Rarible NFT Digital Collectable Marketplace

The Rarible.com NFT digital collectable marketplace allows anyone to quickly and easily mint NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain and buy + sell NFTs with other users. When a user mints NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain they can place their NFTs for sale. Other users can buy the NFTs using the "Buy Now" feature, or they can place a "bid" and see if the seller accepts.

Ethereum Blockchain Gas Fees

The buying and selling process can get confusing for users due to the way gas fees are handled on the Ethereum blockchain. A gas fee is a transaction fee that all users of the Ethereum blockchain must pay if they want their transaction to be included in the blockchain. All transactions require gas, which means someone has to pay a fee each time there is a transaction.

Minting a NFT

Minting a NFT on Rarible costs gas. You can use https://raribleanalytics.com to see an estimate of how much it will cost. Also, the very first time you mint a NFT there will be a one-time gas fee to initialize your account that you must pay before it will let you mint the NFT. (So there are two fees for your first mint.)

Minting NFTs with an "Instant Sale Price"

When a user is minting a new single or multiple NFT, the Rarible.com interface gives the option to set an "Instant Sale Price". The seller can choose to receive payment in any of the supported cryptocurrencies that appear in the dropdown menu.

If the seller is creating a "multiple" NFT (NFTs with more than one copy) the Instant Sale Price will be the price for each of the individual NFTs when sold.

Gas Fee for Setting Instant Sale Price

There is no gas fee for the seller to set the Instant Sale Price of a NFT.

Changing the Instant Sale Price

It is possible to lower the Instant Sale Price at any time, and there is no gas fee required to lower the price. If you want to increase the price however, you must cancel the current sale and then relist it at a higher price. The transaction to cancel the existing sale will require a gas fee which is paid for by the seller.

How to create a NFT with an Instant Sale Price for only some of the "multiple"

If you want to create a "multiple" NFT and set the price for some of the individual NFTs but not all of them, there are two steps. First mint the NFT without an Instant Sale Price. Then after the NFT has been minted, open the NFT and click on "Change Price" under the '...' menu. From there you can set the price and choose how many to price at that amount. There is no additional gas fee for setting the price after the NFT is minted.

Buying a NFT at the "Buy Now" price

If a seller has a NFT for sale at an "Instant Sale Price", a buyer can come along and purchase the NFT for the listed price at any time if they have sufficient balance in their wallet. The Rarible platform adds a small transaction fee to the purchase, which appears as part of the total price just below the "Buy Now" button at the bottom.

As soon as the buyer hits the "Buy Now" button and accepts the transaction in their wallet and the transaction clears on the Ethereum blockchain, the purchase will be complete. The buyer will have the NFT they purchased and the seller will have the amount of cryptocurrency that they set their Instant Sale Price to.

Buy Now Gas Fees

When the buyer submits the transaction to buy the NFT at the Instant Sale Price, there will be a gas fee charged on top of the Instant Sale Price amount and transaction fee that the Rarible platform has included in the price. The gas fee for this transaction is paid for by the buyer.

Placing Bids on a NFT

If a buyer sees a NFT that they want to purchase and there are none available at the price they want to pay, they have the option to submit a bid to try and purchase the NFT. They can submit a bid for any amount, provided they have the balance available in their wallet.

Depending on the bid amount, the Rarible platform may include an additional transaction fee as part of the total bid amount. The buyer will be responsible for paying the total bid amount if the bid is accepted.

Fees for Placing Bids

Placing a bid does not charge the buyer a gas fee. The buyer is not charged a gas fee even if the bid is accepted. (The gas fee will be paid by the seller if/when they accept the bid.)

If you need to convert ETH into WETH before placing a bid, there will be a gas fee for the ETH->WETH conversion. If you are planning to place multiple bids, you can convert as much ETH into WETH as you think you will need for all the bids to avoid paying gas fees for multiple conversions.

The very first time you place a bid there will be a one-time transaction fee for granting your account permission to place bids. This transaction gives Rarible permission to deduct the appropriate balance from your wallet if your bids are accepted.

No Additional Approval Required if the Seller Accepts

One thing to be aware of is that after you have successfully placed a bid, if the seller accepts - the transaction will clear and it will immediately deduct the balance from your wallet. There is no additional approval or transaction on the buyer's side before this occurs. When you place a bid you are agreeing to buy the NFT for the specified price if the seller accepts.

Expiring / Withdrawing Bids

Eventually if the bid is not accepted it will expire and no longer be valid. At the time of writing this guide it is unknown how long a bid will last before it expires.

If a buyer decides they would like to cancel the bid while it is still active, they can at any time assuming a seller has not yet accepted. The buyer does need to pay a gas fee to cancel the bid.

Raising / Lowering Bids

You can raise your bid at any time. There is no gas charge to raise your bid.

It is not possible to lower your bid without canceling the existing bid first. If you wish to lower your bid you will need to pay a gas fee to cancel your existing bid and then submit a new bid at the lower price.

Accepting Bids

If you receive a bid for a NFT that you own, you can choose whether or not to accept the bid. If you don't want to accept the bid, you can just ignore it. To accept the bid, click the "Accept bid" button.

Cost of Accepting Bids (Gas Fee Required)

If you do click to accept the bid, it will show you the amount that you will receive from the bid. This amount does not factor in the gas fee that you will need to pay in order for the accept bid transaction to be accepted by the blockchain. Accepting a bid costs the seller gas to submit the transaction to the blockchain.

Any Seller with the NFT Can Accept the Bid

If you place a bid on a NFT that has multiple copies belonging to different sellers, all sellers who own a copy of the NFT have the option to accept the bid. If multiple sellers try to accept the bid at the same time, whoever's transaction is processed first will receive the sale.

Risk of Removed Funds on the Buyer Side

When the buyer places a bid, it requires them have the funds in their wallet at the time they place the bid, but it does not force them to keep them there. It is possible that the buyer could no longer have the necessary funds to complete the transaction by the time you accept the bid.

In order to minimize the risk of a wasted gas charge for a failed bid accept, it is recommended that you check the buyer's wallet on Etherscan to make sure they have the necessary funds before you click to accept the bid.

If the buyer has the funds in their wallet and you approve the bid, the transaction will clear once it is approved by the blockchain. They will receive the NFT and you will receive the coins.

Warning: Always Review Charges in your Wallet Before Approving Any Transaction

This guide was written based on input from several members of the community as well as my own research and testing on the testnet. It cannot be guaranteed to be error free though. You should always have your wallet set to manually approve all transactions before they go through, and be sure to review all fees and charges before you make the final approval in your wallet. Always trust the actual amounts that your wallet is showing over what is written in this guide.

Thanks to Everyone who Helped with this Guide!

Thanks to everyone in the Rarible community for helping me to assemble this guide - especially raynemang for answering all my questions in Rarible's Discord chat!

Thanks for Reading!

Thank you for taking the time to read this guide. I hope you found it helpful!

If you are interested in checking out my NFT collection, please visit TerenceTheSpider on Rarible.com :)