The Zed Run community is a great one. However, as in all communities where there’s money to be made, there are a small amount of bad actors that buyers need to watch out for. Below are a couple of ways you can avoid getting scammed when purchasing horses outside of drops.
- Only buy pre-owned horses on OpenSea
OpenSea is the official secondary marketplace for Zed Run horses. Currently, it is the safest way to purchase a horse. To learn more about how to purchase horses in OpenSea, read this article. OpenSea does take a 2.5% commission on successful horse sales, which is why some sellers try to avoid it and opt for escrow services. - Avoid escrow services
An escrow purchase is when a buyer and a seller chooses a middleman for the transaction. Usually, this middleman is someone well-known from the community and is vouched for by people. Escrow services may cost a fee, but some members of the community do it for free. However, there have been instances when even well-known and well-liked members of the community have scammed buyers and sellers during escrow. The scam happens when the seller sends the horse to the escrow service, and the middleman disappears with it. Because of these instances, we highly recommend only purchasing horses from OpenSea. - Check whether the horse listing in OpenSea is under Zed Run
If you do buy a horse on OpenSea, make sure that the listing has the blue Zed Run (with a blue checkmark) sign on it. This indicates that the horse is indeed from Zed Run. There are some listings that only sell a picture of the horse instead of the actual horse. These listings will not have that blue check.
- Always make sure to view the horse in Zed Run prior to purchase
Sometimes, the metadata in OpenSea is incorrect or out-of-date. This means that OpenSea can show you horse stats that are not true. For example, OpenSea can show a horse as being unraced or unnamed, but in reality, the horse is neither. The only way to avoid this is to view the horse directly in Zed Run and view the horses properties there.
- Do not put offers on unraced horses; always buy outright
Unraced horses command a premium in the market. If you are interested in purchasing an unraced horse, do not put an offer in OpenSea. Instead, buy it outright if the price is right. The premium of an unraced horse is caused by the uncertainty for the horse’s ability. Some sellers race the horse right before accepting an offer, in order to see whether the horse would get good odds. If the horse does get good odds, they do not accept the offer and would either keep the horse or raise the price. If the horse does bad in its griffin or first couple of races, the seller immediately accepts the offer, leaving the buyer with a raced, underperforming horse.
Purchasing NFT horses is exciting; but as always, buyer beware. To learn how to find the right price for horses, read this article.
