Rarible Review

Last Updated November 15, 2022
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What is Rarible?

Rarible is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) that allows its users to curate digital art on their platform. Launched in 2020 by Alexei Falin and his co-founder, Alexander Salnikov, the trending NFT platform competes with other spaces such as OpenSea and SuperRare. The site showcases over 100,000 digital items uploaded by Rarible users. Unlike other spaces, you can only see items that are listed on the platform. Rarible will not take custody of any of your assets. Instead, users buy and sell tokens by connecting their digital wallets through the platform. Rarible also offers Intellectual property (IP) rights through Proof of Provenance.

How does Rarible work?

Rarible allows NFT buyers and sellers to connect on their marketplace. Buyers are able to search for specific collectibles on the platform or browse by category. The NFT space also allows creators to “mint” a token and index them. The minting process creates a unique token on the Ethereum blockchain. After minting their own NFTs, creators can choose to sell, keep, or give away their assets. When choosing to sell an asset, the creator can set up royalties to earn a percentage of future sales. These royalties will automatically be deposited into the user’s wallet. Rarible will also allow potential buyers to view the full history of past owners and transactions for each asset. In fact, the platform offers this data as an open-source resource for off-platform developers.

What currencies can you use on Rarible?

Rarible only allows you to use ether (ETH) to buy and sell digital products on their platform. While it isn’t used for trade, Rarible also has its own native currency, RARI. Owning this governance token allows users to vote on future change proposals and upgrades for the platform. RARI is earned through liquidity mining when NFTs are bought or sold in the marketplace. The project is backed by CoinFund.

What types of NFTs can you buy on Rarible?

While many people think of images and gifs when they think of non-fungible tokens, this unique trend in blockchain technology has erupted into a broad ecosystem of several types of products. Rarible sorts the digital art on their platform into the following categories:
  • Art – Whether you are looking for a gif or a piece of digital art, you will be able to scroll through this category to find unique graphics.
  • Photography – Some of these photos are stills, while others are short MP4s that quickly flip through images.
  • Games – Search for trading cards or game tokens of several NFT collections, including Gods Unchained, Axie Infinity, and more.
  • Metaverses – Want to join a community in a virtual world? You can through Rarible’s metaverses category.
  • Music – NFTs within the music category often contain both music and video, allowing you to invest in two mediums at once. You will often find beats and sound clips as well.
  • Domains – A domain name within blockchain technology can work either as a hexadecimal wallet address or to enable a censorship-resistant website.
  • Memes – Search through the assortment of original memes to find an image or gif that could grow in value. Many are based on the crypto community, making them relatable to almost everyone browsing them.
  • NSFW – (Not Safe For Work) From lewds to nudes, you’ll find photos, videos, and gifs that you might not want to show to your co-workers.
Note: Rarible users have the option to hide NSFW tokens in their settings. This means NFTs with the tag will not show up in any of your searches.

How do you buy an NFT on Rarible?

To buy digital products on this NFT space, you will need to complete the following: Step 1: Create a web3 wallet (such as MetaMask). When finished, transfer ETH to it through a deposit. If you don’t currently have any cryptocurrency, you can purchase some through an exchange, you can view our recommended exchanges. Step 2: Once you have ETH in your wallet, connect it to your Rarible account. You can do this by clicking the “connect wallet” option in the top-right of the homepage. Follow the verification process to allow Rarible to view the contents of your wallet. Step 3: Visit the “Explore” page on Rarible to browse the available assets. You can use filters or the search function to narrow down the options to your preferred categories. Step 4: When you find an NFT that you like, click it to view more details about it. If you choose to purchase it, you can click the “Buy Now” option or “Bid.” Step 5: Finalize the transaction. You will be charged a 2.5% transaction fee as well as a gas fee on top of your initial purchase.

Do you need to store your NFTs? How do you do so?

You will need to store your NFTs. After you purchase them from Rarible, they will be stored on the Ethereum blockchain and will be accessible through your web3 wallet. It is a good idea to always purchase a hardware wallet to keep your digital assets very secure. You can connect them to your web3 wallet easily and transfer your items to keep them very safe. Without a hardware wallet, your NFTs could be stolen if your browser or computer were compromised. You can use the following wallets with Rarible: Torus, Portis, WalletConnect, Coinbase, MyEtherWallet, and Formatic. You can also use an extension-based wallet like MetaMask

How do you sell an NFT on Rarible?

To sell non-fungible tokens on this marketplace, you will need to set up an account, connect your wallet, then complete the following: Step 1: Click the “Create” button located at the top-right of the screen. Step 2: Choose between creating a single NFT or one with multiple editions. Step 3: Upload the file you wish to turn into a digital asset. Step 4: Fill in a description and metadata of your item. Choose a name, then specify a price and the percentage of royalties you will want from future sales. Step 5: When you are satisfied, click “Create Item.” You will need to pay gas fees to finalize the transaction. After everything is finalized, you will be able to find your own tokens under “Collectables.”

Selling options on Rarible

Non-fungible tokens can either be sold instantly or through an auction. Here are a few of the details:
  • Instant sales – Either a buyer can purchase an asset at full price or a seller can choose to accept and offer.
  • Auctions – In an auction scenario, bids will be accepted for a set amount of time with the highest bidder paying for (and receiving) the NFT.
  • Royalties – When minting and selling digital items, creators can ask for royalties that will be paid to them whenever the product is resold in the future. They will receive them even if they aren’t the current seller.

Rarible fees

Rarible makes its revenue through transaction fees. Whenever a transaction occurs, the platform takes 2.5% from both the buyer and the seller (5% total). When making a purchase, you should also be aware that you may need to pay royalty fees to the asset’s creator. These typically range from 5-10%. This means you may end up paying 2.5% to Rarible, 10% to the creator, and gas fees. While the money doesn’t go to Rarible, it is still good to remember them when setting up your Rarible account or making a purchase. Gas fees go to the Ethereum blockchain and will fluctuate throughout the day.
  • Set up fee – When you decide you want to buy or sell on the platform, you will need to pay one gas fee to allow for future transactions.
  • Create/list digital items – You will need to pay gas fees when you mint and list an item.
  • At transaction – Either the buyer or the seller will need to pay a gas fee at the point of sale. The buyer will pay when an asset is sold, whereas the seller will pay when accepting an offer.

Is Rarible safe to use?

Thousands of users have used Rarible very safely. The platform is decentralized and non-custodial, meaning you won’t lose full control of your non-fungible tokens until you make a successful sale. That being said, the platform isn’t without its issues. Due to the governance token, RARI, some users have incorporated wash trading on the site. Wash trading is the term used when one user creates multiple accounts to purchases NFTs from themselves. They do this in order to earn RARI tokens. The practice got so out of hand on Rarible that the company has been delisted from Nonfungible.com. That being said, they are taking steps to fix this problem. While the platform itself is safe, you do need to be wary of phishing sites. Always ensure that you are on rarible.com before you make a transaction. Scammers are rampant in the cryptocurrency industry. Always take the extra step to keep you and your digital assets safe. You should also note that the company currently doesn’t have a mobile app. Any mobile app that claims to be part of Rarible is actually created by a third party. It is best to avoid them.

Pros and cons of Rarible

Pros

  • Easy UI – The NFT marketplace is set up to be very user-friendly. You can easily set filters so that you can find the product you want to purchase.
  • Mint NFTs Easily – If you want to mint NFTs, you can easily do so on this platform. Bear in mind that you will need to pay gas fees to the Ethereum blockchain.
  • Non-custodial – Rarible never takes custody of any of your digital items, allowing you to maintain complete control over them until they are sold.

Cons

  •  Only Accepts Ether – The platform doesn’t accept bitcoin (BTC) or other cryptocurrencies. It also doesn’t accept fiat currency (USD, GBP, etc) and you are unable to use a debit or credit card.
  • Wash Trading – Unfortunately, there is a fair amount of wash trading on the sites, which can devalue RARI.
  • No White Paper or Roadmap – While there is no official white paper or roadmap, the team has stated they are working on DeFi NFTS, creating a mobile app, a price discovery tool, and the ability to own a fraction of an asset.

Frequently Asked Questions

In order to mint a non-fungible token on the Rarible platform, you will be responsible for paying gas fees to the Ethereum blockchain. This price will vary throughout the day and your location. You will also need to pay a transaction fee of 2.5% whether you are buying or selling.

As a creator, you can set a royalty percentage on your digital assets when you upload them to the NFT marketplace. This means that you will receive royalties each time your own NFTs are resold on the platform even if you aren’t directly involved in the sale. Royalties are typically set between 5 – 10%.

Gas fees (payment to the crypto miners) are paid by the seller when they initially set up their account and when they mint an NFT for sale.

At the time of the transaction, when a digital asset is sold, the buyer will pay the gas fee. If the seller accepts an offer, they will pay the gas fee.

Luci is a novelist and active blogger. She loves learning new things and tackling new and interesting industries. Her inquisitive nature makes her the perfect writer and researcher.

While she’s relatively new to the NFT space (as most people are) she’s loved diving in and providing great resources for beginners and intermediate traders.