How to sell NFTs on Foundation

Foundation makes it easy to list your NFTs on our marketplace for exposure to potential collectors. You can use your Foundation profile and Home Tab to showcase your creative expression, and create a unique buying experience for your audience.

Anyone on Foundation can begin selling NFTs that they own – you’ll just need to connect your wallet before getting started.

There are currently eight ways to sell NFTs on Foundation: Reserve Auction, Buy Now, Offers, Drops, Editions, Galleries, Exhibitions, and Batch Listing.

• A live auction begins on NFTs with a Reserve Auction when a bid is received. The auction could last up to 7 days, depending on the seller's selected duration.
• NFTs with a Buy Now price can be instantly sold.
• An Offer can be made on any NFT on Foundation - you can choose whether to accept an offer or let it expire.
• Drops are NFT collections with fixed collection sizes and Fixed or Dynamic NFT Pricing that can be minted blind by collectors - the NFT assets are then revealed at a later date of your choosing.
• Editions are single NFTs that can be minted unlimitedly for up to 7 days for Timed Editions. Or until the max token supply is reached for Limited Editions.
  
• A Generative Series imported from Highlight. These can be Fixed or Dutch Auctions. These collections can be minted by individual collectors. 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.
• Galleries allow you to create a place for your exhibitions to live.
• Exhibitions allow you to set a reserve auction price or buy now price on your NFT with a curator who will share a portion of the final sale price and exist within a gallery.
• Batch Listing allows you to list a collection, in one single transaction.

You can use the Buy Now, Offer, and Reserve Auction features in parallel — meaning any NFT can be simultaneously listed as a Reserve Auction, have a Buy Now price, and receive Offers on Foundation. While an auction is active, other selling methods aren’t available.

Mix and match these features until you find which technique works best for you.

Let’s get into the details for each of these options:

Listing an NFT

You can list an NFT on Foundation's Marketplace with a Buy Now or Reserve auction in the same transaction.

Reserve Auction

To make your NFTs eligible for auctions up to 7 days, you can set a Reserve Price. This allows the buyer to place a bid at that starting price, and start the auction countdown. You can set any duration from 15 minutes to 7 days.

This selling method also uses the Foundation Marketplace smart contract to seamlessly move your NFT, and the buyer’s funds, through each phase of the auction.

Setting a reserve price is easy:

1. Navigate to the NFT page and click Sell NFT.
2. Enter the desired Reserve price. Please note that you can also set a Buy Now price for the NFT simultaneously if you'd like.
3. Enter the desired Auction duration. You can select any duration from 15 minutes to 7 days.
4. Click List for sale to continue.
5. Choose when your listing becomes active. 
   1. This can be scheduled for a future date or your listing can be added immediately.
6. Confirm the transaction in your wallet.

After the Reserve price is set, your NFT will be securely held by the Foundation Marketplace smart contract as it moves through the different phases of the auction.

An auction will begin once a buyer places a bid at the Reserve price. For each bid placed within the final 2 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. The highest bidder at the conclusion of the timer wins the auction.

Buy Now

The simplest and fastest way to sell NFTs on Foundation - set a fixed price on the NFT, and buyers can purchase with just a few clicks.

To set a Buy Now price on your NFT:

1. Navigate to the NFT page and click Sell NFT.
2. Enter the desired Buy Now price. Please note that you can also set a Reserve price for the NFT simultaneously if you'd like.
3. Click List for sale.
4. Choose when your listing becomes active.
   1. This can be scheduled for a future date or your listing can be added immediately.
5. Confirm the transaction in your wallet.

Once your Buy Now price is set, your NFT will be securely held by the Foundation Marketplace contract until it’s either sold or unlisted.

When a buyer completes a Buy Now transaction, the funds are immediately yours!

Edit Listing

After you list an NFT, you can edit the price of the listing.

To edit your Reserve Auction or Buy Now listing:

1. Navigate to the NFT and click Edit Listing.
2. Click the X to edit the Reserve and/or Buy Now listing.
3. Set your desired price(s) and click Set price.
4. Click Update listing and confirm the transaction.

To edit the auction duration of a Reserve Auction:

1. Navigate to the NFT and click the three dots on the Sell modal.
2. Remove the listing and unlist the NFT entirely.
3. Then click Sell NFT to relist with a new Reserve Auction and duration.

Exercise caution when updating a Reserve Auction or Buy Now price for an NFT listed in an Exhibition, because it cannot be added back if the Exhibition has already started. Pricing can still be edited after the start date.

Settling an auction

Auctions aren’t finalized until they’ve been settled - anyone can settle an auction on Foundation. Settling an auction will instantly transfer the funds to your wallet, and send the NFT to the winning bidder.

If you’d like to settle the auction yourself, the steps are simple:

1. Navigate to the NFT page, or the Activity page, and click “Settle auction”.
2. Confirm the transaction in your wallet.

Once the auction is settled, your transaction is complete - the funds are transferred to your wallet and your NFT is sold!

Offers 

On Foundation, buyers can submit offers on any NFT. Offers use the Foundation Marketplace smart contract, which ensures a secure, blockchain-backed experience for all parties. When you accept a buyer’s offer, the funds are immediately paid out and the NFT is transferred to the new owner. Any Offer that is greater than or equal to the Buy now price for an NFT are also automatically accepted.

Take a look at our Foundation Marketplace contract Help Center resource to learn more.

To accept an offer:

1. Navigate to the NFT page or your Activity page and click “Accept Offer”.
2. Confirm the transaction in your wallet.

The funds will be deposited to your wallet and the NFT will be transferred to the new owner.

If you’d rather not accept the offer, it will automatically expire after 24 hours, in which case, the funds will be returned to the buyer’s Marketplace Balance.

Drops

Drops are collections with a fixed number of NFTs set with Fixed or Dynamic Pricing that collectors can mint themselves. Once you’ve started your drop, they’ll see a pre-reveal image on their minted NFT until the true asset is revealed at a later date of your choosing.

If you’d like to learn more about the process, check out our Drops help articles to get started.

Editions

Edition collections on Foundation are ERC-721 smart contracts designed for collectors to mint from an unlimited supply of the same asset 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.

If you’d like to learn more about the process of creating or minting from an edition collection, check out our Editions help articles to get started.

Highlight Generative Series

Foundation now supports importing Highlight's Limited and Open Generative Series for code-based generative art. Learn how to import a generative series to get started. 

Galleries

Galleries are a web3-native curation tool. After creating a gallery, curators can create an exhibition and add sellers to an exhibition allowlist. Exhibitions allow sellers to add their NFTs or Editions/Drops collections to this curated experience. Sellers are creators and collectors who list their NFTs and Edition collections in an exhibition.

Learn how to create a gallery.

Exhibitions

This curatorial tool allows curators to create distinct, time-based shows in a gallery, similar to how an IRL gallery creates exhibitions. These Exhibitions have their own custom allowlist and curator fee. Sellers added to the allowlist can list their NFTs or launch their Drops or Editions directly into the exhibition.

Learn how to create an exhibition.

Listing a 1/1 NFT in an exhibition

If the NFT has an existing Buy Now or Reserve price, those prices will need to be removed before the NFT can be added to a gallery.

If you’ve been added as a seller for an exhibition, follow these steps to add your NFTs to the exhibition:

1. Click “Sell Your NFT”
   1. If your NFT is already listed, click “Edit Listing”, unlist your NFT, and then click “Sell your NFT” 
2. Select the exhibition that you’d like to sell your NFT with. Only Exhibitions that the seller has been invited to will appear in the dropdown. 
3. Then you can Add a Reserve price or Add a Buy Now price.
   1. If you select a Reserve price, you’ll need to set the price and then select your preferred auction duration.
   2. If you set a Buy now price, you’ll be prompted to set your price. 
4. Choose when your listing becomes active.
   1. This can be scheduled for a future date, or your listing can be added immediately.
5. Confirm the transaction in your wallet.

Please exercise caution when editing the listing after the exhibition start date. NFTs cannot be added to an exhibition after it has launched and will no longer appear in the choose where to sell dropdown menu.

With your NFT now listed in an exhibition, you can view the NFT page for exhibition details or navigate to the exhibition page to view the NFT in the exhibition.

Collectors can place bids, make offers, or immediately buy NFTs in an exhibition. Placing a bid in an exhibition follows the same flow as Reserve Auctions, and making an offer in an exhibition follows the same flow as Offers. Buying immediately in Exhibitions also follows the same flow as Buy Now's. All transaction types will pay the curator the designated curator fee once the sale is complete.

For Base 1/1’s, they may only be added to Exhibitions created within a Base Gallery. You cannot add an L2 1/1 to a non-L2 Exhibition at this time.

Launch an edition in an exhibition

Edition collections are smart contracts designed for unlimited minting of a specific NFT for 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 launch your edition collection in an exhibition during the creation flow. For guidance on launching your new edition collection in an exhibition, take a look at our Create an edition article. Each mint will pay the curator the designated curator fee.

For Base Editions, they may only be added to Exhibitions created within a Base Gallery. You cannot add an L2 Edition to a non-L2 Exhibition at this time.

Launch a drop in an exhibition

Drops are NFT collections with fixed collection sizes and Fixed or Dynamic NFT Pricing that can be minted blind by collectors - the NFT assets are then revealed at a later date of your choosing.

You can launch your drop collection in an exhibition during the creation flow. For guidance on launching your new drop collection in an exhibition, take a look at our Schedule your drop article. Each mint will pay the curator the designated curator fee.

For Base Drops, they may only be added to Exhibitions created within a Base Gallery. You cannot add an L2 Drop to a non-L2 Exhibition at this time.

Batch listing 

A creator can list multiple NFTs in a collection at once with batch listing. Up to 50 NFTs can be batch listed at once. These NFTs can also be scheduled to be listed at a future date.

To batch list a collection, navigate to your collection of choice and then click List.

You will then be taken to the batch listing screen. Only NFTs without a Reserve Auction or Buy Now price will be shown in this view.

If certain NFTs in the collection already have a Reserve Auction or Buy Now price, you will not see those NFTs available for batch listing in this view. 

Select the NFTs you'd like to list, add them to an exhibition you have been allowlisted to, enter the Reserve Auction and/or Buy Now price, and schedule when you'd like your listing to go live.

1. Click List NFTs.
2. Confirm the transaction in your wallet.

Your collection has now been batch listed!

Approving the Foundation Marketplace contract

Every action you make on the blockchain prompts a transaction that requires your approval. The notification will display in your digital wallet and may vary depending on your wallet provider. Take caution to ensure that you are only approving transactions from trusted sources. 

 As you transact on Foundation, we ask that you grant access to engage within the Foundation ecosystem.

To learn more about Foundation’s approved marketplace addresses, take a look at this article.

We hope these guidelines help you along as you market and sell your NFTs - take a step now by listing one of your NFTs on the Foundation marketplace.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us!