I’m not going to try and explain NFT’s here with my 2200 character limit on posts - but if you're a creative and you don't know…..it’s worth getting your head around it.
Unfortunately, NFTs have got a bad rap given the 101 ways you can be scammed - just Google NFT scams and you’ll see it’s a mess out there.
My limited exposure so far has been the increasingly annoying messages, DM’s and comments on posts offering to purchase my art as an NFT. Ordinarily, I’ll politely decline or block but it's a total ‘time suck’ responding to these requests. I've seen so many messages now, I can spot them a mile away - kind of like a pick-up line at a bar. Problem is I also receive genuine enquiries so I am forced to check them.
Expect to see your fair share of scams including phishing, asking for personal/crypto wallet details, directing you to sketchy platforms/sites, extortionary setup fees, defrauding or just straight up stealing your artwork. Cue Southpark skit ‘And it’s gone’.
Given the myriad of scams, the overwhelming advice is to sell your art as an NFT direct and don’t rely on an intermediary. Agents rely on your limited knowledge with a promise of ‘we’ll take care of you’ and yes, they will take care of you, but kind of in the way the Mafia family would take care of you. I can’t stress enough to do your homework, and just be so incredibly careful.
I don’t have all the answers and I’ve got no idea if the whole NFT/crypto space is going to work out in the future or not. What I can say is that I’m curious and feel like it’s definitely worth having a conversation around it.
My own approach is to wait and see how this thing tracks. If it’s anything like real estate, I’m going to let time do it’s thing - so I’m not making any moves just yet.
So now I’m handing it over to you – love to hear if you have had a positive experience selling your art as an NFT? Also, happy to field your complaints, frustrations, alerts to scams or other advice. Sharing your experience is key because we can help each other.
