What are gas fees?
Gas refers to the mandatory fee you must pay in order to process any transaction or execute a smart contract “on-chain” (on the Ethereum or Base network); it's the fuel that enables the network to operate and goes directly to the miners who keep the network going every day.
These fees are dictated by the Ethereum or Base network and fluctuate depending on network traffic and other factors. Gas is unrelated to Foundation marketplace fee and is not in any way controlled by Foundation — it cannot be refunded, reimbursed, or discounted.
When do I have to pay gas fees?
Deploying a smart contract, minting an NFT, listing an NFT for auction, bidding in an auction, and settling an auction all happen on-chain and will require a gas fee to complete. All actions are recorded on the blockchain to preserve the utmost provenance for creators and collectors.
Most wallet apps make it very clear before you complete a transaction how much gas you can expect to pay to execute a transaction. This provides you with an opportunity to back out and wait until fees come down. You may also have the option in your wallet app to reduce your desired gas fee (and wait longer for your transaction to process), or increase it for a faster processing time. Generally speaking, sticking with your wallet's default gas setting is best.
When you pay a gas fee, it is automatically deducted from your wallet's balance when a transaction is processed (such as minting an NFT, transferring an NFT, converting ETH for another cryptocurrency, etc.).
Always make sure you have a bit of extra ETH or Base ETH to cover gas fees, or you may encounter transaction failures.
You can track Etherscan gas fees with Etherscan's Gas Tracker. Bookmark it for future use!
Base gas fees
Using Base can significantly enhance Ethereum transactions' efficiency while maintaining the mainnet's security. L2 networks can handle a large number of transactions at a much lower cost than the mainnet, making them ideal for fast and frequent transactions. Additionally, L2 solutions can help reduce network congestion, which can lead to faster confirmation times and a better overall user experience. By using Base, users can take advantage of the benefits of Ethereum's mainnet while also enjoying faster transaction speeds and lower costs. Learn more about L2s.