Learn How To Buy NFTs Using MetaMask (for beginners)

Oh, hey… So you want to get into the NFT game… that’s awesome. I won’t go into the history of NFTs or crypto. If you’re here, you know. But I will outline exactly what you need to do in order to buy Ethereum and NFTs safely.

So here goes…

Pictured: Fierce Models, our NFT collection, walking a Metaverse fashion show.

Prepare

Start with setting up these 3 platforms:

  • Coinbase

  • MetaMask (use the browser extension)

  • Opensea

Step-by-step

  1. Buy Ethereum on Coinbase

  2. Transfer Ethereum to MetaMask

  3. Connect MetaMask to Opensea

  4. Buy NFTs

Buying Eth

Sign in to your Coinbase account, decide how much ETH you want and buy some.

Connecting MetaMask

Sign in to MetaMask on your browser and copy your Ethereum address:

Tip: NEVER type-copy your dress — always select the text then copy & paste. When you paste your address into Coinbase double-check you have the correct address by making sure the first 2 characters and the last 2 characters are correct.
Example:

Transferring Eth

After you have copied your ETH address go back to Coinbase, click Send / Receive:

… Make sure “pay with Etherum” is selected. Then, paste your Ethereum address in the “email, phone, or address” field:

CRUCIAL: Again, when you paste your address into Coinbase double-check you have the correct address by making sure the first 2 characters and the last 2 characters are correct.
Example again:

…Click “Continue” and then click “Send Now”

Head back to MetaMask and your ETH should appear in the wallet within 5 minutes.

Buying an NFT

Head over to Opensea.io and connect your MetaMask wallet:

Finding NFTs
Explore the site. There are many paths to finding great NFTs to buy, for example:

  • searching “stats” on the upper right corner of the site where you will find popular NFTs

  • recommendation from a trusted source

  • follow NFT influencers on Twitter

Buying NFTs
There are 2 ways to buy NFTs on Opensea:

  1. Buying

  2. Bidding

Pictured is the homepage of Fierce Models NFTs on Opensea. This is our collection of 10,000 generative NFTs. All 10,000 have been minted. Fierce is considered to be part of the cohort of NFTs that pioneered the NFT space in 2021/2022. You can purchase Fierce on the secondary market, here.

Buying
I personally prefer buying. This is my process: I find the collection I am interested in, click ‘buy now’ on the left side of the site, and then filter “Price Low to High on the right side of the site.

I click the NFT I want to buy and then click “Buy Now”

Fierce Model #3700

Confirm checkout

Notice gas fee (sometimes it’s a outrageously expensive), if you accept the fee then hit confirm

It may take a while to go through, and occasionally the transaction fails and you still have to pay a transaction fee 😡 but normally it’s fine. You can confirm the purchase went through in the “Activity” section:

Bidding
Bidding is a similar process except when searching choose “on auction” instead of “buy now”. Click “Place Bid”

Convert Eth to WEth (wrapped Eth) and confirm.

Storing your NFTs
When you connect your Ethereum wallet, every NFT you buy appears on on your public Opensea collection page.

That’s it. You are now ready to get into the NFT game!

In closing
There are many other ways to buy NFTs and most require a lot more experience and understanding of crypto in general. If you are a beginner this is the best way to start.

A final piece of advice
Do your own research DYOR. The crypto space is full of very kind, generous people. But there are also scammers who target MetaMask especially. Don’t click links that are related to NFTs, crypto, etc anywhere including Twitter, email, Facebook, etc unless you are 100% sure it’s from a legitimate source. Some scams are very sophisticated. For example, one scam impersonated Opensea so well that some people connected their wallet and got cleaned out — all their NFTs and Eth gone. Forever. So be careful and go slow.

Good luck!

Nothing in this email constitutes financial advice.

Michelle McCormack

Principal Consultant at Street Consulting

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