Collecting is how you engage with the artwork, communities, and movements that speak to you. Foundation is the premiere destination where you discover, collect, and showcase the most coveted NFTs in web3. When you collect, your taste will forever be recognized on the blockchain and you’re supporting your favorite creators and curators directly. Win-Win.
Anyone on Foundation can begin collecting NFTs – you’ll just need to connect your wallet to get started.
Discovering NFTs on Foundation
There are currently two ways to discover your next NFT on Foundation:
- Browsing curated selections of NFTs through Exhibitions and Galleries.
- Browsing directly through Trending Drops, Editions, and NFTs
Exhibitions and Galleries
Galleries are on-chain galleries that showcase digital art in Exhibitions. Exhibitions are curated on-chain art shows that focus on an artist, group of artists, or a specific theme. If you’re looking for a specific genre or style of work or a deep dive into the work of a single artist, check out Galleries and Exhibitions.
To view Trending Exhibitions and Galleries, on any page you can click the “Trending” button, which reveals a dropdown menu, then select Galleries or Exhibitions.
With Galleries and Exhibitions, you can collect from a set of curated Drops, Editions, and 1/1 NFTs with Buy Now and Reserve Auction prices. Learn more about Exhibitions and Galleries.
Trending Drops, Editions, NFTs
Looking to directly see the latest and hottest Drops, Editions, and NFTs? Check out what’s Trending.
To view Trending Drops, Editions, or NFTs on any page you can click the”Trending” button, which reveals a dropdown menu, and select Drops, Editions, or NFTs.
Collecting on Foundation
There are currently five ways to collect NFTs on Foundation: Drops, Editions, Buy Now, Offers, and Reserve Auctions.
- A drop is a type of collection that can be minted by individual collectors - the NFT assets are then revealed at a later date or–in the case of a Generative Series imported from Highlight, created upon minting.
- An edition offers unlimited minting of a single artwork for up to 7 days for Timed Editions, or until the max token supply is reached for Limited Editions.
- NFTs with a Buy Now price can be instantly acquired.
- An Offer can be made on any NFT on Foundation - if you’d rather not try your luck in an auction, you can make Offers on your favorites. Sellers choose whether to accept an offer.
- Start a live auction on NFTs with a Reserve Auction price by placing a bid to start the countdown. The auction could last up to 7 days, depending on the seller's selected auction duration.
Drops
Drops are fixed collections of NFTs that collectors can mint when the artist starts the drop - the NFT asset is revealed later for a unique and exciting collecting experience. At the time of minting, you’ll see the available image for the NFT.
There are three Drops experiences on Foundation:
- Fixed Price Drops
- Dynamic Price Drops
- Highlight Generative Series Drops
Fixed Price Drops
You can mint an NFT in a drop by following these steps:
- Navigate to the drop collection page.
- If the Mint button is available, click Mint to purchase up to 10 NFTs from the drop.
- Confirm the transaction in your wallet.
Once you’ve minted an NFT from a drop, you’ll want to stay tuned to the creator’s communication channels to find out when the NFT asset will be revealed. Once revealed, the final asset for the NFT will replace the pre-reveal asset.
Dynamic Price Drops
If you’d like to mint from a Dynamic Price drop - the minting process is the same as above, but you can purchase at any price point you're comfortable with as the price decreases.
If the auction sells out or concludes at the ending price, individuals who paid above the final price will be able to claim a rebate via our smart contract by navigating back to the drop page once the sale has concluded.
Once you claim your rebate, the ETH will be sent directly back to your wallet.
Presale for Fixed Price Drops
Some Fixed Pricing Drops may have a presale period, which offers eligible wallets the opportunity to mint earlier than the general public.
The presale information, when applicable, can be found in the “Minting schedule” section of the drop page. The mint schedule will display:
- The date and time the presale starts
- The date and time the public sale start
- Whether or not you are eligible for the presale
- The list of collections whose token holders are presale-eligible
To check your allowlist status, take a look at the presale information - a check mark will be visible for Foundation profiles that have been granted access to the presale. Presale eligibility is given by the creator to collectors with a list of NFT collections they determine.
To see all collections that qualify for the presale, click the collection icons in the presale section to expand the list of collections. Clicking on the collections will also tell you when the presale “snapshot” was taken. Only token holders at the time of the snapshot are eligible for the presale.
Highlight Generative Series
Foundation now supports importing Hightlight’s Limited and Open Generative Series for code-based generative art on Ethereum and Base.
When minting a token from a generative collection, data from the blockchain will be passed to the artist’s code, resulting in an original piece of art. Note that the outputs shown here are possible outputs, and the token you receive will look different.
Press the “Randomize” button to see more possible outputs from a collection. Please note that the preview outputs in the Highlight embed before you click mint, will not be the exact output you mint.
If the generative series has a Dutch Auction, collectors can mint at the starting price when the auction begins or as it decreases to its minimum amount. After the sale concludes, early collectors can claim a rebate on the minting page if the final price is lower than when they collected the NFT(s).
To collect from a generative series, you’ll need to connect your wallet to the Highlight embed and click the Mint button.
Highlight has a mint fee, which is approximately $1 USD per mint. To learn more, visit Highlights Knowledge Base.
Learn more about generative series in our Highlight Generative Series FAQ.
Editions
Edition collections on Foundation are ERC-721 smart contracts designed for collectors to mint a single NFT with an unlimited supply for a limited time of up to 7 days for Timed Editions, or until the max token supply is reached for Limited Editions. After that, minting is closed on that edition contract forever.
You can mint an NFT from an edition collection by following these steps:
- Navigate to the edition collection page.
- If the Mint button is available, click Mint to purchase.
- Confirm the transaction in your wallet.
Once the edition timer has run out or the max token supply is reached, minting is closed, and the collection size will remain as-is.
Buy Now
The simplest and fastest way to purchase NFTs on Foundation - the seller sets a fixed price, and you can purchase with just a few clicks.
To buy with this method:
- Navigate to the NFT page and click “Buy Now”.
- Confirm the transaction in your wallet.
Once you complete a Buy Now transaction, the NFT is yours! From there, you can showcase it on your Foundation profile, in your home tab, or list it for sale. If you see a Buy Now option, but are unable to complete the transaction, you may need to wait until the listing goes live on the scheduled date and time.
Offers
On Foundation, you can make an Offer on any NFT. Offers are made using the Foundation Marketplace smart contract, which ensures a secure, blockchain-backed experience for all parties. When your Offer is accepted, the NFT is 100% yours.
You can make an Offer by:
- Navigating to the NFT page and clicking “Make Offer”.
- Enter the Offer amount that you’d like to pay for the NFT. Double-check that your offer amount is correct - Offers are recorded on-chain and can’t be canceled.
- Confirm the transaction in your wallet.
The offer will be taken from your wallet and placed in Foundation’s Marketplace smart contract until the transaction is completed.
If not accepted, Offers automatically expire after 24 hours and are refunded to your marketplace balance. If the creator or seller accepts your Offer, the NFT is yours!
What happens if my Offer expires?
If the creator or seller does not accept your Offer within 24 hours, the amount will automatically be refunded to your Marketplace Balance. You’ll then be able to convert your funds to ETH or Base by clicking on “Marketplace Balance” in your profile dropdown, or you can use that balance to make another offer. Check out our Marketplace Balance help article for more information.
Reserve Auctions
NFTs that have a reserve price listed are available for Reserve Auction, which is a live auction that starts on that NFT when someone places a bid. Reserve auctions can have a duration from 15 minutes up to 7 days.
This purchase method also uses the Foundation Marketplace smart contract to seamlessly move your bid funds, and the NFT, through each phase of the auction.
If you’ve found a piece on Foundation that you’d like to bid on, here’s how to participate in a Reserve Auction:
- Navigate to the NFT page and click Place bid.
- Enter your bid amount - if you’re placing the first bid, the amount will need to equal or exceed the reserve price.
- Click Place bid and confirm the transaction in your wallet.
Bids are not incremental - the amount of your bid will be shown as the current highest bid on the auction.
An auction comes to an end when the countdown has run out of time.
For each bid placed within the final 5 minutes of the countdown, the countdown timer will reset back to 5 minutes until no further bids are received and the timer finally runs out.
If you’re outbid, your bid funds are instantly returned to your wallet. If you’re looking for the ETH from a returned bid, check the Internal Txns tab of your wallet on the relevant block explorer.
If you’re the highest bidder when the auction ends, you’ve won the auction!
If you are unable to place a bid on an NFT with a Reserve Auction price, it may be scheduled to be listed, and you will need to wait until the listing goes live. If you can’t wait, you can consider placing an Offer instead.
Settling an auction
Auctions aren’t finalized until they’ve been settled - collectors are encouraged to settle auctions that they’ve won, but anyone on Foundation can settle an auction. Settling an auction will instantly transfer the NFT to your wallet, and send the funds from your winning bid to the seller.
Follow these steps to settle an auction:
- On the NFT page, click “Settle auction”.
- Confirm the transaction in your wallet.
The funds will then move to the seller and the NFT will then be transferred to the winner of the auction.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us!