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Collecting art in the medium of NFTs is fast-paced and exciting, and if you're looking to explore the different methods of selling an NFT you've collected or minted on SuperRare, you've come to the right article. (Note: Only whitelisted artists who are invited to the platform have the ability to mint.)
SuperRare supports three ways to sell artworks: Auctions, Offers and Buy Now list prices. Across all three sales methods, the fee structure remains the same:
Fees
On primary sales (the first time an artwork is sold, also known as a mint sale):
- The Artist receives 85% of the sale amount
- SuperRare DAO Community Treasury receives 15% of the sale amount
On secondary sales (which is any sale following the primary sale):
- The seller receives 90% of the sale amount
- The original artist receives 10% of the sale amount as a royalty
On all sales, there's a 3% marketplace fee added on top of the sale price that's paid for by the buyer – this goes to the SuperRare DAO Community Treasury.
Note: The 3% fee will be reflected for "Buy Now" List Price but not for Auctions.
Auctions
If you wish to run an automated timed auction, you can set up a Reserve Auction or Scheduled Auction.
In a Reserve Auction, a public reserve price is set which when met kicks off a 24-hour countdown timer to auction end, allowing other collectors to bid before the time is up. Reserve Auctions are good for when you're not in a hurry to sell a work, but want to get at least a certain amount of money for it. Once the reserve price is set, there is no specific timeframe in which it must me met– but when it is, the timer kicks off.
In a Scheduled Auction, specific start and end times are chosen, along with an optional starting price. The auction will start and end at approximately the specified times, whether or not any bids meet the starting price. Scheduled auctions are good for when you know you want to sell a piece during a specific time frame, as part of an event, or in order to make the auction an event of its own.
Offers
Additionally, there is an open Offers system which allows collectors to make an offer on any piece that is not under auction.
An offer is essentially a collector saying, "Hey, you may not be intending to sell this work, but in case you are, here's my offer for it."
You don't have to do anything to make an artwork available for offers – anyone can make one at anytime as long as it is at least as high as any existing offer, and as long as it isn't under auction.
If you're interested in accepting an offer, you should do so sooner rather than later, because offers can be withdrawn at any time. (Note: Auction bids cannot be withdrawn).
Offers are useful for price discovery and for letting collectors indicate interest in a piece – but if you're really looking to sell something, you should use Auctions or set a Buy Now price.
Note: Prior to the launch of Auctions, the Offers system was known as "Bids" – so if you're familiar with how "bidding" worked in the early days of SR, this is the same system, just now called Offers.
Buy Now
As you might imagine, 'Buy Now' purchases involve setting a "list price" at which an artwork can be purchased.
If you have a price set, you can still receive and accept offers on the piece.
Setting a price is a good idea if you don't want to run a timed auction but know specifically what price you'd like to get for an artwork.
You can list a 'Buy Now' price with a 'Reserve Auction' to create a compelling opportunity for your collectors to collect your art.
FAQ: How Auctions, Offers and Buy Now systems interact
Q: I have an NFT that I bought outside of SuperRare. Can I sell it here?
A: Not at the moment. Apologies!
Q: I received an offer on my artwork from OpenSea – how is that possible? Should I accept it?
A: OpenSea generally acts as a giant aggregator for many NFTs and does index tokens that are minted on SuperRare. While your SuperRare token may receive offers there, we do not recommend accepting on OpenSea as this runs the risk of bypassing the Artist royalty system and other SuperRare-specific terms and conditions.
We hope for a future of better cross-platform functionality! But for now, it is best to trade SuperRare tokens within the SuperRare platform itself.
Q: Do Auction Bids and Offers interact at all? E.g. if an offer exists on an artwork when it is configured for an auction, will that offer be part of the auction?
A: No. There is no interaction whatsoever between Offers and Auction bids – they're actually different smart contracts and totally separate systems.
Q: If an artwork has a Buy Now price set, can the owner still receive and accept offers?
A: Yes.
Q: If I make an Offer or Bid, and someone places one higher than mine, will my Offer/Bid automatically be returned?
A: Yes, your Offer or Bid will automatically be refunded if someone places a higher amount than yours. There is one exception: if you place an Offer on an artwork, and another collector purchases it through the List Price (“Buy Now”) option, your Offer will remain on the artwork and will be open for the new owner to accept (even if it’s lower than what they bought it at). Please note, owner are only able to accept offers or ignore offers; they are not able to deny offers.
Q: Can an artwork have a Buy Now price while under auction, or counting down to a Scheduled Auction?
A: No, Buy Now prices will be hidden from the UI as soon as an auction is configured.
Q: If an artwork has an auction configured, can the owner still receive and accept offers?
A: No. The offers and auction bidding systems are separate and do not interact. If you configure an auction, you are opting out of the Offers and Purchase features for the duration of the auction.
Q: Is an artwork available for offers if it is counting down to a Scheduled Auction?
A: No. If an artwork has a Scheduled Auction, offers are closed until the auction bidding starts.
Q: Are bids placed in an auction able to be withdrawn?
A: No, bids placed in an auction cannot be withdrawn for the duration of the auction. If a bid is outbid, it will be returned automatically.
Q: Can open offers still be withdrawn outside of auctions?
A: Yes, offers can always be withdrawn from within your dashboard. Click on your profile icon in the upper-right corner of the site, select "dashboard", then scroll down to see all of your existing offers.
Q: Is there a minimum offer or bid?
A: Sellers can set a global minimum offer amount for all of their artworks. There is also a minimum increase amount of 10% over the previous open offer or bid.
Q: What if I have an open offer on an artwork and the owner sets up a Scheduled Auction or Reserve Auction on it – can I withdraw my offer?
A: Yes. Please note that when the auction starts, your offer will be hidden from the artwork's history until the auction starts. However, you can still retract your offer during that time.
Q: Can auctions be canceled?
A: Scheduled Auctions can be canceled before they begin. Reserve Auctions can be canceled before the reserve price has been met and the auction is initiated. If a Scheduled or Reserve Auction has begun, it cannot be canceled.
Q: How can I cancel an auction?
A: Similar to how you start an auction, you can cancel them from the 3-dot menu on an artwork when viewed in your "Collections" page (or "Creations", if the piece is your original artwork). Please note, this is currently unavailable on mobile.
Q: Can I edit the reserve price of my Reserve Auction once it's been set?
A: Unfortunately, no. You will need to cancel the auction and reset it.
Q: Can I edit the time of my Scheduled Auction once it's been set?
A: Unfortunately, no. You will need to cancel the auction and reset it.
Q: Can I set up an auction if a piece has an existing offer?
A: Yes, but the existing offer will be hidden from the UI as soon as the auction is configured. The person with the existing offer will be able to withdraw it, even during the auction.
Q: What happens to the 'Buy Now' price if the Reserve Auction ends lower/higher than the 'Buy Now' price?
A: The 'Buy Now' price will remain hidden from the UI. In the event that the List Price is lower than the Reserve Auction, the token owner that sets the List Price is the only one that can purchase the token at the List Price in order to prevent an arbitrage opportunity.