SuperRare is a curated Ethereum marketplace where approved artists sell single-edition digital artworks as NFTs. This guide explains how SuperRare handles curation, sales, fees and its RARE token. It then covers the contracts, media storage, team and budget that a similar curated art marketplace needs.
Where SuperRare fits among NFT marketplaces
NFT marketplaces fall into three broad groups, which the table below compares.
| Type | Examples | Who can sell | Typical inventory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open marketplaces | OpenSea, Rarible, Magic Eden | Anyone | Every collection on the supported chains |
| Curated art platforms | SuperRare (Foundation and Nifty Gateway were also in this group until both closed in April 2026) | Approved artists | One-of-one works, drops, editions |
| Open protocols | Zora, venues built on the Seaport protocol | Anyone, through any front end | Whatever each front end chooses to show |
SuperRare belongs to the curated group. Its core product is the one-of-one work: one artwork, one token, one owner. Nifty Gateway built its business on editions, but SuperRare never did, and scarcity is the main argument it makes to collectors.
Other pages on this site cover the neighboring models. The OpenSea guide covers the open model, the Foundation guide covers timed reserve auctions with lighter curation, and the NFT art marketplace guide covers the art vertical as a whole.
How SuperRare works
Artist onboarding and Spaces
SuperRare launched in 2018 on Ethereum. Artists apply, the SuperRare team reviews the application, and accepted artists get permission to mint, so the site works like a gallery.
In 2021 SuperRare added Spaces, independently run galleries inside SuperRare, each with its own operator, curators and artists. RARE token holders vote on which Spaces get approved, and Spaces let SuperRare add more curators without opening minting to everyone.
Minting and sale formats
An artist mints one token per work, and the media and metadata go to decentralized storage. The artist pays the Ethereum gas fee for each mint, and SuperRare does not receive that fee. The owner can then sell the work in four ways:
- Reserve auction. The timer starts when a bid meets the reserve price, and a late bid extends it.
- Scheduled auction. The auction has a fixed start time and end time.
- Buy now. The owner sets a fixed price.
- Offers. A collector can make an offer on any work, including works that are not listed, and the owner can accept it at any time.
SuperRare fees and royalties
SuperRare's help center lists the following fee structure, with all fees going to the SuperRare DAO community treasury.
| Sale type | Artist or seller receives | Treasury receives | Buyer pays on top |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary sale, standard artist | 85% | 15% | 3% marketplace fee |
| Primary sale, Space artist | Artist and Space operator split their agreed share | 5% | 3% marketplace fee |
| Secondary sale | Seller 90%, original artist 10% royalty | None | 3% marketplace fee |
The help center article dates from 2023, and DAO proposals to change the fees appear on the SuperRare forum, so check the live terms before you use these numbers as a benchmark. The 15% primary commission pays for curation and promotion, and the 10% secondary royalty gives artists income from resales.
SuperRare pays the royalty on sales made on SuperRare, but if a collector resells the token on another marketplace, that marketplace decides whether to pay the artist. Since 2023, most large open marketplaces have treated creator royalties as optional.
The RARE token and the DAO
SuperRare launched the RARE token and the SuperRare DAO in August 2021. The total supply is capped at one billion RARE, and about 15% of it went to past artists and collectors in an airdrop. RARE holders vote on Spaces and on the use of the community treasury. The market price of RARE has gone up and down sharply, so a new platform should treat a token like RARE as a governance tool and not as a revenue source.
Architecture of a SuperRare clone
A SuperRare clone needs seven layers. The contracts are a small part of the work, and the curation tools and the media pipeline take more effort.
| Layer | Components | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Contracts | Artist-owned ERC-721 collections created by a factory, auction house, offers, payment splitter | The auction and offer escrow need the closest audit |
| Royalties | EIP-2981 royalty data on each token, optional transfer restrictions | Decide early whether you will try to enforce royalties |
| Storage | IPFS or Arweave for media and metadata, plus your own pinning | High-resolution images and video need transcoded display copies |
| Curation | Application forms, reviewer dashboard, artist profiles, sub-galleries in the style of Spaces | The largest product effort |
| Discovery | Editorial features, artist pages, provenance timelines, activity feeds | Collectors look for context about the artist and the work |
| Identity | Artist verification, ENS name display, optional KYC for high-value sales | Impersonation of artists is common |
| Payments | ETH and WETH, optional card checkout through a payment partner | Card payments add KYC and fraud handling |
Contract details
- Artist-owned contracts. Each artist mints from a contract that the artist controls, which a factory deploys cheaply as a minimal proxy (EIP-1167). The provenance stays clear even if your platform changes or closes.
- Auction escrow. The auction contract holds the token and the highest bid during the auction. Refunds to outbid bidders should use a pull-payment fallback, because without it a bidder contract that rejects ETH can block the auction.
- Offer escrow. One option holds the offer funds in the contract, which is simple but locks the buyer's capital. The other uses signed WETH offers, which lock no capital, but the contract must check approvals and balances at settlement.
- Splits. The contract pays collaborators and gallery commissions at settlement, so artists can verify their payments on-chain.
- Upgradeability. Keep the token contracts for 1/1 art non-upgradeable, because collectors value permanence. If you need upgrades, put them in the marketplace contracts.
The NFT smart contract guide covers ERC-721 and ERC-1155 in more detail.
Media and permanence
A collector who pays a high price wants the artwork to exist in twenty years. Store the original file and the metadata on Arweave or on IPFS with paid pinning. Show the content hashes on the artwork page, and do not host metadata on an ordinary web server. For generative or interactive works, store the code and its dependencies as well. Foundation's closure shows the risk of relying on the platform for storage: it promised to keep pinning its IPFS media for one year after shutdown, and collectors had to arrange their own pinning after that.
Running the marketplace like a gallery
The hardest parts of SuperRare to copy happen off-chain. A curated 1/1 marketplace needs the same functions as a physical gallery:
- Editorial. Artist interviews and exhibition texts give collectors context about each work.
- Exhibitions. Group shows with a curator, a theme and an end date give collectors a reason to return.
- Collector relations. High-value buyers ask about provenance, file condition, display rights and tax records, and a staff member needs to answer them.
- Artist support. Artists need help with pricing, release timing and file preparation for permanent storage.
Resales also need attention. On a 1/1 marketplace, resales pay the artist's royalty and show collectors what the market thinks of their purchases. Show resale activity on artist pages and standing offers on unlisted works, and notify artists when one of their works resells.
Collectors usually receive the token and a license to display the work, while the artist keeps the copyright. Write the license in plain language and link it from every artwork page. An unclear license causes disputes when a collector wants to print, exhibit or sell merchandise of a work.
Build process for a curated 1/1 marketplace
- Define the curation model. Decide who reviews applications, which criteria apply, how many artists join each month, and whether you will run sub-galleries.
- Choose one chain. Many high-value art collectors still prefer Ethereum mainnet, while an Ethereum layer 2 such as Base has lower fees for lower-priced work. Start with one chain.
- Design and audit the contracts. Build the factory, the artist collection template, the auction house, offers and the splitter, and commission an independent smart contract audit.
- Build the media pipeline. It uploads and pins files, makes display copies and previews, and checks hashes.
- Build the curation tools. These tools handle application intake, reviewer workflow, artist onboarding and verification.
- Build the collector pages. Artwork pages show a provenance timeline, auction pages show live bids, and notifications tell bidders when someone outbids them and when an auction ends.
- Sign artists before launch. Launch with a small group of established artists rather than a large group of unknown ones.
- Launch, then add features. Add offers, resale features and sub-galleries after the first sales.
Cost and timeline drivers
The following is a reasoned estimate, not a quote. A single-chain curated 1/1 marketplace with artist-owned contracts, auctions, offers, a media pipeline and curation tools takes about four to six months. The team is one smart contract engineer, two full-stack engineers, a designer and part-time QA. A security audit for this set of contracts usually adds a separate fee and two to four weeks. After launch, the curation team, editorial work and artist relations cost money every month, and over a few years these operating costs often exceed the build cost.
The budget grows with each of these additions:
- card payments and embedded wallets for collectors who hold no crypto,
- a token and a DAO, which need extra contracts, legal review and voting tools,
- a second chain,
- physical artworks paired with tokens, which need shipping, insurance and authentication.
What to copy from SuperRare and what to avoid
- Copy strict curation at launch, and add delegated curation like Spaces later.
- Copy secondary royalties for artists, and state clearly on which venues they are paid.
- Copy artwork pages that put provenance first.
- Avoid launching a token before the token has a defined governance job.
- Avoid competing with open marketplaces on volume, because a curated 1/1 marketplace competes on artist selection and collector trust.
Frequently asked questions
What is SuperRare?
SuperRare is an NFT marketplace on Ethereum for single-edition digital art. Approved artists mint and sell their works by auction, fixed price or offer, and receive a 10% royalty when their works resell on SuperRare.
How much does SuperRare charge?
SuperRare's help center lists a 15% commission on primary sales and a 3% buyer fee on every sale. Artists in Spaces pay a 5% treasury fee on primary sales instead of 15%. Check the live terms, because the DAO can change them.
Can a curated 1/1 marketplace run on a layer 2?
Yes. Lower fees make lower-priced works practical, though many high-value collectors still prefer Ethereum mainnet, so some platforms support both chains and let the artist choose for each work.
Does a SuperRare clone need a governance token like RARE?
No. A token can spread curation and grant decisions across a community, but it adds legal and operating work. Most new art marketplaces launch without a token.
What happens to the art if the marketplace shuts down?
The works survive if the tokens live in artist-owned contracts and the media is stored on Arweave or pinned IPFS, and collectors can then trade the works on other marketplaces. Foundation and Nifty Gateway both closed in 2026, so collectors now ask about this before they buy.
How do I stop people from minting stolen art?
Verify each artist's identity during onboarding and run reverse image searches on submissions. Offer a fast takedown process, and remove artists who mint work they do not own.