OpenSea Launches 0% Fees in Attempt to Regain Users Lost to Blur
If OpenSea is successful in gathering its lost clients, community members anticipate that it would likely boost its platform fees in the future.
Farah Ibrahim, social media manager and content editor
While rival NFT marketplaces continue to siphon off customers from its once-dominant user base, OpenSea announced a significant restructuring centered around lower platform fees and higher creator earnings.
On February 18th, marketplace Blur overtook OpenSea in daily trading volume as users seek a trading environment that is advantageous to them in anticipation of higher returns on their NFT investments, according to data from Nansen.
To win back customers who have migrated to Blur and other platforms, OpenSea has introduced three significant changes. These include optional creator earnings, a temporary 0% fee, and leniency for other operators.
While reiterating its support for Operator Filter, a feature designed to assist artists in securing their revenue for the resale of their work, OpenSea thinks that it successfully defended creator earnings on all collections. Yet, this filter deliberately disallowed marketplace recommendations that had the same policies.
Blur's recently launched royalty policy, which highlights the variations in royalty payment alternatives between its platform and OpenSea, can be credited with the company's dominance in daily trading volume. They had earlier stated: "OpenSea’s current royalty policy prevents collections from being able to earn royalties everywhere. They have cited various reasons for this (see FAQ), but the end result is that creators are limited to earning royalties on only one platform at a time.”
Community members have emphasized the value of competition in the sector. Without marketplaces that charge no royalties, larger companies like OpenSea could raise their prices, which would be detrimental to creators and collectors.
OpenSea intends to keep evaluating the model to see what works best for the organization and the community. If successful in gathering its lost clients, community members anticipate that it would likely boost its platform fees in the future—an approach frequently observed in markets with less competition.