The art scene is not easy for Latin Americans; you have probably heard this. Our art stars are mostly white, they come from wealthy families who own art collections, and so on. It is what Pierre Bourdieu talked about in “The Heirs,” right?
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So, I signed up to Opensea.io; I took photos of my ID, passport, and myself. I connected my actual debit card and paid my two hundred dollars (more or less, I will explain later) to list items. You mint them for a small price. To mint means that you upload your file, and then you list it, which is you put a price on it or place it for auction. For some steps you pay a price, it is called gas, and I understand it is becoming more expensive these days.
But I thought, “Everything will be different in the NFT art market, which is democratic, right? Everyone is making millions”. Sure, son.
Then comes the sad part. Unless you have a verified account on Opensea, they treat you like a hacker. They warn anyone willing to buy your item that Opensea has not checked the origin of the NFT and might be a scam. Holy smokes, thank you very much, Opensea. I must say that I am a verified Giphy artist, so this fate is shared by hundreds and hundreds, famous and verified included.
I realize that Opensea and the NFT market is such a small, close club, just like the art scene in Latin America. You need to have sold in order to sell. And your platform warns everyone away.
Then comes the sad part. Unless you have a verified account on Opensea, they treat you like a hacker, warning your potencial costumers that Opensea has not checked the origin of your NFT, and it might be a scam. Holy smokes, thank you very much, Opensea. I am a verified Giphy artist, so I can say that this is the fate of hundreds and hundreds, famous and verified included.
I realize that Opensea and the NFT market is such a small, close club, just like the art scene in Latin America. You need to have sold in order to sell. And your platform warns everyone away. Not to mention that the recent boom on NFT’s has made that there are 15 million items on the platform, and numbers are rapidly multiplying.
And finally: What mistakes I made and what I would recommend to the upcoming NFT artists:
▸ Spare some hundred dollars, double-check that you have enough funds because you will lose your money if your transaction does not complete. That happened to me a couple of times.
▸ Choose fast over slow when it comes to your payment.
▸ Become visible and post an official list for your NFTs so that everyone can verify the origin and authenticity of your tokens.
▸ Make some friends. Buy and sell among you.
▸ Do not be like me, do not sound desperate.
I want to share with you some great NFTs which might never sell, but I recommend them anyway:
Moun Gaman, which you can find here.
Devil Crab, you find it over here.
And When I sell my NFT, which goes here.
My mate, that has more views of his son’s drawing, than his own art. Which is funny.
