
ERC-1155 is a multi-token standard. One contract can manage many token types with configurable supply per id and allows batch transfers in a single call. This is common for editions and games where one id may represent 25 prints or 1,000 consumables. Spec: eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-1155 and ethereum.org/developers/docs/standards/tokens/erc-1155. Proposed in June 2018 by Witek Radomski, Andrew Cooke, Philippe Castonguay, James Therien, Eric Binet, and Ronan Sandford.

The contract stores a tokenURI, a link to a JSON file with name, description, and an image URI. Wallets and marketplaces read that JSON to show the media. The JSON pattern is defined in the ERC-721 metadata extension.

Use ERC-721 when every token should feel like a distinct object with its own traits. Use ERC-1155 when one token id represents many identical copies, when you need batch minting, or when you want fungible and non-fungible items under one contract.

Metadata

Each token needs a JSON file like:

{
  "name": "Example Piece #1",
  "description": "A piece from a 10-item series on urban night light.",
  "image": "ipfs://bafybeib.../1.png",
  "attributes": [
    { "trait_type": "Background", "value": "Night Blue" },
    { "trait_type": "Medium", "value": "Digital painting" }
  ]
}

For a small series you will create one image and one JSON file per token, then upload both as directories so the CID preserves filenames. Test the full set before mainnet. Generate previews and sort them into keep, weak, and broken to see if even common outputs look intentional.

Where the images live

Large files are not stored on Ethereum. They are stored off chain and referenced by hash.

IPFS with pinning is the most common. You add the file to IPFS and get a CID such as ipfs://bafybeib... A CID is a hash of the content, not a location. The file stays available only if someone pins it. If no one pins it, it can be garbage collected. Docs: docs.ipfs.tech/how-to/best-practices-for-nft-data. Services like Pinata or Filebase pin for you. Use ipfs:// in the contract, not a specific gateway URL like https://gateway.pinata.cloud.
Arweave offers paid permanent storage with different guarantees and is often used as a backup.
On-chain SVG or code is possible for small generative work but costs more gas. Autoglyphs stored the algorithm inside the contract at 0xd4e4078ca3495DE5B1d4dB434BEbc5a986197782.
Centralized server is fragile. If the server goes down, the token points to a broken link. The token still exists, the media does not.

Best practice from docs.ipfs.tech is to wrap files in a directory when adding, use CIDv1, prefix with ipfs:// for the canonical link, and generate gateway URLs only in your app's presentation layer. Pin the media and JSON with at least one paid pinning service and, if possible, your own node.

Marketplaces and who controls the contract

You have two main paths.

Open deploy with your own contract. Tools like Manifold Studio and OpenSea Studio let you deploy a contract you own. With Manifold, you choose ERC-721 or ERC-1155, you control mint permissions, metadata updates, and royalty settings, and you can add extensions for custom drops. The contract stays reusable for future releases. Docs: docs.manifold.xyz and help.manifold.xyz/en/contract-deploy. Manifold Creator Contracts use a delegate proxy to the Creator Core implementation and support mint, tokenURI, transfer checks, burn, and royalty configuration per token or per extension.

With OpenSea Studio, you have two modes documented at support.opensea.io/en/articles/8867080-how-do-i-use-opensea-studio:

Open Collection uses ERC-1155. You mint directly into your own wallet, items show immediately, and you set supply per item. Use supply 1 for a unique 1-of-1. This is best for beginners or gradual releases.
Scheduled Drop uses ERC-721. Buyers mint into their own wallets during timed stages. You can configure up to five presale stages plus a required public stage, each with price, per-wallet limit, and allowlist. Allowlist CSV must be headerless, use full 0x addresses, no ENS, no duplicates, up to 30,000 addresses per stage. The public stage is always last and cannot be deleted. Maximum stage duration is 365 days. After deployment you open Media and Metadata, upload up to 10,000 files in JPG, PNG, SVG, or GIF plus a CSV that maps media to tokenIds, set a pre-reveal image, and call Reveal after mint ends. Supply cannot be increased through Studio after minting begins. Increasing it directly on chain can cause OpenSea to delist the collection.

In late 2023 OpenSea removed free lazy minting. As of October 3, 2023, creators deploy their own contract and pay gas to mint. OpenSea Studio currently supports Ethereum, Base, Polygon, Klaytn, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Avalanche for many flows. Check opensea.io/learn/nft/how-to-create-an-nft and support.opensea.io/en/articles/8867023-how-do-i-create-an-nft for the current list. For single items or collections, you cannot move tokens between collections later, so confirm the collection before deploying.

Curated galleries. SuperRare accepts artists by application and review. Only invited artists can mint there, and work is typically 1-of-1. Info: help.superrare.com/en/articles/10629742-offers-auctions-and-pricing. Foundation, which was a large curated platform from 2021, closed permanently. The platform went offline on April 27, 2026 after its sale to Blackdove did not complete, as stated at foundation.app and in the founder letter of April 15, 2026. Its contracts remain on chain and media stays pinned through April 27, 2027, but you cannot mint there now.

For most beginners, deploying on Base via Manifold or OpenSea Studio is the lowest cost path with full contract ownership. Apply to SuperRare later once you have a coherent body of work and consistent sales.

Gas fees in practice

Ethereum gas is the price you pay for computation. Since EIP-1559, a transaction fee is base fee plus priority fee, often shown as maxFeePerGas and maxPriorityFeePerGas. The base fee is set by protocol and burned on Ethereum. The priority fee is a tip to the validator who includes your transaction. A basic ETH transfer uses 21,000 gas. Minting uses more. Docs: ethereum.org/developers/docs/gas and github.com/ethereum/EIPs/blob/master/EIPS/eip-1559.md.

Costs move with congestion and with ETH price. As a current reference:

Ethereum mainnet after the 2024 to 2025 upgrades often shows base fees well under 1 gwei in quiet periods, so a simple transfer can be cents, but a contract deployment or mint during a busy drop still costs dollars. Always check a live tracker like Etherscan Gas Tracker before signing.
Base uses EIP-1559 with a minimum base fee of 0.005 gwei (5,000,000 wei) and two components, an L2 execution fee and an L1 security fee for posting data to Ethereum. Docs: docs.base.org/base-chain/network-information/network-fees. At $2,000 ETH, a 200,000 gas transaction is about $0.002 for the L2 part. Observed Base costs in early 2026 were about $0.007 for a transfer, $0.017 for an ERC-20 transfer, and $0.04 to $0.05 for a standard ERC-721 mint, rising to $0.10 during local congestion. Base sets elasticity to 6 and base fee change denominator to 125, so the fee can rise at most 4 percent per block, about 36 seconds to double. Fees can be 3 to 5 times higher for a few minutes during a featured Coinbase drop.

Takeaway: if you want to experiment cheaply, create and list on Base or another low-fee Layer 2. Reserve Ethereum mainnet for higher value 1-of-1 work where collector preference for mainnet matters.

Royalties and creator earnings

EIP-2981 defines royaltyInfo to signal a recipient and amount, for example 5 percent to an address. It is a lookup, not enforcement. The token transfer itself does not know if it was a sale. Marketplaces must decide to honor the signal. Spec: eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-2981.

In practice:

OpenSea supports two lanes. If you deploy in OpenSea Studio after 10:00 a.m. PT on April 2, 2024, or you use an ERC721-C or ERC1155-C compatible custom contract, you can enforce creator earnings via Seaport v1.6 hooks. Enforcement works on OpenSea and on marketplaces using Limit Break Payment Processor, currently including Magic Eden. The maximum you can set in OpenSea is 10 percent. For older or non-compatible contracts, earnings are optional and the buyer chooses at checkout. Source: support.opensea.io/en/articles/8867026-how-do-i-set-creator-earnings-on-opensea, opensea.io/blog/articles/creator-earnings-erc721-c-compatibility-on-opensea, and docs.opensea.io/docs/creator-fee-enforcement. Seaport 1.6 was enabled by the March 13, 2024 Dencun upgrade.
SuperRare enforces royalties at the contract level. Primary sale split is 85 percent to the artist, 15 percent to the SuperRare DAO Treasury. Secondary sale is 90 percent to the seller, 10 percent to the original artist as royalty, plus a 3 percent marketplace fee paid by the buyer. Source: help.superrare.com.
Many open marketplaces made royalties optional in 2022 to 2023 to attract traders. Expect lower or zero royalty payment on those venues. Plan your economics around primary sales and direct collector relationships. OpenSea notes that if you enforce earnings, sales are only supported on OpenSea and Payment Processor venues, and it will match the lowest royalty you set elsewhere.

How selling actually happens

After you mint, the token sits in your wallet. To sell, you create a listing on a marketplace that indexes your contract and chain. The common sale types are:

Fixed price. You set a price in ETH or USDC, sign a listing with an expiry, and the marketplace holds the signature off chain until a buyer fulfills it through Seaport or a similar protocol. You pay no gas to list, only when the sale executes or you cancel on chain.
Auction. Timed auction with reserve, or an English auction where the highest bid wins. Useful when demand is uncertain and you want price discovery.
Offers. Collectors can make offers on your token even if it is not listed. You can accept an offer, which executes the transfer.

Marketplaces charge a fee on each sale. OpenSea charges 2.5 percent on many routes, SuperRare charges 3 percent to the buyer on secondary, and other venues vary from 0 to 5 percent. The seller often also pays the royalty you configured if the venue honors it. Proceeds go to your payout address minus those deductions. You then owe record keeping and, in the US, tax reporting on primary sales and royalties as ordinary income when received, often on Schedule C if you operate as a business, and capital gains on secondary flips.

Pros and cons

Where creating and selling NFTs helps

Direct sale and provenance. You can sell to a global collector base without gallery consignment and give buyers a public record of mint, editions, and transfer history under one contract.
Custody and portability. A collector holds the token in their wallet and can list on any compatible marketplace that supports the contract.
Programmable terms. You can set edition size, allowlist stages, delayed reveals, or dynamic updates via extensions if your contract supports them.
Batch efficiency with ERC-1155. One contract can govern many types with batch mint and batch transfer in a single transaction, which reduces gas for large distributions.
Low cost experimentation on Layer 2. Base and similar networks let you deploy and mint for cents, so you can test pricing and audience without large upfront risk.

What to watch for

Thin demand. Trading volumes peaked near $25 billion per year in 2021 to 2022 per DappRadar. By early 2025, monthly volumes reported by The Defiant fell to about $23.8 million. Most new tokens get little attention and many assets become illiquid.
Royalties are not guaranteed. EIP-2981 is a signal. Only specific contract setups plus marketplace support make fees enforceable, and only on those routes.
Storage risk. Media can break if you rely on a single server or unpinned IPFS. Keep at least one pinned backup and avoid gateway URLs in the contract.
Rights are limited by default. Buying the token does not transfer copyright. Unless your license says otherwise, the buyer gets the token and a personal display license.
Irreversible choices. Contract name and symbol cannot be changed after deployment on OpenSea Studio. Supply increases through Studio after mint starts are not allowed. Early on-chain history is permanent.
Security and support burden. You manage keys, approvals, gas timing, and collector questions. A bad approval can move assets. There is no password reset. Use revoke.cash to remove stale approvals.
Fees and taxes. Marketplace fees take 2 to 5 percent, enforced royalties up to 10 percent, and gas adds cost on mainnet. In the US, brokers report many dispositions on Form 1099-DA from 2025 transactions onward. Keep records for every mint, sale, and gas payment. This is general information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.

How to get started: a practical checklist

1. Define the work and supply before you mint

Choose one visual direction and make five to twenty finished pieces in that style before minting anything. For a generative set, lock the algorithm and test at least 200 outputs. Decide if each piece is 1-of-1 (ERC-721) or an edition (ERC-1155), what total supply makes sense, and what traits define rarity. A small, coherent group is easier to explain and price than scattered singles.

Write a one-sentence pitch, a short description, and a trait sheet. List trait types and values, for example Background, Palette, Structure, and set approximate percentages. This becomes your metadata attributes.

2. Set up wallets, funds, and testnets correctly

Install MetaMask or similar, create a new wallet, write the 12-word phrase on paper, store it offline, and test recovery on a second device before funding.
Add the networks you will use, Ethereum and Base at minimum, plus Polygon or others if your audience uses them.
Fund with a small amount of ETH from a reputable exchange, then send a tiny test transaction. Verify you can see it on Etherscan or Basescan.
Test on a testnet first, Sepolia for Ethereum or Base Sepolia for Base, to catch URI errors without spending mainnet funds. Get Sepolia ETH from a faucet and practice the full deploy and mint flow.

3. Choose your chain and contract strategy

For affordable testing, choose Base. For higher value 1-of-1 art where collectors prefer Ethereum, choose Ethereum. You can run the same contract model on both later and many teams launch on Base first, then do a smaller Ethereum edition.
If you want full control and portability, deploy a Manifold Creator Contract or an OpenSea Studio contract you own. Avoid shared factory contracts for work you hope to keep long term. With Manifold you pick ERC-721 for distinct pieces or ERC-1155 for editions and batching. With OpenSea you pick Open Collection for ERC-1155 gradual mints or Scheduled Drop for ERC-721 timed sales.
Record the contract address, token standard, and chain in your own notes. This is your source of truth. Never trust a contract address from a search ad.

4. Prepare art and metadata that will not break

Export files to marketplace limits. Most accept PNG, JPEG, GIF, SVG, MP4, and GLB under 100 MB per file. Keep the master files and checksums in a separate backup. Do not mix PNG and MP4 in one OpenSea Open Collection.
Build the JSON for each token with name, description, image as ipfs://CID, and attributes. Validate that every JSON resolves and that the image loads from multiple gateways before mainnet.
For a reveal set, prepare two sets: the pre-reveal placeholder image and the final images plus CSV mapping of tokenId to file. OpenSea recommends CSV for drops and provides a 50-item example ZIP as a template. Studio CSV uploads currently support string traits only.

5. Upload and pin storage that lasts

Upload images to IPFS as a directory, get the CID, insert ipfs://CID/filename into your JSON metadata, then upload the JSON directory and capture its CID. That JSON CID plus filename is your tokenURI.
Pin the media and JSON with at least one paid pinning service and, if possible, your own node. Do not use a single HTTP gateway URL in the contract. For work that must stay for years, add Arweave as a second copy and keep local masters with hashes so you can re-pin if a service closes.
Test resolution on ipfs.io, dweb.link, and a dedicated gateway. Check that wallets like MetaMask and marketplaces show the preview correctly.

A note on NFT.Storage: Classic NFT.Storage stopped accepting new uploads in July 2024 and its successor paths have wound down. The IPFS concepts still hold, but you should pin with an active service you control now, not rely on legacy free storage.

6. Deploy the contract and mint

Using OpenSea Studio as a reference, the flow documented at support.opensea.io is:

For an Open Collection (ERC-1155, mint to yourself):

Go to Studio, click Create new, then Create Collection. You cannot move tokens between collections later.
Deploy the smart contract. Add logo, contract name, symbol, and choose the chain. Sign the deployment transaction and pay gas. Contract name and symbol cannot be changed after deployment.
Edit collection details and set creator earnings, up to 10 percent, and a payout address.
Go to the Media and Metadata tab, upload the media, set name and supply. Supply 1 makes a 1-of-1. Higher supply makes identical copies under ERC-1155. Add description and traits if needed.
Click Mint, approve the transaction in your wallet, and wait for confirmation. Verify the token on the explorer and in your wallet.
Add more items later via the Upload tab as the group grows.

For a Scheduled Drop (ERC-721, buyers mint):

From Studio, click Create new, select Scheduled Drop, deploy the contract, and set earnings.
Open Drop Setup, choose the format, set Number of items and Mint start date and time. You can edit the start time until the drop begins, but every schedule change costs gas.
Create stages. You must have a public sale stage as the final stage. Add up to five presale stages with their own price, per-wallet limit, and allowlist CSV. Remember additive allowlist behavior: a wallet's limits stack across stages.
In Media and Metadata, select Upload, add up to 10,000 media files plus the CSV, check View/Edit for names and traits, and set the pre-reveal image.
After mint ends, if the set did not mint out, reduce supply to the number actually minted, then click Reveal, wait for the IPFS upload, and sign Complete Reveal.

With Manifold, the steps are similar: deploy a Creator Contract at studio.manifold.xyz, choose ERC-721 or ERC-1155, add branding and symbol, deploy, then mint through Studio or through an extension you register for staged drops like open editions, burn-to-redeem, or ranked auctions. See help.manifold.xyz and docs.manifold.xyz. With Manifold you can also deploy an extension contract and call registerExtension on your Creator Core to add custom claim logic.

Test the contract on an explorer. On Etherscan or Basescan confirm the contract is verified, holders look correct, and tokenURI returns valid ipfs:// JSON.

7. Price, list, and set earnings correctly

Research comparable sales on the same chain, not only headline outliers like Beeple at Christie's on March 11, 2021 for about $69 million or Bored Ape Yacht Club mints at 0.08 ETH in April 2021. Those set a record, not a median.
For a first sale on Base, 0.01 to 0.05 ETH or a fixed dollar price like $20 to $60 in USDC is a common test range. Open editions on Zora or Base often test at 0.001 to 0.01 ETH. On Ethereum 1-of-1, many emerging artists start at 0.1 to 0.5 ETH and adjust after the first few sales. List one price, see response, then change. Do not undercut your own early collectors without a clear reason.
If you used a post-April 2024 OpenSea Studio contract or an ERC721-C or ERC1155-C contract, turn on Enforce earnings to require the fee on supported routes. Be aware this limits sales to OpenSea and other Payment Processor venues like Magic Eden, and OpenSea will match the lowest royalty you set elsewhere. If you use an older contract without that capability, treat royalties as optional and focus on primary pricing.
Set the payout address to a wallet you control and test a small withdrawal. For shared projects, use a multisig or a split contract and document it.
To list: open your token on OpenSea, click Sell, choose fixed price or timed auction, set duration and price, and sign the listing. No gas is needed to create the off-chain signature, only if the sale executes or you cancel on chain. Verify the listing appears and check the fee breakdown before sharing the link.

8. Build distribution that respects your time

X is still the primary discovery channel for NFT sales. Post progress shots, explain the idea behind the work, and reply to other artists and collectors with specific comments. Relying only on mint announcements rarely works. You need a small group of collectors who like your niche, not a large follower count.

Keep a simple site or mirror page with your contract address, chain, total supply, mint price, license, and contact. Document your license in plain language: personal display only, commercial use to a limit, or full transfer. For many art sales, buyers get a display and personal use license but not the underlying art copyright. If you do not state it, assume no copyright transfer.

Track every transaction from day one: deployment gas, mint gas, marketplace fees, platform splits, sale proceeds in ETH and fiat value at time of receipt, and royalty payments. US creators should plan for ordinary income treatment of primary and royalty receipts, Schedule C if active and continuous, and keep receipts for gas and software as possible deductions. Confirm with a CPA. Keep a CSV of tokenId, buyer address, price, date, and tx hash for audits.

Common mistakes to avoid

Minting before the series is coherent. Early on-chain history is permanent and hard to explain.
Choosing the wrong standard. Do not use ERC-721 for 500 identical copies when ERC-1155 would batch. Do not use ERC-1155 when collectors expect distinct ERC-721 provenance.
Storing the phrase online or sharing it with support accounts that ask for it. No legitimate team will ask for it.
Using a single centralized image link with no pin. The token remains, the image goes missing.
Approving unlimited operator access to an unfamiliar site. Use revoke.cash to remove stale approvals.
Changing supply or price after collectors have paid without clear communication. On drops, lowering supply after mint starts is permanent and can affect listings.
Setting a 10 percent royalty and expecting it everywhere. On many routes it will be ignored. Test your contract on the marketplaces you care about before promising payouts to collaborators.
Listing without checking fees. A 0.05 ETH sale with 2.5 percent marketplace fee and 5 percent royalty nets 0.04625 ETH before gas. Quote net, not gross, to collaborators.

FAQ

What does it cost to create and sell an NFT in 2026?

Software cost is low. The direct cost is gas plus pinning. Deploying a standard ERC-721 contract and minting one token on Base can be under $0.50 in total at quiet base fees, based on the 0.005 gwei minimum and observed ranges of $0.04 for a mint. A 10-item set on Base might be $1 to $5 in mint gas plus deployment. The same actions on Ethereum mainnet vary from a few dollars to tens or hundreds of dollars depending on congestion. A custom ERC-721 deploy on Base is often $1 to $5, on Ethereum $40 to $250. Add about $5 to $20 per month for pinning if you use a paid service, plus time for art, metadata, and support. Listing itself is an off-chain signature and costs no gas until a sale or on-chain cancel.

Should I use ERC-721 or ERC-1155?

Use ERC-721 if each piece must be distinct with one owner per tokenId, such as 1-of-1 art or numbered editions where each tokenId has its own metadata. Use ERC-1155 if you need editions, batch transfers, or to manage many token types in one contract, such as a game where one id is a sword with supply 1,000 and another is a consumable with supply 10,000. For photography with 25 identical prints of one image, ERC-1155 is more gas efficient. For a set where every trait combination is unique, ERC-721 is simpler and has broader marketplace familiarity.

Where should a new creator launch first?

Start where you can own the contract and test cheaply. Deploy your own contract via Manifold or OpenSea Studio on Base, mint a small set to your wallet, then list on OpenSea which indexes Base and Ethereum. This gives you ownership and reach without curation delay. For open editions or free mints, Zora on Base is a common low-cost path. After you have consistent sales and a clear style, consider curation on SuperRare for 1-of-1 work. Do not plan around Foundation, which went offline on April 27, 2026.

What is the difference between an OpenSea Open Collection and a Scheduled Drop?

Open Collection uses ERC-1155 and mints directly into your wallet. Items show immediately after upload and mint. Scheduled Drop uses ERC-721 and lets buyers mint into their own wallets during timed stages. Drops support bulk upload up to 10,000 files, presale stages and allowlists, and a delayed reveal. If you want a timed sale where the community mints, use a Drop. If you want to mint gradually yourself and list later, use an Open Collection.

Can I guarantee royalties on every resale?

No. ERC-2981 lets you signal the amount, but only contract-level enforcement plus marketplace support makes it required, and only on those supported paths. On OpenSea, that means a post-April 2024 Studio contract or an ERC721-C or ERC1155-C contract with enforcement turned on, which then limits sales to OpenSea and other Payment Processor venues like Magic Eden. SuperRare enforces 10 percent on its own platform. Elsewhere, sellers may pay zero. The top collections have earned large totals when royalties were honored, but that reflects early enforcement that later became optional on many venues.

Do I keep copyright when someone buys my NFT?

Yes, by default you keep it. The buyer owns the token and typically a license to display the art personally. You keep reproduction and commercial rights unless a written license transfers them. Put the license in the project docs and in each token description. Common choices are personal display only, limited commercial use up to a cap like $100,000, or full commercial rights as with some PFP projects. Be explicit, because "owning the NFT" does not equal owning the art copyright.

What file storage should I trust?

Pin to IPFS with at least one independent pin and test resolution on multiple gateways. Wrap files in a directory so filenames are preserved, use CIDv1, and store ipfs:// in the contract. For work that must stay for years, add Arweave as a backup. Avoid pointing only to a single domain you control, and keep local masters with hashes so you can re-pin if a service closes. Foundation has said it will keep its IPFS gateway pinned through April 27, 2027, but you should still copy your own media now and not rely on any single gateway.

How do I price my first NFT?

Check recent sales for similar work on the same chain and in the same medium, not headline outliers. For testing on Base, 0.01 to 0.05 ETH or $20 to $60 is a common first range. For Ethereum 1-of-1, many emerging artists start at 0.1 to 0.5 ETH. Start at one price for a small set, note collector response, and adjust the next mint. Factor in marketplace fee and royalty when you quote net proceeds to yourself and collaborators.

How do I know if an NFT or marketplace listing is legitimate before I buy or collaborate?

Copy the contract address from the official site or verified social account, check it on Etherscan or Basescan for a verified contract, review the holders and transfer history, and inspect the tokenURI. An ipfs:// CID that resolves widely is a better sign than a single https link. A non-verified contract that asks for unlimited approvals is a red flag. For generative sets, verify that the hash is the only randomness source and that library versions are pinned. For your own sales, never trust a contract address from a search ad, and revoke approvals you no longer need at revoke.cash.

Are NFTs still a viable path in 2026?

There are durable roles tied to NFT tech, but fewer speculative ones than in 2021. Developers who know Solidity, gas optimization, and ERC-721 and ERC-1155 patterns work on minting tools and games. Product, community, design, and operations roles exist and follow market cycles. As a solo creator, treat the first six months as testing and community building with modest sales expectations, not as a full salary replacement. Prioritize teams and collectors with real usage, clear licensing, and audited contracts, and keep costs low by building on Layer 2 first.

What should I read next on this site?

Start with /what-are-nfts for the underlying standards, /what-is-a-blockchain for ledger basics, /what-are-smart-contracts for how contracts execute, /generative-art-and-nfts for long-form generative mechanics, and /how-to-choose-a-crypto-wallet for custody. For pricing and rights, see /nft-artist-royalties. For a collection-focused workflow, see /how-to-create-an-nft-collection.

How to Create and Sell NFTs: From Mint to Listing in 2026