How NFT transfers and collections work in TON
On TON every NFT item is a separate smart contract, and a collection is another contract that items point to. Owning an NFT means the item contract records your address as owner.
A transfer under TEP-62 is a message sent to the item contract with the new owner, a response address for leftover value, an optional forward amount for the recipient and an optional payload such as a note. The item updates its owner and returns the unused GRAM to the response address.
Gram Wallet attaches 0.05 GRAM to the message, names your own wallet as the response address, and shows item address, collection contract and recipient before you sign.
What this covers
- Covers TEP-62 items and collections on TON mainnet as shown in the Tongram explorer and moved from Gram Wallet.
- Assumes the item is already in your wallet. Buying, listing and marketplace sales are separate contracts and are not covered.
- Soulbound items (TEP-85) reject transfers by design and are outside this guide.
Steps in Tongram
- Open Explorer, then Transfers, then NFT. The feed lists recent item movements with item, collection, old and new owner. Filter by a collection address or an owner address.
- Tap a collection to see its header: name, item count and owner address, read from the collection contract.
- In Gram Wallet, open Collectibles and choose an item. Items the indexer marks blacklist or whose name reads as an advert are folded under a switch, not deleted.
- Press Send, enter the recipient. The review screen shows Network, Item address, Collection contract (or "no collection") and the full recipient address.
- Read the outcome box: the emulator reports the collectible leaving, the estimated fee and any flagged counterparty. Confirm only if it matches what you intended.
What you see and where it comes from
- The explorer transfer feed and collection header come from Toncenter v3 (nft/transfers, nft/collections) with metadata lookups.
- Your collectibles list comes from tonapi, including a trust value of whitelist, none or blacklist per item and the collection address.
- The outcome box comes from tonapi emulation of the exact signed message: items leaving, GRAM leaving and the fee.
- The transfer message itself is built locally: op 0x5fcc3d14, new owner, response destination set to your wallet, 0.05 GRAM attached.
Freshness and limits
- How much of the 0.05 GRAM returns depends on the item contract’s code and current gas prices. The exact refund is visible only after execution.
- An item with no collection address is possible under the standard; the wallet shows "no collection" rather than guessing.
- Names, images and collection titles are metadata, often off-chain. The item and collection addresses are the only stable identifiers.
- The emulator runs against current state; if the item is sold or moved between preview and broadcast, the result differs.
Common mistakes
- Sending GRAM to the item address as a plain transfer. Without the transfer body the item does not change owner.
- Comparing collections by name. Two collections can share a name; only the collection contract address is unique.
- Expecting the recipient to receive GRAM. Leftover value returns to the response address, which the wallet sets to you.
- Reading "broadcast" as "owner changed". Check the item on the explorer after the transaction confirms.