SuperRare Review
SuperRare is an exclusive NFT art marketplace built on Ethereum that describes itself as “Instagram meets Christie’s”.
Much like Rarible, SuperRare has a small number of curated artists and is considered somewhat difficult to get accepted to. Those wishing to get their art on the platform can submit their work to be looked over by the SuperRare team, as they have the final say on who gets listed. There is a focus on quality over quantity for the SuperRare platform.
The initial purchase of a piece of art on SuperRare incurs a 15% commission fee for the artist, but for each subsequent sale of the NFT creator receives a 10% royalty. This acts as a form of passive revenue if the artwork continues to get traded in the market. While maybe not the platform for you as an artist, the exclusivity of the marketplace has made it very popular amongst buyers.
- Artists receive 10% royalty for every secondary sale of their work
- Exclusive platform with some of the world’s top NFT artists
- Offer system allows you to show interest in art that is not listed for sale
SuperRarePros & Cons
Pros
High royalties for artists
Exclusive platform
Easy to navigate user interface
Offer buying system option
Cons
High commission compared to other NFT marketplaces
Only ETH as payment method
Fees can be high on Ethereum network
What is SuperRare?
SuperRare was founded in 2018 as an even more exclusive platform than it is now, and has since grown exponentially, with a recent round of funding including investments from Samsung Next, Mark Cuban, and Ashton Kutcher.
SuperRare uses the Ethereum blockchain to mint, transact, and to verify NFTs on the platform. It is also a curated platform, meaning only approved creators can mint NFTs on its site. Each artwork is authentically created by an artist in the network and tokenized as a crypto-collectible digital item.
There is a 3% transaction fee for all purchases on the platform, paid by the buyer. There is a 15% artist gallery commission for primary sales, which is high for NFT marketplaces but low compared to real art galleries, and artists receive a 10% royalty on secondary sales.
Is SuperRare Safe?
SuperRare is safe because it is secured with the power of blockchain. Like most NFT marketplaces it is also non-custodial, meaning that your NFTS never leave your wallet until they are sold, they are simply locked into a smart contract, same with funds when placing a bid on an auction.
When a sale occurs, the smart contract you agree to when listing or bidding on an NFT activates and pulls it from your wallet, in exchange depositing the funds you are owed, or vice versa. Everything is secured by the blockchain and verifiable.
How to Buy an NFT on SuperRare
There are a few different ways to buy an NFT on SuperRare, and you can also use these methods to sell your NFTs as well. There are Auctions, Offers, and Buy Now.
Auctions are timed and can be a Reserve or Scheduled. Reserve auctions have a price the auction needs to meet, and once it does it starts a 24-hour timer until the auction ends. Scheduled auctions simply have a set start and end time, the price it closes at is what it sells for. When you place a bid on an auction your funds are locked into a smart contract until you are outbid, in which case they are immediately returned to your wallet. If you win, they are transferred to the seller and you receive the NFT. Each bid within 15 minutes of the end of an auction adds another 15 minutes to the timer.
Offers is an open system that allows anyone to make an offer on any NFT they see, except those at Auction. This lets sellers know that a buyer is interested and may persuade an owner to sell a piece they did not have listed as a Buy Now or Auction.
Buy Now is just what it sounds like, there is a set price that you can buy the piece for. Offers are still allowed on Buy Now items.
What Wallets does SuperRare accept?
You can connect to SuperRare with a few different crypto wallets, all of which are Ethereum network compatible as that is the network that SuperRare uses. WalletConnect compatible wallets are a very long list that can be found here, It is likely your wallet is on the list. The wallets SuperRare accepts are:
- MetaMask
- Fortmatic
WalletConnect Wallets (Argent, Crypto.com Wallet)
Advantages of SuperRare
The main advantage of SuperRare is the exclusivity of its platform, which helps to generate high sales prices. The artists also receive a 10% royalty of every secondary sale of their art, which has helped draw some of the top artists in the world.
The other advantage of the platform is the Offer system, which lets you make an offer on a piece even if it is not for sale. This allows you to show an artist or owner that you are interested and may lead to you being able to buy a piece that you wanted that was not directly posted for sale.
Disadvantages of SuperRare
There are two main disadvantages to SuperRare, the first being the high commission, as 15% for the initial sale is quite high compared to marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible. The 3% buyer’s fee is also higher than Rarible’s, while OpenSea does not charge buyers a fee at all.
The other disadvantage is that there is only one payment method accepted for everything on the site, Ethereum. While most NFT marketplaces do run on Ethereum and accept it, most of the others already mentioned accept multiple forms of crypto, or at least allow the seller to choose from other options.
SuperRare Frequently Asked Questions
SuperRare was founded in 2018 by John Crain, Charles Crain and Jonathan Perkins. The team are also the founders of Pixura, the technology behind the platform.
If you are an artist you must get approved by the platform in order to mint and sell NFTs, but if you buy an NFT you can sell it on the platform through auction, offer or buy now.
It is somewhat difficult to get approved as an artist on SuperRare. As a result, they have outlined their best suggestions for you to be taken seriously and perhaps get accepted as a curated artist. That information can be found here.
No, SuperRare does not have its own token, it solely uses Ethereum. Rarible has its own token called RARI.
To connect your wallet to SuperRare, you must have an Ethereum network compatible wallet such as MetaMask. Visit the SuperRare homepage, click connect wallet, approve the connection via your wallet and then you will be connected to the site. It will either automatically connect or prompt you to sign in on subsequent visits.
