OpenSea Temporarily Drops Fees on NFT Sales to Zero

Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace giant OpenSea announced some changes to its fee structure. 

This comes amid an open challenge by one of its competitors, which suggested that NFT creators boycott OpenSea.

• In a tweet thread on Friday (Feb. 17, 2023), OpenSea made some structural changes in the wake of stiff competition by rival marketplace Blur.

We’re making some big changes today:
1) OpenSea fee → 0% for a limited time
2) Moving to optional creator earnings (0.5% min) for all collections without on-chain enforcement (old & new)
3) Marketplaces with the same policies will not be blocked by the operator filter

— OpenSea (@opensea) February 17, 2023

• One of the changes was the implementation of a zero percent fee, which was usually 2.5% on every secondary sale. However, the platform stated that the zero percent fee will be for a limited period.
• OpenSea will also charge a minimum of 0.5% creator royalty fee for old and new NFT collections that do not employ the on-chain enforcement method. Meanwhile, sellers are allowed to pay a higher percentage. 
• Furthermore, the changes included an upgrade of its operator filter tool “to allow sales using NFT marketplaces with the same policies (including Blur, as they make good on their promise). Now, creators won’t have to make the false choice between receiving earnings on OpenSea or Blur.”
• The latest development comes shortly after a blog post by rival marketplace Blur on Feb. 15 recommended creators boycott OpenSea. According to the post, which came a day after the platform airdropped BLUR tokens, creators should not be forced to choose which marketplace to earn royalties. 
• Blur, which started operations in Oct. 2022 and charges zero fees, seems to be already hurting its competitor’s market share. Part of OpenSea’s tweet thread read:

“There’s been a massive shift in the NFT ecosystem. In October, we started to see meaningful volume and users move to NFT marketplaces that don’t fully enforce creator earnings. Today, that shift has accelerated dramatically despite our best efforts.”

• However, OpenSea seemed optimistic, calling the development “the start of a new era.”