You found an NFT that you really like. Can’t sleep can’t eat. You just want to have it! First of all, follow the basic steps on buying NFTs. Then pick your marketplace. If Opensea is your choice we have this guide for you. If Magic Eden has your heart here’s all you need to know to be a pro when you buy NFTs on magic Eden!
Magic Eden
Magic Eden is a secondary marketplace for trading Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). It is based on Solana. In addition, it is based on a collection of unique collectibles related to art, music, or in-game collectibles.
It is expanding to involve more tokens like ETH and has a wider base for traders. The traders also can deal in Raydium and DEX based on Solana. Magic Eden’s marketplace has a Launchpad where the sellers put up their collectibles for trading.
Unfortunately, it is a fact that only 3% of the proposed collectibles make it to the application process of Magic Eden.
Marketplaces
Magic Eden VS OpenSea
Magic Eden is based on Solana and deals mainly with the token Sol. On the contrary, OpenSea deals in Ethereum, the most common token in the crypto world. Magic Eden benefits from OpenSea as the latter is based on Ether (the token for Ethereum) and highly depends on Gas Fees.
OpenSea was established in 2018, while Magic Eden came into being in 2021. OpenSea has 11 million worth of collectibles.
Magic Eden accepts numerous wallets, including; Phantom, Solflare, MathWallet, Ledger, etc. all these wallets deal with Solana. However, magic Eden is still in line to introduce wallets that support ETH.
OpenSea is based on ETH. Therefore, it has way more daily collections than Magic Eden. The wallets supported by OpenSea include; MetaMask and Coinbase Wallet, which also support card-based payment from Moon Pay.
Magic Eden has 20 fewer integrations than OpenSea, including; Matry and Formatic.
OpenSea has almost double the users compared to Magic Eden, but Magic Eden has customers that return to the site almost 6 times daily. OpenSea customers only come back 2-3 times.
Magic Eden VS Solanart
They both are based on the same token, Sol. The major difference between the two is that Magic Eden charges a Gas fee of 2% while the other charges 3%. This makes a huge difference for the traders. Another big factor favoring Magic Eden is the vastness of the collections available on its site.
NFT Gas Fees
It may look like a nuisance fee but think of it as bank charges that your bank charges for providing you with the facilities. Gas Fees is the fee paid to compensate for the computational energy required to process the transactions on the blockchain.
Gas fees are determined by the demand of the NFT when making an offer or buying it. It is basically in ETH and can be as high as $500+ and measured in GWEI. The formula used to calculate the fee is:
Gas fee= gas limit * (base fee + tip)
The gas fee is basically for the blockchain miners. They do the computation and calculations to make the transaction process. For this algorithm calculation, they charge this fee.
This fee is paid by both buyers as well as sellers.
Wallets Compatibility
As Magic Eden is based on Solana, it is compatible with quite a few top-ranked wallets. A few of the wallets are:
- Phantom
- Trust Wallet
- Slope
- Software
The wallets are where your money or funds will be. You must link it to the Magic Eden website to buy an NFT. Before making the purchase, ensure you are on the right website and not getting scammed.
Step 1: Create a Wallet
You can create two types of wallets for storing the crypto.
- Self-Custody Wallet
- Hardware Wallet
Both these wallets are important and can be used interchangeably. You can also have both wallets as it is a step of security to connect your self-custody wallet to the hardware wallet. Now, let’s know how you can set up your wallet/s.
Self-Custody Wallet
Self-custody, as the name implies, means that you are the sole caretaker of the wallet. The keys, passwords, and seed phrases related to the wallet are only known to you. There is no third-party custodian of your wallet. If you lose your key or get hacked, only you can retrieve it. The wallets include; the Coinbase wallet, MetaMask wallet, Phantom, etc.
The steps to making a wallet include:
- Download the wallet app. It would help to choose which wallet you want for your transactions. Let’s say we download Phantom.
- Create an account. In this step, you will not have to give any personal information. A seed phrase will be provided to you. You will have to keep the phrase safe and secure and ensure no one has access to it.
- Transfer SOL or the Crypto Currency to your wallet.
Hardware Wallet
The hardware wallet is a wallet that is physical device that is where you store the keys and the passwords of your wallets and accounts. They make your wallet and accounts safe even if your computer or mobile gets hacked.
- Get a hardware wallet. You must purchase the wallet from a store, which can cost you anywhere above $100. As shown above, it can look like a USB or circular device.
- Install the software. Each manufacturer has its software. You will have to download the software that is available on their website. Once you get the device, you must link it to your self- custody wallets.
- Transfer crypto to the hardware wallet. Also, enteral the keys and seed phrases to the hardware wallet.
Step 2: Transfer SOL to the Wallet
Now that you have a wallet, you will need to transfer the cryptocurrency to the wallet. Let’s say we want to transfer SOL to the wallet.
You will probably have a Coinbase wallet from where you will send the SOL to the self-custody wallet like Phantom.
- Open your Phantom wallet and click on the wallet address given at the top.
- Now copy this wallet address and paste it to your Coinbase account.
- Enter the amount you want to transfer.
- Once you click on the send button, you will receive the amount in your Phantom wallet in a few minutes.
Step 3: Link the Wallet
Link the wallet to the Magic Eden Website.
Step 4: Choose the Collectible
After you make sure you are on the right site, you will have to choose what you want to add to your wallet.
Once you have connected your wallet and the first few digits of your wallet appear on the top right-hand side of the screen, you can go on to choose the collectibles you want.
- Go on the left-hand side of the website and choose “Collections.” There are 3 options under it, All, Popular, and New.
- Choose which ones you want to browse. Let’s say you want the “new” collection. You will see the collections new from recent till about a year old.
- You can also search the collections on the search bar given above.
- Now that you know the category from which you want to choose you’re collectible, you can be more specific. Go to the activity at the top of the page.
- On the left bar, there will be attributes you can enter. For example, you can enter that you want a lamb. You will also have to enter the min and max of the SOL tokens you are willing to pay for the collectible.
- You can also enter the specific code for the collectible, for example, #1947, and the authentic collectible of that number would come up.
- You can choose from the short-listed collectibles. Based on the specific attributes.
- Once you choose which one you like, you will have to click on the right, and you will have two options; make an offer or buy now.
Step 5: Buy the NFT
There is a plethora of collections that are available at Magic Eden. There are primarily two ways of buying an NFT token on Magic Eden.
- Make an Offer
- Buy Now
Let’s dive right into each of these and the steps that lead to the purchase being complete.
Make an Offer or Offers
Make sure that while making an offer; the Magic Eden is connected to a wallet. In this case, we are using the Phantom.
The seller needs to approve your offer before they sell the collectible to you. They may reject the offer based on their requirement of SOLs or get a better counteroffer.
Now that you have clicked on make an offer, there are a few steps you will have to follow.
- The trader must quote at least 50% of the asking price.
To make the offer, you can have any number of SOLs. It doesn’t have to be equal to or half of the NFT you are bidding on.
- It would help if you had SOLs in your bidding wallet. It can be any number. You can put as many bids as you want under the amount of SOLs you have in your wallet without being charged. For example, you put 5 SOLs in your wallet and choose the specific setting. As shown below, you can bid as your heart wishes.
- If the seller accepts your bid, your SOLs will be deducted from your wallet, making all your other offers redundant.
- As explained above, adding more funds to your wallets can make other offers. Once you get the collectible, it will be added to your collectibles, and the funds will be transferred from your wallet.
Buy Now
If you are adamant about making the purchase right away (be cautious, it can increase the Gas Fees), you should click on the Buy Now button.
Make sure that you have chosen a wallet before you go ahead at this point.
In this case, we are linking the Magic Eden to Phantom.
- As explained above, adding more funds to your wallets can make other offers.
- It would show a pop-up window showing how much would be deducted from the wallet and what value would be added.
- Once you know the value added if you plan to go ahead with the transaction. Click “approve”.
- A window will open in about 3 seconds that will confirm your transaction.
- Now a message will appear on the top of the webpage to congratulate you on the successful acquisition of a collectible!
Conclusion
It is exciting to trade and make such offers and bids. First, though, utmost care should be observed to avoid any scams. Follow all the above steps and make sure that the website you are on is authentic and that your wallet is linked to Magic Eden. Enjoy your collectibles!