Why should you consider OpenSea alternatives? We’ll tell you.
With upwards of 70M website visitors and 1.5M active users, it’s hard to deny OpenSea’s dominance of the NFT space. That said, the platform’s rise to prominence has also made it a target for bad actors.
From lawsuits to user experience issues, OpenSea has been plagued by a variety of issues. A pattern that’s resulted in many creators searching for a better solution.
So, in today’s article, we’ll discuss the top three reasons to consider OpenSea alternatives.
OpenSea Alternative Reason #1 – Buyer Safety
Over the six months, OpenSea’s high profile-platform has been targeted by a variety of hackers.
In January 2022, a hacker identified what’s known as an exploit (flaw in the code) that allowed him to purchase NFTs for much less than their current price.
The exploit involved using the platform’s API to buy the NFT at a previous price (e.g. price from six months ago), then relist it as his own at the current price.
And because NFTs tend to go up in value over time, this allowed the hacker to lock in a near-instant profit on the resale.
Further, while OpenSea has taken steps to reimburse theft victims, the amount of those reimbursements have not always been equal to the value of the NFT at the time it was stolen.
Multiple Phishing Scams
Admittedly, not every “hack” has been related to flaws in the company’s code.
In February of 2022, one or more hackers accessed the company’s Discord channel as part of a phishing scam. That scam resulted in over $1.7M worth of NFTs being stolen from their rightful owners.
Not to mention a May 2022 phishing scam that resulted in 10 $ETH worth of NFTs being stolen.
Given the company processed well over a million monthly transactions, the total losses from these scams represent a mere fraction of NFTs sold on the site.
With that said, because the company has such a high profile, listing your NFTs on their site could increase the risk of your buyers’ NFTs ending up being stolen one day.
OpenSea Alternative Reason #2 – Poor Customer Service
For better or worse, many startups that grow at lightning speed are known for having poor customer service.
With a rapid influx of hundreds of thousands (and potentially millions of users), scaling up a Customer Service team to effectively deal with issues can be highly difficult.
With that said, understanding a company’s growing pains probably won’t make you feel better if you have an urgent issue.
And based on the company’s “F” rating with the Better Business Bureau – and 1.4/5 rating on TrustPilot – users, in general, tend to have a poor opinion of OpenSea’s customer service.
Given that NFT sales could become a core revenue driver in your business, you’ll want to consider what level of customer support you can get when choosing a marketplace.
OpenSea Alternative Reason #3 – Fees
Similar to merchant account processing fees, OpenSea charges a 2.5% fee on all transactions.
In the grand scheme of business, this is not particularly high. Especially considering payment platforms like Stripe and PayPal charge a minimum of 2.9%.
Cutting Out the Middlemen
With that said, running your own NFT marketplace would eliminate middleman fees entirely.
As an example, let’s say you sell $100,000 in NFTs. By eliminating the middleman, you could save $2,500. And hey, who doesn’t want an extra $2,500 in their pocket?
Admittedly, OpenSea brings value to the table given they have tens of millions of monthly visitors. Meaning, if you don’t have an audience, using OpenSea’s platform is a way to get eyeballs on your work.
However, if you have an audience (or understand online marketing), running your own marketplace can reduce fees and enhance buyer safety.
Excopia As An Alternative to OpenSea
As you may or may not know, we at Excopia offer both custom and white-label NFT marketplace services.
Whether you decide to work with us or not, here are the main things you’ll want to look for when choosing a provider:
- Able to create your marketplace on the blockchain of your choice
- Integrates with both crypto and traditional payment rails
- Automates wallet creation and NFT transfers for buyers
- The ability to hide your NFTs smart contracts from the public (to prevent IP theft)
- Automated compliance integration (re: KYC and AML laws)
- Access to a drag-and-drop, no-code website customization interface (if going the white-label route)
- An intuitive, easy-to-use back-end dashboard (if going the white-label route)
Fortunately, our team of professionals offers all of the above and more.
There are certainly OpenSea alternatives out there, so it’s up to you to decide which is best for you.
While OpenSea can bring added visibility to your collection, relying on them exposes your buyers to risk while potentially exposing you to poor customer service and unnecessary fees.
On the flip side, if you’d prefer to do everything in-house with a proven team of NFT marketplace experts, we offer custom NFT marketplace services at highly affordable fees.
For more information, reach out to our team of experts at Excopia today.