An interesting aspect of NFTs is the idea of having an NFT that is backed by a real world item. In the case of this post, I am going to focus on graded trading card slabs ( for example Pokemon cards or sports cards ). I don’t know all the services that are out there, so I’ll just touch on the ones I have a NFT/card on.
One of my hesitations of using these services, or sending my own slabs in to be vaulted, is the cost of getting the real card back out if I decide I want the card back. Here is a breakdown of the services and example costs:
Blokpax - https://blokpax.com/
This one is pretty simple. To redeem a NFT and get the real card, there is no cost.
I do want to note that there is no way to send you your own slab to get it setup as a NFT backed by a real card in a vault, but the Blokpax project itself has cards. Depending on how you get the card in the ecosystem, you might have to spend a few bucks in gas to transfer it to them for redemption since some (like one of my samples) are on Ethereum. However, in other situations (for example if you get it from the Rewards Store like my other example) there is no cost.
Sample NFT/card(s):
Reward Store: https://blokpax.com/store/reward-room/2147485041
Arena Club - https://www.arenaclub.com/ ( Get $10 with my referral https://arena.deals/6tzrSN )
With Arena club, you pay a $1 fee per card plus shipping (depends on location) and insurance (depends on value) to retrieve your card. Here is an example cost estimate:
Retrieve card: $1
Insurance fee: $1
Return shipping fee: $7.84
Total: $9.84
I believe the vault is out in California, so shipping might be lower if you are closer. Also you can use my referral link ( https://arena.deals/6tzrSN ) to save $10 off a purchase so that might help offset the redeem cost.
Sample NFT/card:
Courtyard.io - https://courtyard.io/
You pay shipping and tax to redeem your card. Both are based on location and card value so ultimately it depends on where you are and what you redeem, but as an example here is the cost estimate for a card worth $50 going to the US (east coast):
Shipping cost $24.67
Tax $3.00 - $4.50
Total cost $27.67 - $29.17
The cheapest shipping is $15.41 for a card valued $500 or less close to the state of Utah, likely where the vault is or at least where they ship items from.
Sample NFT/card:
Bottom line: If you are considering one of these services, don’t forget there are other factors to consider such as buyer/seller fees and costs to send your slab in. Also the services are not the same, for example Blokpax is part of a larger ecosystem with other projects and Arena Club offers their own card grading. It seems like Courtyard is just focus on vaulting/marketplace capabilities right now.
Other relevant links
Courtyard.io - Asset Redemption & Shipping
Arena Club referral link
