The Best NFT Marketplaces in 2023 for Beginners by Fee and Volume

What Is NFT And How Does It Work?

NFT, or Non-Fungible Token is a real-world object turned digital. By real-world objects, I mean artworks, music, in-game assets, and videos, among many other things.

Why are they called NFTs? Because, unlike cryptocurrencies which are fungible (tradable or exchangeable) assets, NFTs are non-fungible assets. It means that my one Bitcoin always equals your one Bitcoin in value. But the NFT I own does not necessarily have the same value as the NFT you own.

NFTs are unique and unexchangeable. It’s like saying two different paintings of Picasso do not have the same price because each one is unique, and one of them can have a way higher price for various reasons.

NFTs are traded online using cryptocurrencies and outnumbered artists are using this technology to sell their works of art.

The reason for the growing interest in NFTs is that the artist is granted ownership, and no one can claim to own anybody else’s work - the non-fungibility mentioned above. Actually, it is intellectual ownership coming true.

So, how can I have a part in the lucrative business of NFTs and buy or sell them? Well, NFTs are traded at NFT marketplaces, and we’ll learn what they are in the following section.

What Are NFT Marketplaces?

Simply put, an NFT marketplace is an online platform to trade NFTs in exchange for cryptocurrencies or money. In addition to buying and selling NFTs, marketplaces let users store, exhibit, and even mint NFTs.

Also, NFT marketplaces are hubs for NFT and cryptocurrency enthusiasts where artists, developers, and businesses can easily communicate. NFT marketplaces also allow auctions for Non-Fungible Tokens.

Smart contracts are integral parts of NFT marketplaces, i.e., they use smart contracts to manage the transactions and communications between suppliers and buyers.

The smart contract ensures the conditions for a transaction are met; otherwise, it is rejected. Being equipped with NFT-specific identifying data, smart contracts streamline NFT trading. NFT marketplaces can be used in various areas like

• Creating Digital Art
• Swapping
• E-Learning Services
• Video Games
• Security
• Real Estate

NFT marketplaces come in two general types: specialised and conventional, with specialised ones mainly focused on promoting works of art and targeting audiences.

Also, remember that NFT marketplaces have their niches, as some focus on art, others on in-game assets, music, photography, etc. Learn about NFT staking.

The main prerequisite of using an NFT marketplace is a blockchain wallet and an account on the marketplace. After knowing what NFT marketplaces are, let’s see how we can use them.

How To Use An NFT Marketplace?

• The first step is to create an account on the NFT platform you choose and get a digital wallet to store your NFTs.
• If you own NFTs, the next step for you is to upload your assets for display. If the platform allows, you should choose the tokens you’d like to receive and specify the fees.
• Then, it’s time to make your works open for sale by bidding on a fixed value or an auction.
• When an item is sold, a transaction gets created in your wallet.
• The next step is to put the products for sale on the market. Users have the option of bidding on a fixed price or an auction.
• The platform must approve the data prior to listing the NFTs.
• Also, if you are considering buying NFTs, you need some cryptocurrencies.

Now that we know what NFT is, how it works, and how we can use it, we need to find some NFT marketplaces. The thing is that various NFT marketplaces are out there, and we need to know which ones are better. The following section helps you choose the best NFT marketplaces.

Learn more: The Ultimate List of Free NFT Wallets for 2023: Which One Is The Best?

How To Choose The Best NFT Marketplaces?

To choose the best NFT marketplaces, you need to consider some factors, including the supported blockchain networks, trading volumes, wallet compatibility, popularity, copyright, governance and security, tax, your project (single/ multiple), costs, ease of use, and ratings and reviews. Let’s elaborate on each one below.

Supported Blockchain Networks

One of the primary factors to consider when selecting a suitable NFT marketplace is the blockchain networks the marketplace supports. Most NFT marketplaces support Ethereum, but others support Flow, Tezos, and other networks as well.

Trading Volumes

The daily and monthly trading volumes indicate how large and popular an NFT marketplace is. Higher trading volumes indicate that the selected marketplace is used by many users, meaning that it’s safer to use.

Wallet Compatibility

Another key element that gets forgotten is checking the wallet compatibility of the NFT marketplace. You need to ensure what wallets the marketplace supports to avoid any confusion upon trading.

Popularity

One of the easiest factors in choosing the best NFT marketplaces is the popularity of the marketplace. When a platform has many users, it means you’re more likely to find a buyer to trade your NFTs.

Also, more activity indicates more competitive prices. So, in your search to find a good marketplace, check how popular it is.

Copyright

One of the key factors in choosing the best NFT marketplaces is copyright. You need to ensure that you have the IP rights to secure your Intellectual Property.

As an NFT creator, you must know the rules and follow them to avoid penalties and harm to your brand or reputation. One of these rules is that creators must get the original creator’s permission to make a copy of their work; otherwise, there will be legal consequences. 

As an NFT buyer, you must follow the rules to avoid any legal conflicts. Also, knowing the rules helps you take proper action when the seller is out of line.

So, you must ensure how that marketplace values copyright and if everything is legal.

Governance and Security

The next factor that most crypto beginners find difficult to understand is knowing the governance infrastructure of the platform, i.e., how it gives you access to the NFT market and your NFTs, and security.

Although NFTs and NFT marketplaces are developed to value decentralisation, sometimes the opposite happens. In December 2021, for example, Todd Kramer (an NFT collector and artist) reported that $2.2M worth of his NFTs (containing the Bored Apes) were stolen.

To handle the situation, OpenSea froze the items and banned trading them, which was followed by objections from many users. These users believed that OpenSea’s freezing of the NFT items was a complete contradiction to the concept of decentralisation.

Centralised marketplaces play the role of intermediaries between users and the NFT market, while decentralised ones give relatively more direct access to the market.

The centralised marketplaces record the events in off-chain databases controlled by that marketplace. It means the private keys of the NFTs are stored in the platform, which makes them vulnerable to hacks.

So, you need to find a marketplace that is as decentralised as possible! Also, the best NFT marketplaces support users with

• encrypted private information
• identity verification, and
• transaction insurance to prevent fraud.

Tax

No transaction is tax-free, and transparency is the key if you’d like to avoid legal and financial confusion, but the tax laws are different from country to country.

In most cases, the market value of your NFTs and the gains you get by selling them must be reported as income, and capital gains, respectively.

If you are an NFT creator, you’ll receive a share whenever your work is resold; therefore, you need to pay the income tax.

To know the exact amount of tax, you need to check with the tax organisation of the area where you live or make the transaction.

Is Your Project Single or Multiple?

Whether your project is single or multiple is essential because some NFT marketplaces are better for single projects and others for multiple ones. The most famous marketplaces supporting a single NFT project are

• Axie Infinity
• CryptoPunks
• NBA Top Shot, and
• Mobox.

The main point making these platforms the best NFT marketplaces for single projects is their lower fees for buying and selling.

However, the following platforms are most suitable when you have a collection of NFTs.

• OpenSea
• Rarible
• Nifty Gateway
• SuperRare

Costs

One of the factors differentiating NFT marketplaces is costs that range from royalties of the primary and secondary sales to service fees. It’s needless to say that the lower fee, the better!

Those marketplaces incurring uncertain costs, especially before granting access to their user interface, are not the best choices.

Ease of Use

Any good platform is easy to use as it prioritises user experience. Conditional convenience is a key factor you need to stay alert to.

If the NFT marketplace you are about to choose includes complicated procedures or is easier to use for people in certain locations or with specific devices, you might want to consider another marketplace.

Also, wallet compatibility and supporting a wide range of NFT wallets and payment methods are among the features of the best NFT marketplaces.

Ratings and Reviews

Ideally, you’re not the first to use an NFT marketplace, and you have the privilege of using other users’ opinions about any marketplace you wish to use. Studying the user reviews and checking the rankings of an NFT marketplace prior to using it can be a real eye-opener.

Choosing a good NFT marketplace can be confusing and time-consuming. But the above factors help you find what you are looking for more easily. To facilitate the process even more and save you from crawling the Internet, we’ve provided the best NFT marketplaces in 2023 for beginners.

The Best NFT Marketplaces In 2023 For Beginners

Since fee and trading volume are two of the most commonly relied-on factors in choosing the best NFT marketplaces, we have categorised them for beginners based on fee and volume.

The Best NFT Marketplaces In 2023 For Beginners by Fee

By the term ‘best NFT marketplaces by fee’, I mean the cheapest marketplaces in 2023. The following table summarises the bests.

The Best NFT Marketplaces In 2023 For Beginners by Volume

The table below depicts the largest NFT marketplaces in 2023 for beginners based on total trading volume. It’s no secret that the items on the table change over time according to their changes.

The Best NFT Marketplaces 2023 for Artists

The following table compares the best NFT marketplaces for artists in 2023.

Best NFT Marketplaces 2023 for Photographers

The emergence of blockchain technology and the development of NFTs created myriads of new opportunities for photographers to showcase their work and make some good money while benefiting from copyrights.

The following table compares the best NFT marketplaces for photographers in 2023.

The Best Cardano NFT Marketplaces 2023

• CNFT.io
• JPG.Store
• Cardano Cube
• Tokhun
• AdaNFT Marketplace

If you are considering staking ADA, here’s the best place to stake Cardano.

The Best Solana NFT Marketplaces 2023

The following table depicts the best Solana NFT marketplaces in 2023.

The Best Ethereum NFT Marketplaces 2023

1. OpenSea - OpenSea is the largest NFT marketplace on the Ethereum blockchain, offering a wide range of digital assets for sale. It has a user-friendly interface and a large user base, making it an excellent choice for beginners.
2. Rarible - Rarible is an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace that has gained popularity due to its low fees, user-friendly interface, and ability for creators to mint their own NFTs.
3. SuperRare - SuperRare is an invite-only NFT marketplace on the Ethereum blockchain that features high-quality digital art from verified creators. It has gained popularity due to its curation process, resulting in a selection of unique and valuable digital assets.
4. Nifty Gateway - Nifty Gateway is an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace that has gained popularity due to its collaborations with popular artists and celebrities, resulting in a selection of highly sought-after digital assets.
5. Foundation - Foundation is an invite-only Ethereum-based NFT marketplace that has gained attention due to its curated selection of digital art and ability for creators to control the secondary market.
6. KnownOrigin - KnownOrigin is an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace that features unique, verified digital artwork from a diverse range of creators. It has a strong community and a curation process that ensures the quality of the digital assets being sold.
7. MakersPlace - MakersPlace is an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace that features digital art, music, and other creative works from verified creators. It has gained popularity due to its focus on high-quality digital assets and collaborations with popular artists.
8. Async Art - Async Art is an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace that allows creators to sell programmable art that can change over time. It has gained attention due to its innovative approach to NFTs and the unique digital assets being sold.
9. Mintable - Mintable is an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace that has gained popularity due to its user-friendly interface, ability for creators to mint their own NFTs, and low fees.
10. Atomic Market - Atomic Market is an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace that operates on the WAX blockchain and has gained attention due to its focus on gaming-related digital assets.

The Best Tezos NFT Marketplaces 2023

You can see the comparison of the best Tezos NFT marketplaces in 2023 in the following table.

The Best Polygon NFT Marketplaces 2023

• OpenSea
• Floor
• NFTrade
• Candy Shop
• Hodl My Moon

The Best Algorand NFT Marketplaces 2023

The following table shows the best Algorand NFT marketplaces in 2023, plus the unique features of each one.

The Best Avax NFT Marketplaces 2023

• OpenSea
• NFTrade
• Kalao
• Jeopegs
• Element

Summary

That’s all about the best NFT marketplaces made digestible for crypto beginners by fee and volume, among other factors. The marketplace that is repeatedly used by users on various blockchains is OpenSea.

Although it has faced tremendous losses recently, it is still among the most favoured and one of the largest NFT marketplaces. The most important point, however, is choosing the marketplace that best suits your needs. To find more NFT projects, check out Cryptologist.

FAQ

The following Q&As will help you get your head around the concept of NFT marketplaces, and don’t leave any questions unanswered!

How Does An NFT Marketplace Work?

NFT marketplaces are big markets to buy and sell NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). NFTs are mainly used by artists as they are stored on a blockchain to mark the ownership of a work of art or other objects. By selling an NFT, its ownership is transferred to the buyer.

Can A Normal Person Sell NFT?

Anybody can create artwork, mint it on a blockchain to turn it into an NFT and sell it on an NFT marketplace.

Is NFT Too Late To Start?

It’s never later to start using and trading NFTs, especially now that it’s gaining more and more attention.

What Sells Best As An NFT?

The most popular form of NFT is art, which is also best sold.

Is NFT Difficult To Sell?

Generally, selling NFTs is not difficult as there are many buyers in marketplaces, but selling NFTs for significant prices is not easy.

How Do You Get Rich Selling NFT?

To get rich by selling NFT, you need to find rich buyers willing to buy your NFT.