What are Gas Fees?

When it comes to NFTs, there are costs to be incurred to have your transaction included in the blockchain network. These are called “gas fees” and they are paid by users to NFT trading platforms to be able to enter the marketplace or to execute a contract on the blockchain platform. The market is controlled by supply and demand, just like traditional marketplaces. Contrary to what you might think, it is the gas costs that control the demand, more so than the price of the actual NFT on the market. Because Ethereum (ETH) is one of the most used blockchains, most gas fees there are high; users of ETH can choose to pay higher amounts to guarantee faster transactions – so it’s all about what you’re willing to pay

Simply put, gas fees are transaction fees that are paid to either transfer crypto to a wallet or to purchase an NFT on OpenSea. Either way, users must have the necessary ETH funds in their wallets and pay the associated gas fees to get through. 

As demand for transactions goes up, miners can select the transactions that pay more. This encourages users to pay more to have their transactions sorted out more efficiently. Tracking gas prices on websites like ethgastation.info or ethereumprice.org will help you in your decision-making process. It will also help you better understand the way the market works.