While it is easiest to create one or more NFT artworks, many artists and general users tend to create their own collections of non-fungible tokens. First, the entire collection can generate more revenue than individual tokens. Second, coins from collections are more valuable than scattered specimens. 

In this article, we will show you how to quickly post a collection for sale on NFT marketplaces.

What Is an NFT Collection?

An NFT collection is a set of unique or identical Non-Fungible Tokens. Each collection, like an individual NFT, has its own page on a marketplace such as OpenSea. Here, for example, is the page of the well-known NFT collection CryptoPunks:

NFT collections have a special quality: if each of their objects is unique, they are sold in separate lots. You cannot sell two unique NFTs in the marketplace at the same time. This is possible only for collections that have multiple identical instances. In this case, you can immediately put all the objects in the collection into one lot and sell them all at once instead of selling them individually.

In another guide, we illustrated how to list and sell NFTs in the marketplace, and we also talked about what Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are. In this guide, we are going to create an entire collection and list it for sale!

Stages of Selling an NFT Collection

Choosing a Site 

It is important that the marketplace allows you to post the entire collection at once. If you have only five or ten instances of an NFT collection, that’s not a problem. But imagine if you need to post 10,000 instances of your collection?

Why is promotion so important? Look at examples of successful collections and try to analyze this: why are people willing to buy some of them for millions of dollars? Behind each of these collections, be it CryptoPunks or Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), there is a whole team that has its own unique and interesting story.

Moreover, these are usually full-fledged projects that continue to evolve, creating even more interest in their collections. Many of them have a roadmap, attract influencers and ambassadors, and participate in various events related to cryptocurrencies and NFTs. This is the bar that every NFT creator should aim for.

Creating a Collection

Before you can add items (NFTs) to a collection, you must first create them, which we will discuss in more detail later in this article. Of course, you can sell items individually, but this way, users will not recognize that they belong to a collection, and they will usually be valued higher than individual NFTs.

When you add tokens to the collection, users (i.e. potential buyers) see that the NFT is part of the collection, and users may be interested in buying more copies.

In any case, a lot depends on promotion and the popularity of the collection itself, the artist or studio that released it. That’s why it’s better to prioritize a team with experience when building NFT collections than doing it yourself if this is your first time. But even if you decide to release the collection yourself, consult those who have experience. This will help you move in the right direction!

Adding Items to the Collection and Listing It for Sale

This is the last step. As mentioned earlier, you can display objects individually if they are different from each other or display a collection with the same NFTs as a whole. In the first case, you need programming skills, or you can use the services for creating NFTs, which we will discuss below. If your collection contains up to a few dozen NFTs, there are no problems. However, if the number is several thousand or more, you will need advanced tools and functionality like using metadata.

Please note that when you sell NFTs individually, you pay a commission for each transaction and a certain percentage of the amount to the marketplace, which depends on the platform and usually ranges from 1 to 3%.

If you need help creating, listing and promoting your NFT collection, contact ICODA for a free consultation!

An Example of Selling an NFT Collection

We will provide an example of selling your NFT art collection using the most popular NFT marketplace (OpenSea) as an example. Since it is unlikely that you could buy, for example, all 10,000 copies of a collection, we assume that you have already created or are planning to create your own NFT collection.

If you already have a collection, go directly to the second point. If not, read on.

Generate an NFT Collection

You don’t actually need to create all 10,000 instances. Use special tools. More advanced users can generate images by building an open-source application on GitHub. You can edit the code, add new ones and change existing ones.

If this seems complicated to you or if you want to create a unique collection according to your own parameters, different from others, write to ICODA: we will help you create your own CryptoPunks or make something special just for you!

For example, use a simple generator that allows you to create an NFT collection in a couple of clicks. Here is another list of generators for creating NFT collections:

• NFT Art Generator
• GENFTY
• Bueno
• UniqMyNFT

Create a Profile on the NFT

If you are selling NFTs for the first time and have not used marketplaces like OpenSea or Magic Eden on Solana before, you will need to connect your wallet to the platform and fill out a profile. The second step is optional, but consider this: what are the chances of selling the collection at a good price with an empty profile?

To connect a wallet, go to OpenSea and select a wallet to connect: MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, Phantom, Glow or others, or connect a mobile wallet via WalletConnect. For example, we use the most popular option: MetaMask, on the Ethereum network.

Then go to the “Profile” tab to add account information.

Fill out your profile: enter a nickname and profile description, add a website and social networking links, and a profile picture and banner. Don’t you think that a filled profile looks much better than an empty one?

You have created a profile on the OpenSea marketplace! What’s next? The next step is to publish the collection.

Publish Your Collection to the Marketplace

So how do you upload all 10,000 images without drawing attention to yourself? Actually, you don’t need to upload each image individually, but to upload everything, you need to create 10,000 individual images and their metadata, which you then need to upload to the website.

You can take the easier route and create 10,000 identical copies of NFTs by simply specifying the number when publishing to the OpenSea marketplace. You can create a collection first and then fill it with units later.

To add an NFT collection, hover your mouse over the profile icon and click “My Collections” in the drop-down menu.

Then click “Create a collection” and sign the transaction.

Next, fill in the required fields:

• Logo Image (required) – the logo of your website.
• Featured – the image that will be broadcast on the homepage of the marketplace
• Banner image – the image located at the top of the page
• Name (required field) – the name of the collection
• URL – a nice address for your NFTs
• Description – a short description of the collection
• Category – selection of the category of the collection (in our case – art). You can select only one category.
• Links – you can add links to your website, social networks and blog.
• Creator revenue – add one or more wallet addresses of the creators of the collection – each of them will receive royalties from each sale of an item in the collection. You can also set the number of deductions. 
• Blockchain – the choice of the network onto which the NFT collection will be placed
• Payment tokens – cryptocurrencies that can be used to pay for the purchase of units. In addition to ETH, you can add USDC, DAI, APE, SAND, UNI and a number of others.
• Display Theme.

After filling in all the fields, click “Create”.

The created collections will be displayed on the “My Collections” page.

Select an NFT collection and click on it to go to the specific collection page. For now, the collection is empty. To sell NFTs or the entire collection, you need to add to it.

Add Items to the NFT Collection

To add an NFT to the collection, go to the page with it and click on the “•••” icon located on the right, and then select “Add item” in the drop-down menu:

Learn more about how to add NFTs on the OpenSea marketplace. We wrote about that in the article called How to sell NFTs.

However, when adding items to the collection, it is important to remember a few subtleties:

First, you can add several pieces at once. Remember how we talked about metadata? Usually, metadata files are in SVG format:

Second, you can make many copies of the same instance (even quadrillions). At the same time, regardless of the number of copies, you do not have to pay gas for minting an NFT collection.

Please note that when you’re selling a collection for less than 1 ETH, the OpenSea platform charges a gas fee. In other cases, the commission is paid by the marketplace itself.