HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR BLOCKCHAIN, SUPPLY, AND MINT PRICE

Welcome to the seventh chapter of the NFT creation course! In this chapter, we’ll make 3 key decisions that will shape the direction of our NFT Project, including how we approach marketing, what utilities we offer, and of course the investment of time and money we’ll need to reach a sold out.

Before making any decisions, we need to be clear on one thing: our collection needs strong demand before mint day, not eventually. If the mint underperforms, long-term success becomes much more difficult.

As always, there are exceptions. For example, plenty of collections launch in “batches”, meaning they release mints for a percentage of the supply as demand grows.

How to Choose a Blockchain for a NFT Collection

In many cases, it is worth making this decision from the start so you can get familiar with the ecosystem on your chosen blockchain: NFT projects, DeFi platforms, marketplaces, communication channels, and so on.

If you have been investing mainly on one blockchain for a while, the best move is usually to build your project on that same blockchain, simply because everything will be much easier for you.

If you do not have a preferred blockchain, I would focus on 3 main options because of their user base, sales volume, and overall market: Ethereum, Polygon, and Solana.

Each one has its own pros and cons, of course, but I’d rank them in the following order by sales volume. Read that list in reverse and it also shows how easy each one is across the board.

1. Ethereum
2. Solana
3. Polygon

WHICH BLOCKCHAIN WE CHOSE FOR TILLARYS

For Tillarys, we decided to go with Solana. It makes the most sense for us because of our background: 2 years providing development services on the Solana Blockchain.

And it’s not just that. Competitively, and because of the kind of NFT project we want to build, we see it as the stronger option. Here’s why.

Solana has lower sales volume than ethereum, but it is still putting up very solid numbers. That means less competition and an easier path overall.

Also, given the amount we want to raise through the mint, going with ethereum does not make sense, since fees alone would double the mint price.

If we compare it with polygon, the entry point would be easier there because the mint price is more affordable. That fits the typical polygon user, who is usually there because they cannot afford ethereum fees. But volume is lower, and we believe the utility we plan to offer is a better fit for Solana, which still has plenty of room to grow on the development side and many open market gaps. It gives us something simpler and cheaper than ethereum, while still offering more volume than polygon.

Of course, you need to assess your own situation and decide, but in general, any of these options can be a solid choice.

HOW TO DECIDE THE SUPPLY OF A NFT COLLECTION

We can decide the supply before or after choosing the Blockchain, and it will be tied to the mint price.

Basically, we need to choose the supply based on the type of project we want to launch and, above all, how much money we want to raise from the mint.

Of course, more is better, but remember what we covered in previous chapters: a nft project is a business. We need to make sure it is financially healthy, and getting a sold out will be almost mandatory.

In this case, we need to understand our own capacity and make a call. It is better to underestimate than overextend, because if we keep the supply too tight, we will always have many more ways to monetize post mint.

We also need to keep in mind that the supply and mint price will effectively “define” what kind of project we are: a degen mint (high supply and very low price, usually lower quality), an exclusive mint (low supply and medium/high price), a top mint (high supply and medium/high price), and plenty of other setups.

As a general rule, it is easier to sell more supply at a lower price than less supply at a higher price.

WHY TILLARYS CHOSE ITS SUPPLY

At Tillarys, because of our utility and our decision that we did not want to constantly manage the community, but simply offer a clear value proposition without having to keep manufacturing hype, we chose to build something small and exclusive.

In other words, a very low supply of just 999 NFT. That makes it easier to build exclusivity and quality into our holder base, with the price helping too.

HOW TO SET THE MINT PRICE FOR YOUR NFT COLLECTION

For the mint price, the logic is the same as supply. My recommendation is to run the numbers and test different amounts.

It can also be a very good move to set a fairly broad price range with a fixed supply, then present it publicly as “TBA” (To Be Announced).

Once that’s done, you’ll work on marketing and growing your community. From there, with base and feedback, you’ll have a clearer idea of what price to set, always keeping supply in mind.

TILLARYS MINT PRICE

For tillarys, we wanted to raise around 50-60k from the mint, so we locked in a $60 price, since we had a pretty clear idea of what we wanted and what we needed to get there.

It also works as an entry barrier for “paper hands”, who we know tend to mint cheaper projects, while still keeping us from being too expensive.

Obviously, we did not have it locked in from day one. We had several options in mind, but we did want to keep things exclusive. We ran the numbers and ended up making this call.

CONCLUSION

There is no perfect supply or perfect price. You always need to analyze the Blockchain you have chosen and make your decision based on the market.

To be clear, it is important to keep watching the market, compare projects, and study the numbers behind other launches. That will be the easiest way to adapt everything to the idea you have for your NFT collection.

Keep in mind that supply and mint price will affect how easy it is to grow your community. For example, a free mint will attract far more attention and interaction, but it will also be harder to monetize. 

That said, in our view the most important rule is this: always keep demand above supply if you want long-term success.

Thanks for reading. See you in the next chapter!