LuLu’s NFT Toolbox

So you’ve heard about NFTs and want to buy one but don’t know how? That’s perfectly fine!

Read on for my step-by-step guide on what you need and how to get started.

Let’s start off by comparing buying an NFT to buying a book at a bookstore.

Here’s what you’ll need to buy a book/NFT:

• Wallet — MetaMask, Rainbow, TrustWallet, Phantom, etc.
• Money — Ethereum, Solana, etc.
• Books — NFTs (never judge a book by its cover!)
• Bookstore — An NFT Exchange such as Opensea, Foundation, or through the official project website
• Bookshelf at home — Check what NFTs you have on your shelf through MetaMask and OpenSea

First, let’s get your wallet set up. Here’s how to set up your MetaMask wallet (for Ethereum only):

1. Add Metamask to your browser extension
2. Click on the icon to accept terms of use
3. Create and enter a password
4. Create a new wallet
5. Save your seed phrase. Make sure to write it down, store it somewhere safe, and don’t share it with anyone! The seed phrase is what will be used to recover your wallet if you ever lose access to this account.

Your wallet has been created! Now you can receive and see your collection of NFTs!

To receive an NFT, click on the wallet address at the top of your MetaMask extension to copy it. This is your public Ethereum address that will be used to receive Ethereum and NFTs.

Additional information about wallets — Your wallet is how you sign in to Web3 sites. Here’s a few links and exchanges: opensea.io, foundation.app, rarible.com, niftygateway.com, makersplace.com, and tryshowtime.com.

Feel free to stop here if you only need to receive NFTs, if you’d like to purchase NFTs read on!

Grab the cryptocurrency of your choice and add it to your wallet. Common cryptocurrencies include Ethereum, Solana, Bitcoin, etc. I’ll leave it up to you to choose what you prefer. I’ll hand it off to the experts to walk you through this quick step! Check out a great article here by Lisa Mone. I recommend jumping to “Buying ETH with Fiat.”

How to buy an Ethereum NFT directly from a project’s site:

1. Make sure you have MetaMask or another Ethereum wallet set up
2. Go to the project website
3. The prompt should come up and ask to connect your MetaMask wallet
4. Hit “connect” and now you’re ready to mint!
5. Hit “mint” and Metamask should pop up with a confirmation to pay the gas fee. Once the gas fee is confirmed, the NFT is transferring and you are ready to rock-n-roll!
6. Once the transaction is complete your new NFT should be available to view publicly on OpenSea and in your wallet :)

Congratulations! You’ve set up your wallet and stepped into the world of NFTs. More importantly, you’ve successfully started your journey into Web3!

A few concluding thoughts from me:

• Web3 is the wild west right now. The space moves quickly but be sure to trust your gut and slow down when you need. There is lots of excitement, energy, and opportunity!
• “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.”- Albert Einstien. My goal is to create digestible and easy-to-read content for everyone from the NFT novice to the Web3 expert.
• Patience is key. It’s ok if some applications take longer to load or the user interface isn’t the cleanest right now. When I was first getting started, I was shocked by how different Web3 applications were from Web2 in speed, style, and structure. We are participating in and witnessing history in the making.

Thank you for reading. I hope this was helpful and I’m so excited for the future of Web3!