NFT Gifting Guide: Need a last minute gift with instant delivery time?

With global supply chains still hurting and some countries entering another wave of lockdowns, last-minute shoppers don’t have it easy. Gifting NFTs, though, may be the perfect solution!

Below you’ll find a few sites to help you navigate buying and transferring your NFT. For a good intro to NFTs, have a look at this Nifty post first. Let’s start with the Cons & Pros:

Con of gifting NFTs this X-Mas

• Current prices can be inflated and gas fees are often higher than the NFTs themselves.

Pros of gifting NFTs this X-Mas

• It still feels novel — for many it’ll be the first NFT they’ve ever received. You’d be forever remembered as their first! ;-)
• NFTs convey individuality, taste, and style that reflects you or your giftee’s personality.
• The process of finding, buying, and transferring your NFT will allow you to learn more about the metaverse, digital property rights, and the current zeitgeist in art!

Where to buy

OpenSea is the largest marketplace and allows easy onboarding with custodial wallets. You can simply pay with your credit card rather than having to go through the process of exchanging fiat to crypto and setting up your own wallet. Similar to Amazon it features everything, from the coveted and stylish to the weird and amateur (here’s a good introduction). Unless you already have a crypto wallet or want to spend much of this week playing around in crypto la-la land, we recommend you use OpenSea as your starting point and stick to ERC-20 NFTs in general.

If you want to explore further, here are some sites we like: SuperRare, Foundation, Nifty Gateway, Rarible, Zora.

Note that some of these do not feature ERC-20 NFTs but use competing Layer 1 chains such as Tezos (whose founder Kathleen Breitman spoke at TOA17!) or Solana.

What to buy?

None of this is investment advice and we recommend only to buy what you afford to lose or what your giftee may lose in value.

If zeitgeist is important to you, have a look at what the market currently values on platforms such as WGMI.

Deciding what type of art NFT to buy is often dictated by the following criteria:

• Pfp or not? One of the first decisions people often make is whether it should be a Profile Picture (Pfp) or not. Have a look at this article for more context.
• Generative, dynamic, photography? The reason Crypto Punks became so famous (and are considered Blue Chip royalty) is because they were the first generative art NFTs. We now also see dynamic NFTs that change over time and with the Quantum platform photography NFTs have gotten a well deserved boost.
• Freshly minted or not? You can either be early and find a project that’s currently minting or buy already-minted works on the secondary market platforms mentioned above.
• Want to buy a gift together with others? Check out fractionalized NFTs and throw your own buying party with friends on PartyBid.

Final words from us at TOA

At TOA we’ve always had an obsession with the Bauhaus movement and abstract art in general. Too bad we are priced out of Meridian, Autoglyphs, Ringers and Chromies. We greatly admire projects like these, but even if our pockets allowed it, we’d probably stay away from these works at the current market rates. We prefer buying works that resonate with our interests and passions, that move us in a profound way, and that offer reasonable price points. Our founder Niko, for example, bought a Luchador NFT for his Pfp to represent his unbound passion for Mexico. So whether you are YOLOing your way to a Bored Ape, taking part in a rocket building experiment, or falling in love with some random drunk Panda… as with everything else in life: follow your heart!

Happy Holidays to you all!

Interested in minting your own NFT? Check out our upcoming TOA NFT Creators Klub.