How Do You Create An NFT On OpenSea For Free?

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If you’re an aspiring artist looking to delve into the world of NFTs, or even just curious about how this new world of tokenised assets works, then this guide will help.

I decided to create a couple of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) collections on OpenSea, one of the world’s biggest NFT marketplaces, as the platform enables you to upload and list your artwork for sale for free.

There are other NFT marketplaces that offer this, but out of the ones I looked at, OpenSea seemed the most intuitive and user friendly.

I’m sure there’ll be plenty of seasoned NFT creators who’ll tell me that I’ve picked the wrong horse and I’m happy to stand corrected, so watch this space!

But for now, this guide will focus on my journey creating NFTs on OpenSea without spending any money to do so.

What is OpenSea?

OpenSea is a large Web3 NFT marketplace which is used by thousands of creators, traders and collectors every day.

The platform was launched in 2017 as the world’s first market for trading Non-Fungible Tokens on the Ethereum blockchain.

How to create an NFT on OpenSea for free

Anyone with at least a passing interest in NFTs will have heard of the fortunes being made by the creators of vast collections of tiny, pixelated images, such as Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks.

And you might be equally confused about how you can create your own digital artworks and go about listing them on OpenSea.

Well, the good news is you can do all this for free using OpenSea’s ‘lazy minting’ function which allows you to create an NFT without any gas costs – the amount you pay to transact on the Ethereum blockchain, including creating digital artwork.

What is lazy minting on OpenSea?

Lazy minting is the process of creating an NFT that isn’t actually transferred to the blockchain, so no costs are incurred at this stage.

Effectively, all you’ve done is uploaded your artwork and created a listing on the OpenSea platform rather than mint the final NFT – this only happens if you sell the piece.

Gas fees will only be payable if someone buys the NFT or you transfer it to a self-custody wallet.

If you use a different blockchain, such as Polygon, fees will also be payable but they’re a lot less than Ethereum.

Create your first NFT on OpenSea

It might be stating the obvious, but the first thing you’ll need is something that you want to turn into an NFT.

This isn’t limited to simply artworks or pixel drawings of cartoon faces either – practically anything can be turned into an NFT, including real-world items, such as cars, houses or even real yachts.

But for the purposes of this guide, I’m going to stick to pieces of digital art that you’ve created and want to publish and possibly list for sale (or simply store in your own collection).

So, assuming that you’ve created some art, the next stage is to connect a compatible cryptocurrency wallet to OpenSea.

How to connect my crypto wallet to OpenSea

Connecting your wallet to OpenSea only takes seconds and is very straight forward.

Simply open your wallet app on your smartphone and click ‘Connect wallet’ on the OpenSea home page in the top right-hand corner, assuming you’re on a desktop/laptop which is the easiest hardware to use when editing and uploading your images.

A dropdown list of some of the more popular wallets will appear, with the option to show more if it doesn’t immediately appear or use WalletConnect for other compatible wallets.

Assuming your wallet is there, select it and you’ll receive a prompt on your smartphone app to allow the connection.

Once you’ve agreed and signed this on your phone, your wallet will be connected and you’ll be able to see your current ETH and WETH balances, also on the top right of the screen.

There are plenty of wallet options on the market, but some of the most popular choices are MetaMask, Trust Wallet and Coinbase Wallet.

Creating an NFT on OpenSea

Now for the exciting part – it’s time to create your first NFT!

From the homepage, click on your profile icon (top right again) and scroll down to the ‘Create’ button.

This will take you to a ‘Create New Item’ screen where everything is self-explanatory.

Simply upload your artwork, include a name and description, the number of pieces in the collection and the blockchain you want to launch it on.

There are a few additional options that you can delve into, but they are optional and not necessary to create your first NFT.

One of these that I will mention is called ‘Freeze metadata’. This locks down the content and metadata so it can’t be changed later, and some creators say this improves buyer confidence if you do this, however there is a charge.

Let’s ignore this for now (you can always return and update the options) and hit ‘Create’.

You’ll be prompted to fill in a captcha for each item you create, but once you’ve done this your freshly minted NFT will appear in your collection.

Listing an NFT for sale on OpenSea

If you’re hoping to sell your artwork, you can list it for sale for free and it couldn’t be simpler to do.

Head to your profile and find your artwork (or open the collection that it’s contained in) and select ‘List for sale’.

Here you’ll be able to set a price, the duration of the sale and see the fees that will be incurred if you’re lucky enough to find a buyer.

At the time of writing, OpenSea’s commission was 2.5% of the sale price. You can also set a royalty fee for a slice of any residual sales that may occur.

Once you’re happy, click ‘Complete listing’.

You’ll be prompted to sign the listing on your wallet app on your smartphone, after which your artwork will be live in the marketplace.

Is it easy to sell NFTs on OpenSea?

The NFT space has exploded over recent years and there are thousands upon thousands of incredibly talented artists trying their luck at selling their work.

So, competition is fierce and there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to make a sale on OpenSea.

You can improve your chance by actively marketing yourself by taking the following steps:

• Promote yourself across social media, especially Twitter.
• Use the above to create a brand and a loyal audience.
• List your work on NFT drop directories and calendar sites. Some are free, some will charge you.
• Run giveaways and competitions around your NFT art.
• Do your own PR – try creating a press release about your work and sending it to the relevant platforms that cover NFT news. This works well if there’s a great story behind your work.

The following methods will cost you money:

• Advertise your NFTs across social media.
• Set up a website dedicated to your NFT profile and work. You’ll need to put a lot of effort in to get your website ranking well and this won’t happen overnight.
• Paid NFT influencers to feature your work.

Remember, the market is saturated and breaking through is no easy feat.

Big brands, well-known artists and celebrities can often sell out an NFT collection in minutes but for most people making their first sale can take months, if at all.

OpenSea support – good or bad?

Before experimenting with creating NFTs on OpenSea I researched a few platforms to see what other users were saying about them.

I found a fair amount of criticism directed at OpenSea’s support, with many people complaining of long wait times or unresolved issues.

I did experience an issue while creating an NFT collection which was my own fault, however I needed help resolving it.

I found the OpenSea support team was very responsive and helpful.

They replied to my ticket within hours and were patient in dealing with the issue which involved several exchanges so I can’t find fault with this area of the operation.

Final thoughts

OpenSea makes creating your NFTs and putting them up for sale a doddle.

However, you’ll need a lot of luck or a big marketing budget to secure your first sale, even if your artwork is brilliant.

There are so many people creating on platforms like OpenSea that the whole NFT space feels a little flooded.

But, despite a cooling demand for NFT artwork partly driven by the crypto winter, there’s still an incredibly active community of collectors looking to find the next big thing.

Given that you can create your NFTs for free on OpenSea, why not give it a go and see where it leads?

Related post: What is asset tokenisation?