As NFTs have exploded in popularity in recent times, we have seen stories of people making massive amounts of money in a short time. Unsurprisingly, this has created more interest from the wider population, with many people looking to find out more information about these digital tokens, including understanding whether you can sell an NFT on multiple platforms.
This is especially true of the art community, with NFT based art offering any artist a way of getting their work out to a much larger audience, and then getting paid for it too. It is no surprise that there are many questions, but to understand the issue of selling across multiple platforms, it is important to see how NFTs are created and why multiple platforms can be an issue.
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Creating an NFT
To create an NFT, art must go through a process called minting, carried on one of the many NFT specific platforms available today. Minting is relatively straightforward, you will need your artwork itself, and some cryptocurrency, usually Ethereum.
On your chosen platform you upload the art, click create and the system does the rest, charging you a fee for the process. The exact fee charged varies, and it must be paid in cryptocurrency. The cryptocurrency used will depend on the platform, as NFTs are created onto the blockchain, the underlying technology of digital currencies, and whichever is used is usually the currency required for your fees. It is also the currency you will be paid in if your NFT sells.
What are you buying with an NFT?
Before we look at selling an NFT on multiple platforms, what is it that you sell when selling an NFT, what does the buyer actually receive? NFT stands for non-fungible token, which means it is unique in its own right. During the minting process, the art is converted into a unit of data on the blockchain, creating an entirely one-off digital asset.
When people buy an NFT then, they are buying that unique asset. Not just the artwork, but the artwork with its blockchain signature. It is the combination of the two that makes it unique. With that in mind, the question of can you sell an NFT on multiple platforms becomes clearer.
In theory, there is nothing stopping you minting an NFT of the same art on several platforms, however, if you are selling them as unique, then a question of morality must be considered. If someone purchases a unique NFT from you, and then sees the exact same piece still for sale on another platform, will they be happy? Probably not. So, whether you can physically do it or not, selling an NFT across several platforms can have a negative impact. After all, if you are found to be selling a ‘unique’ piece 5 or 6 times, why would anyone trust you again? The likely outcome is that you could never sell another NFT, and that would mean no more income. The extra funds from selling on multiple platforms once would not make up for the lost income of being able to mint and sell more NFTs in the future.
Can you sell NFTs on your own website?
Right now, the way NFTs work make it extremely difficult to sell through your own website. Platforms have their own marketplaces attached, which is the simplest way to sell NFTs that you have minted. As with all aspects of NFTs, that means being paid in the cryptocurrency, usually Ethereum, that the NFT blockchain registration is built on.
However, there is one other way to sell NFTs outside of the platform marketplaces, Shopify. In July 2021, Shopify announced NFT integration into their store system, meaning anyone with a Shopify store can sell their NFTs directly from it. The system supports NFTs based on Ethereum and Flow blockchains, but it is hoping to add more in the future.
Because Shopify takes care of the payment system for all Shopify owners, you can actually sell NFTs on a Shopify store with your local currency through credit and debit cards, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay and any number of different cryptocurrencies. This is a more flexible solution than any of the current NFT platforms.
Read also: Flip NFTs for Profit
Can I post my NFT on Instagram?
Yes you can, and it’s a great way to market the NFTs you mint as well. By posting the artwork on Instagram, you are not posting the important part, the blockchain data that marks out the art as the unique original, so it is entirely safe to do. Posting your listings to Instagram can help you reach a wider audience and find more buyers for your NFTs as well.
Conclusion
If you are wondering if you can sell an NFT on multiple platforms, then the answer is that it may be technically possible, but you really don’t want to as it will ruin your reputation, and no one will buy NFTs from you again. However, there are so many things you can do with NFT’s, that it really doesn’t restrict you. For instance, change the art a little and then mint it on a different platform, the new NFT will be entirely unique and is not going to be a problem for a buyer of the first one, in fact, they may want to buy more to create a set.
