Last week Dolce & Gabbana sold a digital tiara at auction for $300,000. They say it's one-of-a-kind, but since there's no copyright protection in the metaverse - who knows.
Gamers have been buying items for their avatars for years, but most of those items cost just a few dollars. The introduction of NFT's has taken digital shopping to a whole new level, so it makes sense that other companies are now interested.
In February, Cult & Rain, a NY based sneaker maker sold 1,179 pairs of real shoes, each paired with a digital version in the form of an NFT, priced at 0.5 ethereum.
They only needed 800 sales to break even. The sale earned $2.7 million (859.5 ethereum).
The icing on the cake? Cult & Rain will receive a 5% royalty whenever one of their NFTs is traded on a public platform.
Is it any wonder that Morgan Stanley is predicting that the digital luxury market will account for $55.2 billion by 2030? That's 10% of projected luxury market revenues. (Moss, 2022)
Why do you think people are buying digital luxury goods and NFT's?
Have you bought any digital goods for gaming? Which ones? How much did they cost?
Has anyone you know bought an NFT? Have you? Are you planning to? If so, what's your budget?
Are you investing in cryptocurrency? Why or why not? Is anyone else you know?
Moss, T. (2022, April 1) A $300,000 Tiara You Can Wear Only in the Metaverse. wsj.com. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-300-000-dolce-gabbana-tiara-you-can-only-wear-in-the-metaverse-11648817988
12 comments:
I think people are buying digital luxury goods and NFTs because it's a new way of investing. I have never bought any digital luxury goods because I am a broke college student. I don't know anyone that bought NFT, but I see so many people online talking about it. For example, celebrities like Paris Hilton and YouTubers talk about it. The word "NFT" should get the award for the most talked about word in 2021 because people everywhere are talking about it. It's a great way for artists to sell their work and make money from it. Cryptocurrencies are making people billionaires or millionaires. These days, it is an easy way to get rich from cryptocurrency. I know so many people that always talk about how they are going to invest in bitcoin, but they don't even know what bitcoin is. I won't invest in something that I barely know anything about and I want to do research before investing. But things like NFT, metaverse, and cryptocurrency are the future. I noticed that people who have invested in these things tend to flex on people who haven't. It became like a status symbol because I was going through Linkdein and saw someone with an NFT proflie pic. I wanted to connect with them because he had NFT and the first thing that came into my mind was that he was rich and extremely connected..
Personally, I have not invested in any NFTs. However, I do see the pros and cons of NFTs and I think if I were to invest money into them, I need to see a few more years of their circulation and how the trends go. The pros that I can identify with their use is first their efficiency. In the end, the ability to simply digitize artwork streamlines transactions and makes less costs than there is with physical artwork because there is no intermediary. I can also see their benefit from the sense of giving more people the ability to have partial ownership of assets. With physical art-pieces, there tends to just be the one owner but now, with the digitization of the product, the market is greater and people can have small pieces of different online art forms. There are also clear cons that I have with NFTs. First, they are not like typical investments in that they do not generate income for you. The only way to make money from them is the price of the art appreciating which is not as trustworthy as dividend stocks. I also have heard that it takes a lot of energy online to create these NFTs and that is harmful for the environment from a carbon emissions standpoint. I believe that overall, there is room in the market for NFTs, but they are so new and I would still be quite weary to put the thousands of dollars that many people are putting into their purchases. I also feel that the usage of influencers to advertise for NFTs is not the best tactic. Many teenagers look up to these social media influencers and may make uneducated, irresponsible decisions solely based off of the glamorous way in which the influencer advertises the NFT company.
Frankly, I have not undertaken any stakes in NFTs. Although I recognize the pluses and minuses of NFTs, I believe that before making a financial investment in them, I should wait a couple extra months to observe how the market reacts to them and how the trends develop.
The first advantage that I can see in their utilization is that they are very efficient. In the final moment, the capacity to merely collate artistic simplifies transactions and results in lower costs than when tangible illustrations are used because there is no need for an intermediary in the transaction. It is also possible to perceive their advantage in the sense of expanding the number of individuals who have the opportunity to own a portion of an asset.
When it comes to physical artworks, there is typically only one proprietor; but, with the digitalization of the merchandise, the market has expanded, and individuals can now own little portions of a variety of various digital art forms. There are also some major disruptions to NFTs, in my opinion. The first difference between them and traditional investments is that they do not create money for investors. The only way to acquire money from such is if the value of the artwork rises in value, which is not as reliable as a regular stock dividend payout. It takes a significant amount of energy online to generate these NFTs, which is environmentally harmful in terms of carbon emissions. I feel that there is a viable market for NFTs in general, but since they are so nascent, I would be very cautious about investing the hundreds of dollars that several individuals are investing in their acquisitions.
In addition, I believe that using influencers to market for NFTs is not the most effective strategy. As a result, numerous adolescents look up to some of these celebrities and may make uninformed and reckless judgments based exclusively on the glitzy way that the influencer promotes the NFT Company.
I think people are not just buying digital luxury goods and NFTs for investment purposes, but also for the thrill of this new world or trend to immerse oneself in and the "image" surrounding it. I have noticed that indulging in the world of NFTs and buying digital goods comes with the connotation of being both tech-savvy and being a big tech and digital media enthusiast, as well as the notion that those who buy NFTs and digital goods are also stock and trading enthusiasts, almost signaling it as a superior role in society. Additionally, the landscape of media and buying is evolving and digital goods and digital worlds are where the value and "hype" are now.
I have never bought any digital goods, art forms, or NFTs myself as I, at this point in time, do not understand or care much for indulging in it or owning any of it. However, I can see that there is great value, both monetary and social, in digital goods and digital art forms and that is the appeal, to myself and evidently, to others who do buy. In my social circle, I personally do not know anyone who has bought NFTs or digital goods, but I know of others who have invested in cryptocurrency. While I am not someone who has invested, I understand the potential benefits and I find myself wanting to learn more and start investing. Maybe as this relatively new world of NFTs and buying digital goods, as well as of cryptocurrency, evolves, the more information and research there will be for me to further consider indulging in all of it myself.
- Nomi Q.
Shohei Ishikawa
For now, I do not have much understanding of why people are buying NFTs. I have heard about NFTs sometimes, but I did not care much about what it is. I believe it is some form of investment(?), but I do not know how they can find it attractive/ worthwhile because it is in the digital world. Although it is labeled as "only one" or rare, it is in the digital world.
However, I can understand them a little bit because I buy avatars and skins in video games all the time. I buy skins from Apex legends, call of duty, and more to just make me feel excited. I believe that I buy these skins because I want to make my own identity in the game. I understand that there are other players in the game, but at least it is different from default skins. It can change between the games; the price differs, but I believe it is around $5 - $15 per skin, depending on the rareness of skins.
I have not bought any digital currency or arts for now, but I would like to try it out someday. It is an interesting market and has the future as our world is digitally transforming. My budget is around $10,000 if I will invest. I met one guy who invested in DOGE and GameStop Coin and earned an enormous amount of money. That gave me some sort of dream, but I could not try that at that time because I was not sure.
Tonya Ongko
Right now with Facebook controlling all of social media, the whole concept of a metaverse has been very prevalent amongst society. Since we are social creatures, we tend to innovate the way we socialize. A lot of ppl are trying to buy into the idea earlier to get the full experience of the immersion or others do it for flipping – rapid investment (buying for a small amount, potentially return of a big amount). Clothing and luxury goods have always been an expression of our identity. So having digital ownership over digital luxury is also a way for us to express ourselves. People buy NFTs in particular to be a part of a community. In some cases like Bored Ape Yacht Club, when there are people across different industries, it helps you to network. Or some people do it to also flip (make money).
Yes, I have bought digital goods for gaming. I sometimes play games on my phone or laptop such as Sims and Pubg. On those gaming platforms, I've gotten tempted to purchase clothes and accessories for my avatars by using real money. For instance, it can cost you up to $25 bucks for 10k coins (rates may always be different and fluctuate).
My siblings and friends have been investing in NFTs. However, I haven't personally purchased one myself as I haven't taken full interest into investing a seed of money for it. Though, I am intrigued by blockchain and its whole concept as I recognize it will be our future. Potentially one day I will get into the industry, but I would want to better educate myself and research before getting fully involved. I am also not investing in cryptocurrency yet, but I hopefully will eventually.
I personally don't understand the appeal of digital luxury goods and NFTs, but I guess it's because I just can't get my head around paying for something that does not really exist. However, I see how it makes sense for the digital age we now live in and how technology has integrated into our daily lives. Everything is becoming digital or simulated. So now we need to fill this new digital realm with objects that express who we are and how much better we are than the people who don't.
I have never purchased digital goods for gaming. This is because I'm not much of a videogame person.
I have some friends that are into them, but I just don't get it. So I looked into buying NFT's a few months ago after a friend told me he made some money trading them. However, I could not see the value in spending money on them. There was nothing that jumped out at me that said this is a good piece of art. my budget was around 2,000. Perhaps if I were willing to spend more, there would have been a piece that would have spiked my interest.
I have invested in crypto. I got Ethereum a few years ago because someone told me about it. I followed it for a while before I finally pulled the trigger. I decided to invest because I had already missed out on Bitcoin, which was doing well at the time, so I did not want to miss out on this because it looked promising. I also bought Dogecoin when there was a big buzz around it. My experience with crypto is mixed but has been an all-around good learning experience.
Personally I don't know anyone that bought an NFT and even though I have been seeing the acronym a lot lately I honestly had to read a few articles to get a better grasp on the Non Fungible Token. Strangely enough even after reading up on it, I cant say that I am rushing out to purchase any. My son tried getting me on the Crypto bandwagon, but I was too skeptical to buy any. He and his father however did and got pretty lucky!
This whole luxury NFT items is mind blowing to me, it felt so far removed for me, I had to go find articles on the tiara auction, and sure enough its to be used in the virtual world. Unless there is a halo hovering over the avatar saying tiara by Dolce and Gabbana how would anyone know? There is no red carpet in the Metaverse. I also saw a vlog from Nas Daily talking about Metaverse and he sincerely believed that it was going to take off and this is the future.With all of this in mind I guess there really is a. market for luxury NFT goods.
After following the space for several years, I am a big believer in NFT’s and in the Metaverse. In a world where technology is evolving faster than we are, it is inevitable that something new has to come to positively disrupt how we live our lives. I believe that disruption is in Web 3.0 and the Metaverse.
If we take a step back in history to when the dot com bubble was occurring, life was also radically changing faster than we could take in. Tech companies saw their evaluations sky rocket as a result of people purchasing stock of their company and people were learning how to adapt to the new technology that was showcased to the world (e.g. Web 1.0). The internet went from being mostly used by corporations/professionals to the everyday consumer. As things evolved even more, everyday consumers could contribute to the web through giant tech companies like Facebook (Web 2.0). And now, we are in the very beginning stages of Web 3.0, a place where anyone can own their digital data, rights, and property through blockchain technology, which is a sort of decentralized Internet with token based economics.
Currently, all of our data is owned by a third party and is impossible to truly acquire it. In a world where the idea of ownership becomes more and more prevalent by the day, it is inevitable that people want to own one of the things that is most prominent in their lives: their digital lives. NFT’s are the key to that idea of true digital ownership. Although it seems silly and somewhat scary to think that because there are NFT’s of cartoon animals trading for upwards of one million dollars, there is still a unique utility attached to every NFT and it is just scratching the surface of what is to come.
Blockchain technology is the only true decentralized database that is more advanced and secure than any network ever created. And now, we are just experimenting with ways to properly utilize it. If it takes 9,999 jpegs of cartoon apes that serve as a status symbol among other things to demonstrate to people the back bone of how this technology works, so be it. It won’t be long until every transaction and transfer of data will be made on the blockchain through the use of NFT’s.
With all of that being said, I have made several small investments in these spaces for years now and believe in the undeniable power of this technology. I have some stake in several coins and a couple of NFT projects. The only notable one to mention is a project called StepN. It is a play to earn game where you purchase a digital sneaker and earn their in-game tokens when you walk outside. This NFT makes me a couple hundred dollars per week and is more of a fun project that I decided to get involved in — not one that I think will be around in 5+ years.
On the other hand, I have a lot of friends that have multimillion dollar collections of blue chip NFT’s that they acquired for a fraction of the price. Lucky them!
Nowadays, I see many YouTubers and influencers on other platforms talking and giving advice about NFT’s and digital goods swell as cryptocurrency. Personally, as the budget I get from my parents is only enough for my college activities and not for investments. I believe the reason why people buy digital goods as described above is for investment purposes. There are many predictions about how the digital market is going to expand in the future and people are starting to research and make early investments to sell them in the future. While I don’t have a lot of knowledge on the future of NFT’s, I have many friends and family members who invest in cryptocurrency. Crypto is the new money that makes people millionaires if they invest in the right coins. It is about buying and selling at the right time. However, I am not sure wether or not they are aware and knowledge on the things they are buying. I also know a few friends who use a digital pad to create NFT’s such as art work which take up a lot of time. I do not plan on investing in any of these soon, yet I can see how NFT’s, cryptocurrency and digital goods are becoming the future money market as they are similar to physical assets that one can own. However, it is important to keep a track of the predictions and new trends that are coming up in order to profit from these digital goods.
Hanbo GU
I think people are buying digital luxury and NFT because it's a new way to invest; friends around me are talking about NFT. Personally, I have not invested in any NFT. Undeniably, I do see the pros and cons of NFT; I should wait a few months to see how the market reacts to them and how the trend develops if I want to invest in them. But he does have his advantages, he simplifies the normal process of buying goods, the moment you pay for the item it belongs to you, you don't need to waste time waiting for the delivery to arrive and there is a lower cost because there is no need for a middle man in the transaction. Not like bitcoin, it suddenly appeared in the spotlight, and curious people started to understand how it works and how they can get the most out of it. But I could never understand these illusory developments. They exist in the digital world, and even though it is marked as "one of a kind" or rare, it is still hard to have a significant upside; they are not like typical investments because they do not bring you income. The only way to make money from them is the price at which the artwork appreciates. However, I can understand the point that NFT captures the psychology of many consumers and uses hunger marketing techniques to make you feel pressed for the rare or unique ones and thus very desperate to get them. I think he's more like the dress-up games I played as a kid, spending money on rare clothing to increase your glamour value and get to the top of the charts. This is a very vain view of consumption, but it is precisely to meet the vanity of many people in the virtual world, to make up for the inferiority complex of consumers in real life.
Consider the situation when individuals buy a new pair of sneakers on a website that they want to purchase and the site informs them that there is only 'one pair left.' As a result, if you're like others, you'll feel a greater sense of urgency to make purchases, even though it doesn't make good business sense for oneself. NFTs are largely trading card details for the super-rich. The NFT and the art market are therefore easy to compare as a result of these similarities.
"Digital art" is the most straightforward way to describe non-fungible tokens or NFTs for short. In the case of NFTs, an impression or digital version is converted into a digital version that is identified by a unique identification code generated by blockchain technology cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are predicated on blockchain technology, which is the same technology that underpins them. NFTs are often referred to as "cryptographic assets" by their supporters.
And while much of this may appear to be too high-tech for several readers, NFTs have turned out to be exceptionally prevalent and meaningful in practice. Unlike the art market, even so, NFTs provide artists with greater autonomy because they do not depend heavily on galleries to sell their work. Creatives can sell their masterpieces straightforwardly to buyers, allowing them to keep a larger portion of the profits as a result of eliminating the distribution channels.
Nowadays, most of the people who are willing to try to buy NFT are still young people who are used to digitalization, also known as "Generation Z", and they are also the unstoppable boosters of the NFT wave nowadays. They are willing to pay for "spiritual needs", trying to achieve their own definition of sophisticated life, and use consumption to express their values, and even establish a persona label. I myself, including my friends around me, have never bought similar products, but I know from social media that the NFT artwork Everydays: The First 5000 Days sold at Christie's online auction on March 11 for a whopping $69.34 million.
I don't plan to invest in cryptocurrencies at the moment because I don't have enough money yet.
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