There’s no doubt that NFT art is more liquid than physical art.
With an NFT you have huge marketplaces like OpenSea, where hundreds of thousands of people are looking for new pieces at the right price.
The thing is… new collectors in this space sometimes believe that collecting NFT art is like having a private cash machine. They think selling NFTs is as easy and as instant as buying them.
Sadly, it doesn’t quite work that way.
(It might if you’re a professional flipper, but not if you’re a collector.)
Here’s how the journey goes when you first want to cash out…
Maybe you need to cash out for a real-world expense. Or you want to take some profits. Or perhaps you want some extra Eth to buy a new piece of art you love even more than the one you’re selling.
It’s time to make that sale.
So you go to OpenSea and check out the floor price.
Let’s say the floor is 2 Eth. Not so bad.
But wait, your piece has some rare attributes. You do some research to find the going rate for pieces with those rarities.
3.2 Eth! Excellent!
You list your piece and wait. And wait.
Nada. Nothing.
Unless you own a CryptoPunk Alien, nobody cares about rarities.
I exaggerate. By a little. A rare Bored Ape will go for more too. Same for a rare ArtBlocks Squiggle. And by the looks of things, rare CrypToadz will soon be worth more too.
And the very top rarities across other projects may give you an edge.
But for mid-range rarities of non-superstar NFTs, you’ll rarely get the 3.2 Eth you were hoping for. Unless you own something exceptional, you’ll likely have to settle for the floor price or close.
Your next step…
It hurts, but you reduce your asking price to just above the floor price. There’s maybe a couple of pieces at lower prices.
And you start waiting again.
Maybe you get lucky, and someone snaps up your piece within hours.
And then you start second-guessing yourself, “Hang on, are they seeing growth potential there that I missed? Have I made a terrible mistake?”
Or maybe its doesn’t sell quickly.
The next time you look, a couple of other people have listed their pieces at cheaper prices that yours. Perhaps the floor itself has just fallen.
Now what? Drop the price again?
You have a couple of options.
Settle for the floor price or less, or accept that your NFT isn’t a liquid asset.
If you want the money today, and you’re not selling a CryptoPunk, you’ll probably need to list your piece below the floor price, so a bargain hunter snaps it up right away.
That’ll hurt.
Or you can play the long game. Choose not to play “chase the floor” with desperate sellers.
Instead, simply accept that your NFTs are not a liquid asset. They’re a long-term store of value.
And if you do need or want to sell a piece, at a price well above the floor, you need to practice patience. It could take days or weeks for the right buyer to find your listing.
As with all things NFT… take a breath. Play the long game.
And keep enough fiat currency and Eth in hand, so you never have to face the pain of selling your NFTs at below the floor price.