QG is the last legacy print magazine to make gestures in web3 with the launch of its GQ3 community and associated community Ethereum NFT drop, which promised various benefits to buyers. But the men’s lifestyle magazine failed to sell its mint, and now the brand is apparently trying to keep NFT satisfied buyers as resale prices fall.
The GQ3 NFT mint began on Wednesday, with 1,661 total NFT access passes being offered for 0.1957 ETH each, worth around $290 as of the date of this publication. But when the mint window ended this morning, only 1,060 of the NFTs had been sold according to data from the OpenSea Marketplace.
In an announcement from the Discord community and also a since deleted tweet, QG said it would randomly drop half of the remaining NFT supply to existing holders. Projects that aren’t fully completed sometimes do so to reward buyers, essentially providing them with additional potential value when an NFT launch fails to translate buzz into sales.
“This collection is a kind of technical and creative retrospective; a body of work that I’ve built using virtually every technique and medium I’ve ever used, including drawing, photography, collage, vector, and AI. – @Without motive 🤯 pic.twitter.com/TEkp8wKqfZ
– GQ3 (@GQ3_io) March 9, 2023
“We will be rewarding everyone who has supported our artists and believed in GQ3 by sharing a Number 001 token with a random 50% of unique holder wallets,” the post wrote in the Discord announcement, further suggesting that NFT recipients “share with a friend.
The Condé Nast-owned publication said it would save the rest of the remaining supply for “community and promotion.” Decrypt reached out to QG representatives for comment after the drop was completed, but did not immediately receive a response.
Shortly after the end of the mint, QG revealed NFT artwork by artists Chuck Anderson, Kelsey Niziolek, Serwah Attafuah, and the alias REO.
Meanwhile, secondary market prices for GQ3 NFTs are falling sharply: the floor price, or price of the cheapest listed NFT, currently stands at 0.105 ETH ($155) on OpenSea and briefly fell below 0.1 ETH. So far, 27 ETH ($39,350) worth of NFTs have been traded since the end of the mint.
QG followed the lead of other legacy print publications that entered the Web3 world via NFT drops and community efforts, including Time, PlayboyAnd The New York Times. The publication released an NFT-themed print issue in 2022 to announce the launch of its GQ3 initiative, including the Discord server, which ultimately led to deployment of NFT.
Every GQ3 NFT comes with various future benefits, including a one-year subscription to a print magazine and digital access, a QG hat and other merchandise, and access to GQ3 parties starting with the one at the NFT NYC conference in April. Holders can also access an exclusive part of the Discord server and get priority access for future NFT drops.
“We are committed and dedicated to GQ3 and for the long haul,” the Discord announcement reads, “and we want everyone to see the inspiring work our artists have created.”
GQ is far from the first legacy brand to fail with its NFT drop. In January, automotive brand Porsche attempted to sell 7,500 Ethereum NFTs with vague utility and benefits and found little initial interest, only selling around 1,850 NFTs when the company announced it would be cutting the mint short. In the end, less than a third of the expected supply was sold.
In this example, at least, the reduction in supply seemed to stimulate demand: secondary Porsche NFT prices jumped, and now start at 1.98 ETH (over $2,800) on OpenSea, more than double the original price in ETH.