Secrets to success on the NFT secondary market
From the much hyped launch of online game Axie Infinity to the auction of Kate Moss’s candid videos, when we hear about the most exciting and anticipated NFT collections, it’s usually when they’re first launched. But what about after they’re minted? Experts agree that for NFTs to be sustainable, there needs to be a healthy secondary market for resale, swaps and trades - one-offs simply aren’t enough to keep the industry going for the long-term.
The good news is that secondary sales are already big business - recently surpassing the $15 billion mark - and there are some great examples of collections making plenty of commission through the secondary market.
But how are they doing it?
As many experts will tell you, in the NFT world, rarity is where the real value lies - particularly in secondary sales. But what if you add utility to the mix? Think Willy Wonka’s golden ticket but in the digital world. When a particular (limited edition) NFT can be redeemed against a special prize, or get holders into an exclusive event, secondary sales can soar as buyers race to get their hands on coveted tokens.
So, let’s take a look at some of the best collections creating value on the secondary market - and provide some inspiration as to how you can get in on the act too!
The Walking Dead - bonus packed collections which increase in value
By now you’ve probably heard about the NFT collections which unlock bonus treats for the holder. Some NFTs get you into special events, while others give you extra material from your favorite music artist. But the really savvy creators don’t just stop at one round of special features - they release new extras over time, meaning that their NFTs become increasingly valuable.
A great example of this is high-end NFT specialist, Orange Comet, with its Walking Dead NFT, based on AMC’s cult zombie show. Using digital marketplace OpenSea, fans can get their hands on the much coveted “Walker Access Pass” - which promises to unlock unique bonus material until “the end of time” - including new deleted scenes, sneak previews, interviews with the show’s stars and much more. And it’s been a huge success - the walker pass generated more than a million pounds in primary sales, and more than triple that on the secondary market already.
Good stuff zombie guys!
A summer with Coachella - why tickets are big business for secondary sales
2022 saw the return of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival, following two years of Covid-cancellations. And, to mark its comeback, organizers created NFT tickets to bring the festival bang up to date.
It was a great move by Coachella. We already know that tickets are a great NFT utility for primary sales - but they’re huge driver for the secondary sales market too. If you sell a ticket to someone on the secondary market, the event organizers can still earn a commission on the sale - unlike physical tickets where that money is lost for good.
What’s more, the use of NFTs can bring event organizers closer to ticket holders. Typically, organizers lose touch with fans once an event is over, but with NFTs, organizers can continue dropping benefits to holders. In Coachella’s case, its NFTs promise incredible benefits such as lifetime passes to the event and access to exclusive areas and attractions.
Engage, like never before
Grow, engage and reward your community — for free.
Breeding and trading CryptoKitties - collectables for the win
When brands launch a collection, they have the opportunity to build excitement as the community hopes to get their hands on the most awesome NFT in the entire collection. But they also know that some of the community might get unlucky and mint something they don’t love. In one sense, this element of surprise is part of the joy of NFTs - but if you want to let your community pick exactly what they want (and fight it out for the rare tokens) the secondary market can really deliver.
This utility was first seen in 2017 with CryptoKitties, an NFT project developed by Canadian studio Dapper Labs that allows players to purchase, breed and trade virtual cats. In the game, each cute virtual cat carries different “cattributes’, and each of them is unique — with different colored fur, eyes, and personality types!
The project began with the drop of 50,000 Gen 0 kittens - which could be bought directly from the creator and whose cattributes were only revealed on purchase. This kicked off a secondary sale bonanza as people started bartering to get their hands on the tokens they really wanted, in order to ‘breed’ them and make babies to trade and sell. The creators estimate there are now more than four billion possible CryptoKitties - making for an enormous secondary sales market.
A bright future for the secondary sales market
So the good news is that there are plenty of ways you can boost the value of your NFT collection on the secondary sales scene - with utilities proving a great way to keep a collection alive and attractive. And the best news of all - Tropee lets anyone build any utility for any collection. So you don’t have to be an NFT aficionado to get creative and build something great. You don’t even have to have your own collection. We’re banking on a better future where communities power the future of collections, creating new ways to make NFTs valuable and sought after, particularly on the secondary market.
