The 0% Fee Structure On OpenSea Has A Hidden Caveat
Many people were excited about OpenSea dropping its native platform fee to 0%. Removing that cost can make the NFT trading option more appealing, resulting in a higher volume. However, there is still a 0.5% Service Fee that may apply under very specific conditions.
OpenSea Needs More Volume
A fierce war is brewing between NFT marketplaces. Various platforms charge a hefty fee for their service, which is somewhat expected. In addition, like any other project, these marketplaces require maintenance and updates, which means funding must be available. However, OpenSea acknowledged it was fighting an uphill battle thanks to Blur and consorts gaining more market share.
One way to revert that trend is by building more trading volume. Easier said than done when your competitor has over 85% of the volume. However, OpenSea always had more users than Blur, which could give it an advantage. The decision to drop platform fees to 0% – albeit temporarily – makes much sense. It removes unnecessary costs for NFT traders and could increase trading activity.
Unfortunately, things are mostly the same for OpenSea. Dune statistics confirm its volume has remained virtually unchanged for the past few weeks. Some minor highs and lows exist, but OpenSea isn’t building the necessary momentum. Blur, on the other hand, is booming. However, that is mainly due to its $BLUR airdrop, resulting in higher daily users and more trades.
Moreover, the weekly users for OpenSea experience highs and lows again. A healthy peak of almost 183,500 occurred in early January. However, numbers have dropped since, and last week saw just 135,657 weekly users. That is still a healthy number, but the decline is tangible. That also results in ups and downs for the daily trading volume.
There Is Still A Hidden Fee
As it turns out, OpenSea isn’t necessarily operating on a 0% fee structure. While that will apply to most collections – cutting down from its 2.5% fee – not everything is created equally. For example, some collections may see “inorganic sales volume”, resulting in a fee of up to 0.5%. That fee will apply when creator earnings are set between 0 and under 0.5% or when the volume and activity fail to meet thresholds. What those thresholds may be is unclear, so ensure to double-check the fee before buying an NFT.
Remember that these fees have gone into effect on the same date the 0% fees went live. Unfortunately, OpenSea didn’t comment about this hidden fee until it was pointed out on Twitter. It may have been an oversight, although various commentators hint at “greedy grubby little hands” by the marketplace’s team. Regardless of the reasoning, it is an interesting decision that will undoubtedly created another industry precedent.
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