Selling an upgraded Telegram gift is harder than buying. Buying is “find a lot, click Buy”. Selling is choose a venue, assess the market, price correctly, wait for a buyer, then handle tax. This guide walks the whole chain step by step.
TL;DR
- Pick venue by lot: Portals for top collections and speed, Tonnel for large trades and low fee, MRKT for grails, Getgems for auctions.
- Price right: study current floor + history of similar sales. Ordinary lot — +1-3% over floor; rare — multiplier calculation.
- Escrow is safe — smart contract holds the gift until sold. Atomic on-chain settlement.
- Net proceeds after ~5% fee + ~0.10 TON gas: on 100 TON — ~94.9-96.5 TON depending on venue.
- Tax: in Russia — 13% personal income on net profit as “other property”. Document everything.
Below — step by step.
Step 1: pick the venue
No universal best choice. Depends on the lot.
Scenarios
| Lot type | Best venue | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Top collection, ordinary attributes | Portals | High liquidity, fast sale |
| Top collection, large lot (200+ TON) | Tonnel + Portals in parallel | Lower fee from Tonnel + speed from Portals |
| Grail (rare attribute combination) | MRKT + Portals in parallel | Targets grail hunters |
| Rare lot, willing to wait for premium | Getgems (auction) | Auction premium |
| Long-tail collection, low liquidity | Any, or just hold | Often easier to hold and wait |
| Username or +888 number | Fragment | Only official venue |
What “list in parallel” means
On two or three venues simultaneously — yes, possible and often optimal. Each listing is a separate on-chain tx, the gift physically transfers to escrow of only one marketplace. So “parallel listing” means: list on Portals, cancel when a buyer appears on Tonnel, and vice versa.
Requires monitoring and quick reaction. Easiest: list on one as primary, on another only if the first doesn’t sell within a day.
Step 2: fair-price assessment
Top newcomer mistake — listing at “average” without analysis.
Base method
- Open the collection on Portals and Tonnel.
- Check current floor — minimum active listing price.
- Check 7-day floor dynamics. Rising — you can sit slightly above; falling — go below.
- Compare your attributes to current listings. Is your model as rare as floor’s? Is the backdrop rare? Is mint number in the first thousand?
- Find 3-5 similar lots — close attributes and mint number. See where they’re listed.
For rare lots (grails)
A grail is a rare combination. Priced by floor multiplier:
- Combination rarity 0.1% in collection — typical multiplier 5-15× floor.
- 0.01% — multiplier 30-100× floor.
- The exact multiplier reflects current demand and a few recent comparable sales.
Open MRKT, filter by your lot’s attributes — you’ll see competition and current fair price.
Price strategies
- Asap-sale: 0.5-1% below floor. Likely sells within minutes.
- Standard: floor + 1-3%. Sells in hours-days on a liquid market.
- Patient: floor + 5-10%. Works if you’re confident in the collection and can wait a week or two.
- Auction: via Getgems with real reserve. Suits rare lots.
iOverpricing is worse than underpricing
Top mistake — too-high price. The lot sits and doesn’t sell, and you pay gas on every relist (~0.05 TON). Over several relistings you can lose 0.3-0.5 TON to gas alone. Better to price adequately from the start and not come back.
Step 3: the listing flow — step by step
Walking through Portals; Tonnel and MRKT are nearly identical.
1. Open the gifts catalogue
In your Telegram profile, go to “Gifts”. Find the upgraded gift you want to sell.
On screen you see: the gift card with attributes (model, backdrop, symbol, mint number) and a “Sell on Portals” button (or similar depending on settings).
2. Open Portals and select the gift
The Portals mini-app opens. Gift is pre-selected. If not — find under “My Inventory”.
On screen you see: the lot card, current collection floor, a price input field in TON.
3. Set the price
Type the price in TON. Portals shows:
- Recommended range based on floor.
- Net TON after fee.
- Gas required for listing.
On screen you see: “You’ll receive X TON after Y% marketplace fee + Z TON gas”.
4. Sign the listing via TON Connect
Click “List”. A TON Connect window opens with a detailed transaction.
What should be in the TON Connect window:
- Recipient address — the Portals smart-contract address. Public, documented.
-
Operation type —
nft_transferor similar. - Object — the specific NFT with your mint number.
- Gas — typically 0.05-0.07 TON.
If something looks off (e.g. recipient is not the Portals contract but an unknown wallet) — don’t sign. That’s phishing.
Sign in your wallet (Tonkeeper / MyTonWallet / Wallet). Tx broadcasts to TON. Confirmation in 5-10 seconds.
5. Lot is live
In Portals you now see an entry under “My Listings”. Status “Active”. The gift is no longer physically in your wallet — it’s in the marketplace escrow contract.
6. Wait for buyer
Minutes, hours, or days depending on price and liquidity.
7. Sale
When a buyer hits “Buy” and signs, a single atomic on-chain operation:
- TON debits from buyer.
- ~5% TON retained by contract as fee.
- 95% TON sent to your address.
- NFT transfers to buyer.
Portals notification: “Sold for X TON. Y TON received”. Verify in wallet or on TONScan by hash.
Alternative: cancel listing
To unlist — click “Cancel listing”. Second on-chain tx (~0.05 TON gas). After confirmation NFT returns to your wallet.
Step 4: fee breakdown and real proceeds
On a 100 TON listing:
| Venue | Marketplace fee | Listing gas | Net proceeds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portals | ~5 TON | ~0.05 TON | ~94.95 TON |
| Tonnel | ~3-4 TON | ~0.05 TON | ~95.95-96.95 TON |
| MRKT | ~5 TON | ~0.05 TON | ~94.95 TON |
| Getgems | ~5 TON | ~0.05 TON | ~94.95 TON |
At volume the Tonnel gap matters. Selling 10 lots at 100 TON each:
- On Portals: 949.5 TON net.
- On Tonnel: 959.5-969.5 TON net.
- Gap: 10-20 TON.
Step 5: tax in Russia
Disclaimer: this is not tax advice, only a description of current practice. Before acting on large sums — consult a crypto-focused tax specialist.
Base position
Selling a Telegram gift in Russia:
- Not covered by the CFA law (gift not issued by an RU IS operator).
- Falls under the general “other property” category (Tax Code article 220).
- Taxed at 13% personal income (15% above 5M RUB/year).
- Documented acquisition costs and marketplace fees deductible.
Document everything
For each trade keep:
- Purchase price or upgrade cost (if received “free” and paid only Stars for the upgrade).
- Sale price — final TON received.
- TON/RUB rate at time of sale — for declarations.
- Marketplace fee — deductible.
- TON network gas — deductible.
- Transaction hashes for the audit trail.
When declaration is mandatory
- Annual profit above 5M RUB — mandatory declaration (15% on the excess).
- RU tax resident — declarations are mandatory on any property sale income (except certain holding-period exemptions).
- If FNS asks — you must respond.
Reclassification risk
On systematic trading (e.g. 100+ trades/month with regular profit) FNS can reclassify as entrepreneurial activity. Consequences:
- Mandatory IP registration.
- 6% USN-income tax or 13% OSNO + insurance contributions.
- Fines for non-registration.
For moderate trading (5-30 trades/month) you stay in the “other property” regime without serious reclassification risk.
Pre-sale checklist
- Compared floor on Portals, Tonnel, MRKT.
- Assessed whether the lot is ordinary or rare — checked MRKT filters.
- Picked venue based on lot type.
- Set a goal: fast or expensive.
- Opened the marketplace only via ton.app or a verified link.
- Connected wallet via TON Connect — verified I’m signing a tx to the legitimate contract address.
- Set price accounting for fee and gas.
- Signed the listing.
- Saved the transaction hash.
Post-sale checklist
- Verified TON arrived in wallet.
- Saved the sale tx hash.
- Recorded sale price and TON/RUB rate at time of trade.
- If annual profit approaches the limits — preparing declaration.
Further reading
- Telegram Gifts 2026: how the market works — fundamental overview.
- Portals: Upgraded Gifts Marketplace Review — main venue for most lots.
- Tonnel Network: gifts trading guide — beneficial on large trades.
- MRKT.online: marketplace review — for grails and filters.
- Telegram Gift Marketplaces 2026: Portals vs Tonnel vs MRKT — short comparison.
Selling gifts is a skill, not “press a button”. From venue choice to right pricing — every step affects net proceeds. Fee and tax discipline keeps the activity sustainable. Good luck.
