Before we can create a listing for one of these USB NFT GorbyTokens, we need to resolve the following issues:
- What the eff is an NFT?
- What the eff does “non-fungible” mean, anyway?
- What the eff is a “Token”?
Until we come to a complete understanding of these three items, we’ll get nowhere.
We also must gain an understanding of what it is exactly that we are selling, and what we’re guaranteeing and claiming for our tokens.
Answers:
- An NFT is a relatively new acronym for “Non-Fungible Token”.
- Non-Fungible means that something is totally unique and cannot be replaced by something else, even something close.
- A Token is a tangible or intangible representation of a fact, quality or feeling, and can often mean a solid item that is valued as a medium of exchange as well as an item of exchange. A collectible. Also, exonumia, non-minted coinage or currency.
Well, that certainly narrows it down, doesn’t it? Under this definition, a token could easily be a Civil War Token or a Hard-Times Token, things issued privately when money was not available and trades needed to take place.
So what are we selling? Turns out that we’re selling a PRINTABLE .jpg in a fancy collectible signed and numbered thumb drive. Not exceptionally sexy, but we can make it work by adding the spice of “NFT” to the mix, and we can legitimately do that, because my USB NFTs fit the bill precisely.
They are non-fungible due to the fact that they are signed and numbered by the artist, and that for higher value, they can be limited to a single item which is then identified and sealed in a third-party grading company’s plastic slab.
That slab is the art object. Don’t lose sight of that fact. The contents of the USB Flash Drive are totally unimportant. It’s all about the graphic on the front and the certificate on the back.
And what are we claiming for our signed and numbered work of art?
Simply that it is the legitimate non-blockchain limited edition of a specifically virtual digital product of a professional working artist. It can be limited in number, and identified as authentic by the artist with the artist’s signature to verify this, and that’s all you need to properly identify and validate a work of art.
Of course, it helps if the watermark is correct and the age of the paper is right, but we have for centuries easily authenticated things by signature, and we can still do so today, even in the light of modern technology, and perhaps more easily than ever before.
So we need to develop a simple ad that says all that in about ten words. Good luck on that one. It’s worth $100,000.00 for some copy-writer to work out the buzzwords to sell that concept, but I’m no Darryl Stevens or Larry McMann. I just don’t have that skill, but maybe you do.
Anyway, in spite of my lack of skill and data, lacking the modern language, I’m still willing to try my level best:
Please read the above stuff and decide if you want to participate in a new exploratory art medium, the NFT, or “Nifty”, and buy some if you like the idea of collecting a bunch of signed and numbered flash drives with things in them — thank you.
Okay, now I’ll try composing a single line for the headline of the eBay listing:
Buy my shit. Thank you.
No, that seems too direct. Maybe something more along the lines of:
NFT EJ Gold “Between Heaven & Hell” – Printable .jpg in CRYPTO USB GorbyToken flash drive, $39.95.
That’s actually all the information you need technically, but on a practical level, unless you define your term “NFT” clearly, you might get in trouble, so you might want to add a few things to clear it up and leave no doubt in the buyer’s mind what they’re actually buying:
========================================================================
NFT – EJ Gold “Between Heaven & Hell” – Signed & Numbered Unique Original, 1/100.
Winning bidder will receive an ARTIST-SIGNED & NUMBERED and THEREFORE NON-FUNGIBLE Limited Edition non-blockchain CRYPTO USB GorbyToken HARDWARE flash drive containing a large printable high-quality .jpg of the EJ Gold painting, “Between Heaven & Hell”, along with the license to reproduce it for personal use without additional compensation. Included are FOUR full-color artist’s scrapbooks, a $160.00 value FREE. Edition of 100 – Lot of 1 for $(current price here).
========================================================================
That’s it — you’ve said it all.
You’re covered legally and ethically — all the relevant information is there, along with a compelling argument for our new art form!
The key word in that whole string is “therefore”. Without that, there is no cogent argument in favor of NFT as applicable to my USB flash drive. It’s signed and numbered and FOR THAT REASON is non-fungible, unique and irreplaceable, even by a similar item that isn’t signed or numbered the same way exactly, see?
THEREFORE it is unique, THEREFORE it is non-fungible, not replaceable by anything exactly like itself, and anything, even a thought or a feeling or a coin or a piece of paper or a friendship cup or a book can be a token of my love.
I know that’s hard to follow, but read it a few times through and I think you’ll come to understand that it’s just one of those mysteries, like the virgin birth and the raising of the dead.
You can specify that it is one item out of a limited edition of 100, in case the client screams that you promised “number one of one hundred”, which you didn’t intend to say. Your choice. I use both forms, and they both work fine.
So that’s the SMALLEST LISTING I can do — it’s the absolute minimum I can manage for eBay and the likes of eBay — they need to have the reasoning right there to make the call — is this a legitimate NFT or not, and the answer better be a resounding “yes”, before you Go thou, and do likewise.
By the way, always make sure to have your merch already in hand, ready to ship, when listing on eBay — time is of the essence there. Don’t make your customers wait.
Remember that these are NOT slabbed, so there is no real protection against forgers, but at this price, it’s not relevant. When it gets into hundreds of dollars, only then does it pay to spend the $40 extra bucks and the six-month wait for them to get it on their bench, to get it sealed in a slab with an ID tag.
Of course, you can pay extra for fast handling & shipping, but that doesn’t pay with the cheaper stuff. Like I said, over $500 is where I’d start slabbing my stuff, just like my coins.
Here are a few more offerings, just to fill out this gallery:
That’s it for this gallery!
See You At The Top!!!
gorby