Key Takeaways
- NFT floor prices represent the lowest asking prices on a given NFT platform.
- Floor prices can differ between platforms because NFTs are unique, so the selection on each platform plays a role.
- The floor price isn’t always the lowest price for an NFT collection. You might get a deal if you bargain a bit with a reasonable offer.
NFT floor prices help buyers understand the value of a given NFT project. Want a general idea of how much a Bored Ape NFT costs these days? Check the floor price. Although NFTs can sell for more (or less) than the floor price, the floor price gives you a gauge of an NFT's minimum value. Or at least its value today. Let’s get to it.
What Is An NFT Floor Price?
An NFT floor price indicates the lowest price that NFTs in a collection are selling for, but you may need to investigate a bit to get the big picture. That’s because each marketplace might have a different floor price (and possibly NFT royalty fees), depending on the NFTs each platform has listed. Maybe they’re all great — or maybe some are slightly off, like the car you had in high school that always smelled funny no matter how much Pine-sol you used. Yeah, that’ll affect the price.
It’s easy to find higher or lower floor prices between NFT marketplaces if you dig a bit, but it’s also important to consider the reach of each marketplace. OpenSea is still the whale in an ocean of smaller NFT sites. Currently, Bored Apes have a floor price of 72.9 ETH on OpenSea, while the floor price is 72.49 on Raribles. On Mintables, the floor is just 69.93 ETH. The floor price gives you the lowest price range at each marketplace, but it’s a good bet that the hottest NFTs will be on OpenSea.
Keep in mind that the floor represents the bottom end of the market. Prices for NFTs in the same collection can cost much more than the floor. Scrolling through the recent sales for Bored Apes on OpenSea shows a recent sale for 95 ETH, or about the same price as a house in Syracuse, New York.
Floor Price Concentration (Our Calculation)
You probably noticed the big honking table of NFT collections at the top of the page. Or, maybe you’re already on OpenSea stuffing your pockets with cool NFT finds. But take a minute to read this bit before you go NFT shopping. It’s helpful.
One metric on the table stands out: Floor Price Concentration.
And here’s why it matters: If only a handful of listings for a collection are at or near the floor price, it makes sense to investigate further to understand the real value of the NFTs for that particular project.
That’s why we came up with Floor Price Concentration, which measures the percentage of NFT collection listings that are within 10% of the floor price.
For example, if only 1% of the listings are within 10% of the floor, the selection of NFTs at or near the floor price will be slim pickings. If the floor price concentration is 75%, however, you’ll have a much bigger selection of NFTs close to the lowest price. A higher Floor Price Concentration could suggest more room for growth.
How Is The Floor Price Calculated?
You won’t need to look for your slide rule or call your friend Chris who’s good at math, to calculate the NFT floor price. Instead, just look at the price of the lowest “Buy Now” listings on your favorite NFT marketplace.
There, you just “calculated” the floor price.
When an NFT project first launches, the creator sets the floor price. As NFTs are purchased and then listed for sale, the new owners set the floor price with their asking prices. The lowest prices set the new floor. Easy enough.
But can sellers game the system? Well, yeah. We’ll explain that bit next.
Is There Floor Price Manipulation?
Yep. Imagine a world where you can buy things from yourself, paying yourself from a different anonymous wallet. Hmm. Sounds like crypto.
- Wash Trading: Unscrupulous sellers can buy their own NFTs, creating fake demand. As FOMO-prone humans, we might be drawn to NFTs that are selling for higher prices, seeing how much the value increases between sales. But the transactions might not be real. In financial markets, it’s called wash trading, and it’s illegal. In unregulated crypto markets, wash trading can be tougher to spot, and nobody is really enforcing fair trading practices. Be careful out there.
- Sweeping The Floor: More common with smaller projects, sweeping the floor refers to when an individual or group buys a big chunk of a collection, thereby cornering the market. If you want one, you’ll have to pony up the new floor price that the seller pulled out of their, um, ear.
Does The Floor Price Tell You The True Value Of An NFT Collection?
In a word: no. There are two sides to this story, though: the floor and the high end.
Recently, we featured an interview with Kofi (a self-described data nerd) in the Milk Road newsletter. Kofi analyzed the numbers for Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs and other projects and found the true floor wasn’t at the floor price at all. It was about 14% below the floor price. That’s where the bottom 5%of Bored Apes sales take place pretty consistently.
In simple terms, buyers make the market. Just like every other market since the beginning of time, an NFT is only worth what someone else will pay for it—and that number is often about 14% below the floor price. Statistically speaking, you might save yourself quite a bit of ETH by making an offer below the floor price.
Hey, you never know until you ask.
But you also have to consider the rarity. Sellers who aren’t in a rush to sell their rare NFTs set the market for those specific NFTs. If you want them, you’ll probably have to meet the seller on higher ground.
So, the floor price is a tool, but not as precise a tool as buyers and sellers might hope.
Want to learn more about buying NFTs? Check out our top NFT newsletters guide.
Why Do Some NFTs Sell Above The Floor Price?
Rarity is the main factor when NFTs sell above the floor price. Typically, a more valuable NFT is either rare or has some desirable feature. Solid gold or laser-eye Bored Apes sell for more than their unadorned counterparts.
Jumping NFT species from Apes to Penguins, a Pudgy Penguin NFT recently sold for almost $56,000. Why so much? The penguin in question had a blue lei (flower necklace), which only 2% of Pudgy Penguins have, and an Ice Crown, a trait shared with about 0% of the Pudgy Penguin NFTs. Rarity drove the price to several times the current floor price of $8877.36 (5.64ETH).
Like baseball cards, Pokemon cards, or other collectibles, rarity plays a big role in the value. But speculation is at work as well. Clearly, the market thinks Pudgy Penguins will prosper and will be worth more in the future. The market just might be right.
Types Of NFTs
NFT is an abbreviation for non-fungible tokens. You’ll also see the term ERC-721 tossed around. Same stuff. ERC-721 is the name of the NFT token standard. Non-fungible just means NFTs aren’t interchangeable like other coins or tokens. One ETH is the same as the next ETH, so ETH is fungible. NFTs, however, aren’t equal. And it’s this non-fungible uniqueness that makes NFTs special while also opening up a world of possibilities.
We’ve all seen NFTs as avatars on social media, but that’s only one way to use NFTs.
1. Profile Pictures (PFPs) & Avatars
PFPs and online avatars are the most common way we experience NFTs in the wild. Most people would never know about cigarette-smoking CryptoPunks or unflappable Bored Apes if we didn’t see them on social media first. Now, everyone wants one. C’mon, admit it.
- CryptoPunks: Arguably, Cryptopunks put NFTs on the map. The project started in 2017 as the brainchild of Larva Labs and led to the ERC-721 NFT token standard still in use today. Of the 10,000 created, 9,998 are featured on OpenSea, but none of the NFTs have an asking price. That’s right, there’s no floor price. If you have to ask how much it costs…
- Bored Apes: Yuga Labs created the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection in 2021, and the company recently acquired the CryptoPunks project. In the collection’s short history, Bored Apes have become nearly synonymous with NFTs. The current floor price is about 72 ETH. If you don’t want to spend 72 ETH or if monkeys give you the creeps, the Bored Ape Kennel club has a collection of dog-themed NFTs with a floor of 7.2 ETH. (Watch out for the one with the bloody mouth. Looks like a biter.)
- MoonBirds: If you’re a fan of pixelated avatars but CryptoPunks aren’t your thing, how about some nice owls? Here’s what’s different about Moonbirds: The creator recently released the images under a creative commons license, meaning they aren’t protected by copyright. It’s like open-source software but for NFTs. The blockchain still holds the record of ownership for individual NFTs. Moonbirds have a floor price of about 6 ETH, and a new collection, Moonbirds Oddities, has a floor price of just 0.76 ETH. Fancy an owl with a pirate hat?
2. Artwork
NFTs aren’t just for Twitter profile pictures. NFTs offer a new way for artists to bring their creations to market. Forget about snobbish art galleries and gallery commissions. Now, artists can sell directly to buyers, and collectors can find artwork that tickles their fancy without traveling to Paris or New York. OpenSea has NFT art as well, but SuperRare and NiftyGateway specialize in this category.
- The Merge: Digital artist Pak’s creation called The Merge recently sold for $91.8 million, although 312,686 copies comprised that sale amount. The idea worked much like limited edition digital prints, and more than 32,000 collectors now have one (or ten).
- Beeple Collection – Everyday: The Everyday NFT is a collage of over 5,000 daily drawings that sold for –wait for it–$69 million. Individual NFTs and selections from the Everyday piece are available for your perusing pleasure on OpenSea.
3. Generative Art
What if artists painted with algorithms rather than sable brushes? That’s generative art, a combination of code and artistic instinct that creates unpredictable and unique NFT art.
- Fidenza: As one of the most well-known collections of generative art, the Fidenza collection of 999 NFTs has a floor of 80.5 ETH. Tyler Hobbs, the creator of the Fidenza generative art algorithm, brings order to digital chaos in a soothing way. This collection was featured by Art Blocks, up next.
- Art Blocks: What if blockchain algorithms made art (with a little help from a real artist)? That’s Art Blocks, a project that highlights generative art made by computers but with a human touch. The result is a one-of-a-kind NFT that just might be worth millions. Art Blocks curates the work of some of today’s most visionary digital artists. Good news: Art Blocks are on OpenSea too.
4. Collectibles
Remember those Trump NFTs? Love the guy, or otherwise, you would have made a Trump-style mint by buying a fistful of Trump NFT collectibles. But the fun doesn’t stop there. Collectibles have some crossover with gaming and other industries. Want a super-rare pink polka dot sword for your character in your fav video game? How about a clip of your Christian Wood dunking the ball with trademark finesse? NFTs get the job done, immortalizing the collectible on the blockchain. Like analog-world collectibles, collectibles are niche markets, but NFTs make it easier to find buyers and sellers than in the beanie-baby days.
- Autograph.io: Founded by superstar quarterback Tom Brady, Autograph.io does what it says on the tin: You can buy autographed NFTs from world-famous sports figures. There’s a signed NFT for nearly every sports fan.
- Trump trading cards:Trump NFTs now have a floor price of about 0.5 ETH (about $750 at press time). Not bad for a collection that started out at $99 each. But that’s just one example. Collectible NFTs span a wide gamut of interests, just like real-world collectibles.
5. Photography NFTs
It’ll be interesting to see how the photography NFT space evolves in the coming years. After all, photography is already digital, right? But NFTs give photographers a broader reach and give collectors a chance to find the work of photographers they might have missed otherwise.
- Snoop Dogg: While Snoop Dogg isn’t the photographer in this case, the crypto-savvy rapper released a collage of photos that make a larger animated image of Snoop himself. The cost: There’s a 222 ETH reserve price on the auction over at SuperRare. Once the reserve is met, it’s party time.
- Foundation: OpenSea has more photography NFTs than Snoop Dogg has aliases, but Foundation is another marketplace to check out with photography collections, NFT art, and (possibly seizure-inducing) NFT GIFs. Have fun, but don’t drink first.
6. Music NFTs
The music industry is famous for its battles with both recording artists and fans alike. (Napster, anyone?) Music NFTs promise to get the stuffed suits out of the way, bringing fans and artists together in a free market. Want a song? Buy the NFT. It’s yours. And unlike subscription services, nobody can take your music away if you forget to renew. Music NFTs even take the idea a step further, letting willing fans help bands and artists get started. NFTs become like venture capitalist funding to give new artists the startup money they need to keep making great music.
- Kings of Leon: Who had the first music NFT? Kings of Leon, of course. And it wasn’t just music. The band’s LP, released as an NFT, came with extra goodies like front-row concert seats.
- Snoop Dogg: Snoop is at it again, but this time with music NFTs. The Death Row Session Volume 2 (420 edition) raised 100 ETH while showcasing up-and-coming artists. Fo shizzle.
7. Play To Earn NFTs
Play to earn is BIG, now expected to reach about $3 billion by 2028. And—you guessed—crypto and NFTs are right smack in the middle of it all.
- Axie Infinity: The game that gave crypto gaming a shove into the limelight remains popular in many parts of the world. Axies, the colorful digital critters that battle in the Axie Infinity, can be bought and sold as NFTs. Or, you can breed a new Axie and sell it to earn ETH.
- Decentraland: Welcome to the metaverse known as Decentraland, complete with its own economy and cryptocurrency called MANA. The game allows you to buy property as NFTs or even start a new metaverse within the, uhm, metaverse. And if you go offline for a bit (everyone has to eat), you can pay someone with MANA to keep an eye on your NFT kingdom while you stuff your face with cheesy curls.
8. NFT Event Tickets
Crypto conferences were among the pioneers in this category, letting eventgoers mint an NFT ticket to the show. Minting an NFT costs ETH, just like buying, but you’re the first owner. This NFT category is just getting started. Let’s face it, not every Kenny G fan has a crypto wallet yet. But as crypto gains popularity, NFT event tickets will be a thing because they can be so much more than just tickets (and you won’t accidentally run them through the wash).
- The NFT Gathering: Featured in our crypto conferences roundup, The NFT Gathering is just one example of an event that uses NFT tickets. Your money's no good here. This crew only transacts in NFTs.
- Non-Fungible Conference: Another popular crypto event, the Non-Fungible Conference, only lets you in if you have the NFT event ticket. No, your zebra-striped Axie Infinity NFT won’t work. This category starts with the crypto peeps, but in time, it’ll reach the Kenny G folks too. Time to teach Ma about crypto wallets.
9. NFT Membership Passes
What if your Disney Annual Pass was an NFT? Well, you wouldn’t have to worry about losing it. There’s that. And brands could easily reward your loyalty by dropping other goodies in your crypto wallet. Like the old ad slogan, it pays to be a member.
- Flyfish Club: Located near NY’s hip Soho district, Flyfish Club invited prospective members to mint an NFT membership. Then, the memberships found a resale market. The base membership costs 2.5 ETH when minted but now has a 2.8 ETH floor price on OpenSea.
- Azuki: One problem with the metaverse is that you can walk around and bump into things for free, but all the cool stuff costs money. It’s like going to a carnival and having to pay two or three tickets for every dang ride. Azuki fixes the metaverse with membership NFTs. Buy an Azuki NFT to gain membership access to The Garden, access to events, and more. Azuki also lets you turn real-world items into metaverse NFTs. How cool is that?
10. Domains
If you’ve spent any time on Crypto Twitter, you’ve seen people with .eth or .bitcoin handles. How did they do that? GoDaddy doesn’t even have those. Well, that’s because it’s an NFT. You’ll also see these called ENS (Ethereum Name Service) domains. Many owners of NFT domains use it as an alias for a wallet. You can also use it like a domain and set up a website, but average folks won’t be able to find your site because it requires an ENS-capable browser like Brave or Opera. Alas, there are still a few pesky details to work out.
- Unstoppable Domains: Probably the best-known service in the business, Unstoppable Domains is your one-stop shop for Domain NFTs.
- ENS Domains: You might be able to save a few dollars by going with ENS Domains instead—but the website isn’t as pretty (and it’s a bit harder to use).
- OpenSea: Want an ENS domain name without all the fuss? OpenSea has an ocean of them, but just like on GoDaddy, you’ll need to dig if you want to find the buried treasure.
Where To Buy NFTs
Looking to buy an NFT? Check out our reviews of top NFT marketplaces.
Not sure which is the best place to buy an NFT? Check out our guide on the best NFT marketplaces.
To Sum It Up
Crypto floor prices give you an idea of where an NFT collection or NFT type trades, but they aren’t the only thing that matters. You might pay more than the floor price, or you might pay less. It’s also important to realize that NFTs are just getting started, and the use cases will grow over time. Gaming and the metaverse projects might be just the thing to bring NFTs into every household. The good news: they don’t take up any space (just some money).
Frequently Asked Questions
Yep. We found big differences in the floor prices of Bored Apes on OpenSea (72.9 ETH) compared to Mintables (69.93) ETH. But selection matters too. Cheaper isn’t always better. When you’re investing in an NFT, it probably makes sense to spend a bit more to get the one you think will be worth more as time goes on.
Sweeping the floor is a way to manipulate the floor price by buying out all or most of a collection and then setting the selling price above the old floor price. It’s like cornering the market, and it can be expensive to buy everything, so sweeping the floor isn’t likely with high-value NFT collections.
NFT floor price alerts send you a notice when a collection you’ve been watching hits a floor price you define. That doesn’t mean you’ll be able to buy every NFT in the collection at that price. Instead, it signals a price adjustment. Maayyybe some sellers might take an offer as the floor price drops. Worth a try.
Sure, sometimes. NFT Floor prices can go up or down based on demand or interest in the project. If a collection isn’t selling as well, floor prices gradually fall as asking prices fall. The same is true in reverse: floor prices can go up as sales and interest in an NFT collection or project increase.
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