There are many people making a lot of money buying and selling NFTs. There are also a lot more people losing money buying and selling NFTs.
If you want to find out how to make money with NFTs, there’s a simple yet almost guaranteed (not 100% guaranteed) way to make money during the NFT secondary sale.
Disclaimer: I’m not a financial advisor. Please do your due research before deciding to invest your money buying and selling NFTs. Nothing is a 100% guarantee. I can’t say definitively that you’ll for sure make money with this method but this is one of the easiest ways to make money with NFTs.
Let’s go!
Table of Contents
What is an NFT?
NFT stands for non-fungible token and essentially what non-fungible means is that it cannot be substituted for another while keeping its intended value.
Click here to learn more about the basics of NFTs.
Cash is fungible. My $10 bill is the same as your $10 bill or two of your $5 bills. What isn’t fungible is art. One piece of art is different from another and it’s totally unique even if one artist copies another artist’s work.
NFTs are non-fungible. Each NFT being sold on the marketplace has its own set of numbers that is used to identify NFTs. It’s the same technology behind cryptocurrency called blockchain. It’s like the official paper from the government that stated irrefutably that the house is yours. You can’t just go to any random house and say “This house is mine” just because you say so. Similarly, once you become the owner of an NFT, you’re the irrefutable owner of that piece of art, you can’t declare any other NFT yours.
There are many different types of NFTs being sold and bought:
- Drawing
- Animation
- Music
- Screenshots
Where to buy and sell NFTs?
Below are some of the places to buy and sell NFTs:
- OpenSea (this is the most popular platform for Ethereum NFTs)
- Rarible (for Ethereum NFTs)
- Magic Eden (the most popular platform for Solana NFTs)
- Solsea (for Solana NFTs)
What do you need to buy and sell NFTs?
NFTs are often bought with cryptos. The most common cryptos you’ll use are Ethereum and Solana. Ethereum NFTs have a higher Gas fee it’s harder on the environment compared to Solana NFTs.
What is a gas fee? When you buy an NFT, it takes actual energy that has actual effects on the environment and you’d pay for that energy usage in the form of a gas fee.
I recommend beginners to start from Solana NFT because the gas fee is significantly cheaper. Ethereum NFTs can sometimes be thousands of dollars if everyone is minting at the same time (which they will during mint time).
Before buying crypto, you should check out what kind of NFT it is. Is it an Ethereum NFT? You’ll need to pay for it using Ethereum. Is it a Solana NFT? You’ll need to pay for it using Solana.
Most of the NFTs being sold and listed on OpenSea are Ethereum NFTs. They just recently allowed Solana NFTs.
All the NFTs being sold on MagicEden and Solsea are Solana NFTs.
You’ll also need a wallet to store your crypto and for completing the transaction.
If you’re buying Ethereum NFTs, I recommend you to use Metamask or TrustWallet. Both are free and used by professional NFT traders.
If you’re buying Solana NFTs, I recommend you to use the Phantom wallet. Phantom is free and easy to use.
To summarize, you’ll need these to buy and sell NFTs:
- Ethereum or Solana
- Metamask wallet (for Ethereum NFTs)
- Phantom wallet (for Solana NFTs)
Step 1: Research upcoming NFT projects
There are two ways you can go about this: you can buy the NFTs that are already on the marketplace or, you can watch for upcoming NFTs and buy them on the developer’s website before it gets to the marketplace. We’re going to focus on method number two since that’s where the big money is at.
The first thing you need to do is to search for any upcoming NFTs. To do so, you can visit the following websites:
- Upcomingnft.art
- nftcalendar.io
- Rarity.tools
You can also go to YouTube and type in “Upcoming NFTs” and see what influencers have to say about this. They aren’t always right so if they say “this NFT may 10x, 100x!” take it with a grain of salt.
Another way you can hear about upcoming NFTs is to follow NFT influencers on Twitter. They’ll talk about what NFTs are worth checking out.
A couple of good Twitter accounts I recommend you to follow are:
- BentoBoiNFT
- SOLBigBrain
- SolanaSensai
Go and see what these accounts are following and follow those accounts too.
Now that you have the potential names of NFTs, you’ll have to check the following things to assess whether the NFT is good:
You want to check the number of followers they have on Twitter. A good indication is if they have 4 digit number of followers on Twitter while having only a 3 digit number of NFTs to be minted (ex. 3820 followers on Twitter and 333 to be minted). If they got a 5 digit number of followers on Twitter, and have a 4 digit number of NFTs to be minted that would be fine as well (ex. 10.3K followers and 1500 to be minted).
You’ll also want to check how much engagement there is on their Twitter. Are people liking their posts? Are people commenting and retweeting? Depending on how big the following they have on Twitter, the number of likes should be different. Usually, if they have hundreds of likes on their posts, that’s a good sign. If they got tens of thousands of followers on Twitter and only 30 likes on their recent posts, that’s not a good sign.
- Discord
If the NFT doesn’t have a Discord, it’s not a good sign. Unless you’re too early to it and they haven’t created one yet. You’ll go to their Discord (the link is usually on Twitter) and see how many members they have and how engaged are the people. Get a sense of the vibe in the community. If you see the chat is moving up fast, it’s not a guaranteed sign that the project will succeed but it does remove some potential red flags. If you go to an NFT project and very few people are typing (one or five messages within a minute), you should be wary.
A good sign (but not a definitive sign) is if the chat is moving up so fast it’s hard for you to read the texts.
- The team
You’ll also have to check out the team behind the project. You can find the team on their website. All NFTs should have their own website and the links should be on Twitter.
Are they real people? If they are hidden behind avatars and you can’t find their real pictures on LinkedIn or Twitter or Instagram, you should be wary.
You’ll check to see if the artists have any real-life credentials. Many NFT projects are designed by artists working at Pixar, Disney, and other major studios. These artists have a long history of career accomplishments and you can find their old posts on Twitter. You should also be able to find them on LinkedIn easily.
The big thing about the team is how recognizable are they and how much they may have to hide. If they don’t tell you their real names and you can’t find their real-life accounts, it’s best to stay clear.
Now that you’ve done your initial checks, it’s time to move on to step 2.
Step 2: Decide on an NFT project
Ok, now you’ll decide on an NFT project. You should have a list of NFTs that passed your initial check. There are no obvious red flags when you check out their Twitter, Discord, and team.
Here’s what you’ll check:
- Twitter: dive deeper into Twitter to see how much hype there is. Are they real people liking and commenting on the NFT or are they bots? How much hype is there?
- Discord: Are members actively chatting in Discord? How much hype is there? If everyone talks about how this project will “moon” or will “10x, 100x”, it removes some concern. If they are talking about how there may be a “rug pull” or if there’s a general sense of doubt about the NFT, it’s best to drop the NFT.
- Roadmap vision: you’ll check whether there is a utility for the NFT. The utility is the use of the NFT. For instance, only the NFT holder can attend a certain event held by the team. Or, the utility could be that the NFT will give you access to a personal portfolio page to display your NFTs. Not all NFTs without a future vision besides being a piece of art to be had will do badly but many people do like having roadmaps. It tells them that after they acquire the NFT, not everyone will just sell everything off because there are other things to look forward to.
- Reveal: When you buy an NFT, you may not know what specific ones you got. You could have gotten a rare one that you can sell for more or you could have a common one that you can sell for less. Finding out if there’s a reveal will impact how much money you can make from the NFT. We’ll talk about that in the next section. It’s best to find an NFT with a reveal.
- Mint date: Mint just means buy. When can you buy it? How much is the mint price?
- Whitelist: Find out how you can get on the whitelist. Whitelist is a list of people that get to mint early for a cheaper price. For example, the public may mint for 2.3 sol and those on the whitelist get to mint earlier and cheaper at 1.3 sol.
- Secondary: Find out when’s the secondary sale date. A secondary market is a market where those who acquire the NFT from the original source (dev’s website) are selling to others.
The act of selling on OpenSea and MagicEden isn’t always a secondary sale since the devs can sell their NFTs on those platforms as well but when those who bought it from the original owners try to sell their NFTs to other buyers, they enter the secondary sale. Find out the date of the secondary sale if it has been determined. We’ll discuss why that matters.
- Do you like the art: this shouldn’t matter as much since everyone’s opinion on how aesthetically pleasing the art is would be different but if you really don’t like an art style, chances are, others won’t like it too. Don’t buy an NFT if you don’t like the art because if you can’t sell it, you may be stuck with it.
Generally, you want to find an NFT project that has a good number of following and engagement on Discord and Twitter, the team is visible, and has a history of career success, preferably, the artists already have a following before starting the NFT project, one that is easy to get on the whitelist, and has a reveal.
Step 3: Try to get on the whitelist
You should know how to get on the whitelist. You can ask those in the group chat. If nobody is answering you, this isn’t a good sign. A good NFT project should make newcomers feel welcomed. If you don’t feel welcome, other newbies won’t as well and they’ll be less likely to buy.
You can also check out the announcement on Discord to find the info yourself.
You’ll try to get on the whitelist. In most cases, to get a whitelist, you have to chat actively. For every minute that you’re chatting, you may get a specific amount of XP. The more XP you have, the faster you complete the current level and move on to another level. Once you complete say 5 levels, you get a guaranteed whitelist spot.
If it’s too difficult to get on the whitelist, I don’t recommend you to try. Time is money after all.
They may tell you how many NFTs you can mint if you’re on the whitelist. It could be one, it could be two. I recommend getting at least 2 if they allow.
Those on the whitelist get to mint for a cheaper price and also get to mint faster than the public.
Step 4: Mint (buy)
At this stage, you should be able to mint if you’re on the whitelist. For some projects, it’s extremely difficult to get on the whitelist. You may get a spot easier if you’re a huge NFT influencer in the space. In exchange, you may talk about the project on your YouTube channel for instance.
I recommend you create a different wallet solely for minting. You’ll drop just enough crypto in there to mint the specific NFT, nothing more. You should be able to create multiple wallets within the same account you’re using for free. The reason you should have a different wallet when minting on someone else’s site is that you can’t trust an external third-party website as much as you could OpenSea or MagicEden.
It’ll ask you to connect your wallet and once you do, you get to mint. It may also ask you to sign in to the Discord where you got your whitelist to confirm that indeed they do have a whitelist spot reserved for you. Once you minted the NFT, it’ll show up in your wallet. You can transfer the NFT into your other wallets if you want.
They may offer different levels of whitelist. Upper levels get to mint faster and cheaper than the lower whitelist levels. As long as you can get on a whitelist, you’re fine.
When the whitelist mint is over, the remaining NFTs get to be minted by the public during the public mint. I wouldn’t recommend you to mint one if there isn’t a reveal unless there is so much hype around the NFT that you’re sure it’ll go up in price. Usually, most NFTs don’t have such a guarantee. True hype is when lots of YouTubers and NFT influencers are talking about it, not just one or two influencers mentioning it one or two times.
During the public mint, the public gets to mint the NFT on markets such as OpenSea and MagicEden. Even if you aren’t on the whitelist, you get to mint one. And if you got one from the whitelist, you can still mint.
If the NFT doesn’t get sold out within a minute on the public sale, it’s not a good sign. If it gets sold out within a minute, it’s a good sign but it’s not a guaranteed sign that it’ll be 10x or 100x.
Step 5: Sell at the secondary market
Once the public mint is over, the devs are no longer selling it. They sold every NFTs and now, it’s time for a secondary sale.
Here’s what will happen after it hits secondary sale, the price will climb, if you see the price climbing, you want to sell a few hours (1–3+) after it hits secondary sale. You can hold for longer if you want to wait for it to 10x or 20x but at this stage, you can easily make 0.5 or 2 sols if you sell now.
It’s likely that after a few hours (sometimes immediately after hitting secondary sale if the supply is high in the range of 5000+), the holders will try and undercut each other and the price will drop. The price may also rise again after dropping. This repetition of rising and dropping will happen several times. If you pay attention you’ll notice a pattern (ex. every time it drops to 3 sols, the price climbs up again, and every time it rises to 5.5 sols the price drops again). The pattern will hold true for at least a few days and after that, it may never rise as much again, it’ll just be a continuous decline until nothing gets sold or bought.
If the NFT doesn’t have a reveal, you can observe trends and buy and sell at specific times to make money.
If the NFT has a reveal, you want to sell 30 min — to 2 hours before the reveal. That is when the price will climb the highest. It’s best not to wait until after the reveal to sell because a lot of people will try to sell at that stage realizing their NFT is a common one.
To summarize, the process goes like this:
- Whitelist mint
- Public mint
- Secondary sale
- Reveal
Here’s a useful chart I made
- Presale includes whitelist mint
- The public sale is when the public gets to buy it on marketplaces without being on the whitelist
- Price will rise leading up to the public sale and when it hits secondary sale, there’s a period of time when the rise will rise before dipping down if there’s no reveal
- If there’s a reveal, price tend to keep climbing until the reveal at which point, it’s a gradual decline
- If you zoom into the graph, you may see some slight ups and downs that’s where you can also jump in and make some money although not a lot
- I recommend selling 30 minutes to an hour before the reveal where the price is at its peak
Step 6: Hold or sell
There shouldn’t be a step 6 if you already sold your NFT before the reveal or a few hours after it hits the secondary market but if you still do have your NFT, you can hold it hoping that it’ll keep climbing or, you can sell it if you see the price dropping for several days in a row.
It’s unlikely for most NFTs to suddenly increase in price over time after the initial hype is over. Most people who buy an NFT want to flip it for profit so they aren’t likely to hold on to it.
When a lot of holders are selling the NFT, the floor price (lowest price being sold at the marketplace) will drop further down.
Sometimes it’s best to sell before the floor price drops even lower otherwise, you may never retrieve even a fraction of the money you used to buy the NFT.
Step 7: Find the next upcoming NFT project
Go and find your next NFT project when you’re done with the current one. You can follow several NFT projects at the same time if you wish.
Once you get a hang of selling before the reveal, you can see how much you can make from NFTs. As long as you got a whitelist spot and enough crypto to buy several NFTs at the same time, selling before the reveal is almost a guaranteed way to make money.
Be wary of scammers
- Never give out 12 seed phase. The devs would NEVER contact you through Discord or Twitter. Anyone who asked you for the 12 seed phase is a scammer
- Anyone who contacted you via Discord for a private early mint is a scammer. True minting happens when everyone knows about it.
- Turn off private messaging on Discord
Tips on making money with NFTs
- Don’t put your life savings into this. You can win big but just as likely if not more, you’ll lose big.
- Don’t be too greedy. If you’re already seeing a good gain, sell before it takes a turn for the worst because it could happen. Or, you can take your chances and see if it keeps going up.
- Everyone loses money. Everyone who made money with NFTs has lost some. It’s okay to lose some money on one NFT but win it back with another project.
- Don’t hold NFTs for more than a couple of days. In most cases, most NFTs will just keep dropping in value over time. It won’t pick back up again. Lots of people hold an NFT because if they sell then, they’d lose money. But if you don’t sell, you can’t even retrieve even a fraction of the value on the NFT.
Most (90–99%) NFTs on the market will be completely worthless in a few years. NFT money is built on the fact that people are buying thinking they can sell it to someone else for more than they paid for. Eventually, someone would be left holding a bunch of useless NFTs that they can’t sell for even 1 cent (the same thing with meme coins).
5. Think about the time that you’re putting in. Sure, you may have made 2 sols in the process but how many hours did you put in to make it happen? Your time may be better spent building up a brand that will make you continuous passive income for years to come. If you want to find out how to become a content creator and make money click here.
Final thought
In the world of NFT, anything can change within minutes or hours. Most NFTs aren’t good investments. Do not buy into NFTs with your lifesaving or rent money because you could lose it.
That said, if you can find a couple of good NFT projects to focus on that has a reveal, you may be able to make some extra money at the end of the month.
