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What are gas fees on Ethereum?

Gas fees are transaction fees paid to miners on Ethereum. OpenSea does not receive these fees and is not able to refund them. OpenSea also doesn't control gas prices nor does it profit from them. 

In this article, we'll explain what miners are and explore why gas fees are needed. We'll also go over the two categories of gas fees you'll encounter on OpenSea (one-time fees and recurring fees), as well as failed transactions.

Let's dive in!

 

What are miners on Ethereum?

Ethereum, like Bitcoin, currently uses a proof-of-work mining model. In proof-of-work, miners are decentralized computers that use their computing power to process and confirm transactions. On Ethereum, new transactions get added in "blocks" every 15 seconds. Miners are a built-in mechanism of the Ethereum blockchain and get paid in Ethereum's native cryptocurrency, ETH. 

When you pay gas fees, the payment only guarantees your transaction to be processed. It does not guarantee that the transaction will succeed.

This is because gas prices on Ethereum fluctuate widely. If there is a high level of activity on Ethereum - for example, a popular NFT collection is being released - gas prices will rise due to network congestion. In this case, the original gas fee you paid may no longer be high enough for miners to process and confirm the transaction.

 

When are gas fees needed on OpenSea?

When you send NFTs to another wallet or purchase an NFT using OpenSea, you'll need enough ETH in your wallet to pay for gas fees.

There are two categories of user actions that result in ETH gas fees on OpenSea:

  • One-time fees
  • Recurring fees

One-Time Fees: Token or Contract Approvals

As we mentioned above, there are a few one-time fees you'll have to pay when using Ethereum for the first time. These transactions are required to grant certain permissions for your wallet to interact with Seaport.

Suppose the item you're listing was not created using OpenSea tools, but was instead minted through a custom NFT collection contract (like Bored Ape Yacht Club). In that case, you'll need to pay a one-time approval fee authorizing transactions between that NFT smart contract and your wallet.

If this is your first time listing an auction, you will also need to approve WETH, a particular type of ETH used for auctions.

Token approval is required whenever you interact with a cryptocurrency for the first time. These are one-time fees per contract or token. 

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Recurring Fees

You will pay gas fees on Ethereum when:

Gas-Free Actions

These actions don't require gas fees:

 

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