What NFT Royalties Are
An NFT royalty is a percentage of the sale price that goes back to the original creator every time their NFT is resold on the secondary market, not just on the first sale. If you mint a piece of digital art and set a 7% royalty, you’re meant to receive 7% of the price every time it changes hands afterward, whether that’s the first resale or the fiftieth.
This was designed to fix a problem traditional artists have faced forever: a painter who sells a canvas for £200 gets nothing if it later resells for £2 million. NFTs promised to close that gap permanently, automatically, with no lawyer or contract renegotiation required.
How Royalties Actually Work Technically
When you mint an NFT, you’re not just uploading an image, you’re deploying or interacting with a smart contract. That contract can include a royalty standard (commonly EIP-2981 on Ethereum) that specifies what percentage goes to the creator’s wallet on every future sale. In theory, this makes royalty payment automatic and enforced by code rather than by trust.
Typical royalty rates sit between 5% and 10%, though creators can usually set their own percentage at mint time, and some platforms allow fixed amounts instead of percentages.
The Important Part Most Guides Skip: Royalties Are Often Optional Now
Here’s what’s changed since the 2021 to 2022 NFT boom: many major marketplaces now let buyers and sellers opt out of paying royalties entirely, even when the smart contract specifies one. Platforms did this to boost trading volume and compete on lower fees, since removing royalty payments makes trading cheaper for buyers and sellers. The result is that a royalty percentage set at mint time is no longer a guarantee, it’s closer to a request that some marketplaces still honor and others don’t.
This matters enormously if you’re minting today. The royalty field in your smart contract is still worth setting, but you shouldn’t treat it as passive income you’re guaranteed to receive — and be wary of fake NFT airdrops using royalty confusion as a scam angle.
How Creators Can Protect Their Royalty Income
- Choose marketplaces that still enforce royalties, and check their current policy before listing, since this changes over time as platforms adjust their business models.
- Look into wallet-level enforcement tools, an emerging approach where royalty logic is enforced closer to the wallet or transfer level rather than relying entirely on marketplace goodwill.
- Build direct relationships with your collector base so resales are more likely to happen through channels that respect your terms, rather than purely anonymous marketplace flips.
- Diversify your income beyond royalties, treating them as a bonus rather than a core revenue plan, given how inconsistently they’re now enforced.
Percentage Royalty vs Fixed Royalty
| Type | How It Works | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage royalty | A set % of each resale price | Most creators — scales with the NFT’s rising value |
| Fixed royalty | A flat amount paid per resale, regardless of price | Predictable income, less common, less popular with collectors |
Setting Up Royalties When You Mint
- Choose a marketplace that supports and currently enforces royalties for the type of NFT you’re creating.
- Set your royalty percentage during the minting process, most platforms offer a simple field for this, typically capped at a maximum (often 10%).
- Double-check the receiving wallet address tied to the royalty, since this can’t always be changed after minting — the same wallet security basics that protect your crypto apply to your NFT wallet.
- Understand the platform’s specific enforcement policy before you rely on royalties as part of your pricing or income strategy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s a typical NFT royalty percentage?
Most creators set royalties between 5% and 10% of the resale price, though the exact figure is usually up to the creator at mint time.
Are NFT royalties guaranteed?
No, not anymore on most major marketplaces. Many platforms have made royalty payments optional for buyers and sellers to remain competitive on fees, so actual payment depends on the marketplace and the buyer’s choice.
Can I change my royalty percentage after minting?
This depends on the smart contract and platform. Some allow adjustments later, but many lock the royalty rate permanently at mint time, so it’s worth deciding carefully upfront.
Do all blockchains support NFT royalties the same way?
No. Ethereum has a common standard (EIP-2981), but implementation and enforcement vary by chain and by marketplace, so a royalty that works reliably on one platform may not transfer the same way to another.
The Bottom Line
NFT royalties were designed to give creators ongoing income from resales, and the mechanism still works technically through smart contracts. What’s changed is enforcement: many marketplaces now treat royalties as optional rather than mandatory. Set a fair royalty percentage at mint time, choose marketplaces that still honor it, and treat royalty income as a bonus rather than a guaranteed revenue stream.
