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How Much Do NFTs Cost (to Mint and to Buy)?

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NFTs (non-fungible tokens) have taken the digital world by storm recently, with everyone from major corporations to individual creators jumping into this space.

But what exactly are NFTs, and how much do they cost to mint and buy?

The answer, it turns out, is not as simple as you might think.

Let’s dive deep into the world of NFTs and find out how much they cost to mint or buy on the marketplaces.

NFT prices summary

I’ll get into more details below, but for now, let me give you a rough idea of how much you will pay for NFTs depending on when and where you buy them. As a reference, I’ll show you prices in Ethereum (the most popular blockchain for NFTs) with USD prices in comparison.

  • New projects: the average cost of minting (buying) an NFT from solid projects can be between 0.01 ETH to 1.0 ETH (the equivalent of $10 to $1,000 USD as of June 2022).        
  • Existing projects: the average cost of buying an NFT on the secondary markets can be between 0.001 ETH to 100 ETH (the equivalent of $1 to $100,000 as of June 2022).   

In addition to the NFT price, you would be covering gas (transaction) fees that vary depending on the type of blockchain being used and how busy the system is. 

As you can see, NFT prices fluctuate a lot. You have probably heard the stories of NFTs selling for millions of dollars. Below, I’ll break down all of the costs associated with NFT purchasing.  

Costs of minting an NFT

The process of buying an NFT from a launching project is called “NFT minting”. The prices of NFT mints vary a lot depending on the project. There are even projects that do a free mint where all you have to do is to pay for gas fees (the transaction fee).   

In most cases, you will see NFT mint prices sit between $50 to $500 USD.  

For example, one of the most successful NFT projects, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), had a mint price of 0.08 ETH (the equivalent of $190 USD) when it launched in April 2021.

Today, the cost of NFT minting depends on multiple factors that you can evaluate to find good ones.

Here is a list of factors that influence these costs:

  • The team behind the project;
  • The NFT experience of the team;
  • The mint price for NFT, that is set by the project creators;
  • The type of NFT and project utility;
  • The blockchain that NFTs will be minted on;
  • The gas (transaction) fees during the mint process;
  • Whether or not you are on the whitelist; and
  • The number of NFTs in the collection.

As you can see, there are a lot of factors that can impact NFT minting costs. In most cases, the NFT minting price is set by the project creators.

However, there are also NFTs that follow an auction format where the NFT price is determined by the bidders. A popular auction type in the NFT industry is Dutch Auction (DA). In a DA NFT auction, the NFT price starts high and drops lower (e.g. 0.05 ETH every 15 minutes) until someone buys it.

» Learn more: How to mint an NFT (Step-by-step)

Next, let’s discuss second-market NFT prices and find out why some of them are so expensive.

Costs of buying an NFT

NFTs that were minted from projects can be sold by their original owners and purchased by new people on NFT exchanges or marketplaces, also called second-market NFTs. The prices for these NFTs are set by the sellers (holders) and vary depending on the NFT type, project, and the seller’s expectations.

There are NFTs that are sold for less than $50 and NFTs that are purchased for millions of dollars.

For example, currently one of the most expensive NFT pieces from the BAYC project, Bored Ape #8817, sold for over $3.4 million USD (852.39 ETH) in October 2021.

BAYC 8817 record sale for 3.4 million

The NFT prices on the secondary markets depend on many things. 

Here is a list of the most important NFT factors:

  • NFT project hype and activity;
  • Marketing efforts of the team;
  • Support from NFT influencers;
  • NFT rarity and uniqueness;
  • Utility behind NFT collection;
  • Liquidity and number of holders; and
  • NFT price set by the seller.

As you can see, there are a number of factors that affect NFT prices on the secondary markets.

NFTs minted by popular projects that sold out in minutes or even seconds during their launch have a high price. NFTs with a lot of utility as well as NFTs that are rare usually have a high price as well.

NFTs with low liquidity (not a lot of people are buying and selling them) tend to have a lower price and sometimes die out.

» Learn more: How and where to buy NFTs

Conclusion

NFT prices vary a lot depending on the NFT project, type, and market.

As you can see, NFTs are a new asset class with a lot of potentials and there are many of them. If you are thinking about buying your first NFT, make sure to do your own research, understand all of the risks and costs associated with NFTs, and then make a careful decision.

If you have any questions about NFTs, feel free to contact us.

Article by
Artem Minaev