Short answer: Telegram gifts are animated items you buy with Telegram Stars and send to a user or channel. Most gifts can be upgraded into collectibles with unique traits. You can wear a collectible, sell it for Stars on the Gift Marketplace, accept offers in Stars or TON, or move it to the TON blockchain as an NFT. Since 2026 you can also combine collectibles in gift crafting, and sign the gifts you buy on the Marketplace.
Gifts started as a simple way to send a friend something nicer than a sticker. Two years later they have their own economy.
This guide puts all of that in one place, in the order the features arrived, and explains how buying and selling work in practice. Every feature described here comes from Telegram’s own announcements. Where Telegram does not publish a detail, such as an exact fee, we say so instead of guessing.
What Telegram gifts are
Telegram introduced gifts in October 2024. A gift is an animated item that you buy with Telegram Stars and send to another user with an optional message or emoji. You can also send it anonymously. The recipient still sees who sent it, but people who visit their profile do not.
The person who receives a gift has two choices. They can display it on the Gifts tab of their profile, or they can turn it into Stars, which gives them back part of its value to spend on other things, including more gifts.
Channels can receive gifts too. Subscribers send them from the gift icon in the channel, and the gifts appear on the channel’s profile. If you run a channel and want to understand the wider Stars economy, our guide on how to monetize a Telegram channel covers the other ways Stars reach a channel.
How to send a gift with Stars
Sending a regular gift takes a few taps:
- Make sure you have enough Telegram Stars on your account.
- Open the person’s profile, tap the menu (⋮ or ⋯) and choose Send a Gift.
- Pick a gift from the list. Since late 2025, regular gifts and Marketplace items appear in one list.
- Add a message or emoji if you like, and choose whether to hide your name.
- Confirm the payment in Stars.
When you buy a gift for someone, you can pay for the upgrade in advance and send it already upgraded. Since August 2025 you can also pay to upgrade a gift that is already on someone else’s profile. The owner can then upgrade it for free.
Upgrading gifts to collectibles
Collectible gifts arrived on 1 January 2025. Upgrading a gift gives it a unique appearance chosen from many variations drawn by Telegram artists. It also gets a random set of traits, including a background, a symbol and a number. Telegram’s marketplace filters later named these traits model, backdrop and symbol. Because the traits are random, some combinations are rarer than others.
The upgrade costs a small amount of Stars, which Telegram says covers blockchain fees. Since October 2025, upgrade prices for a collection fall gradually after its upgrades are released, and the upgrade screen shows when the lower price starts.
Once a gift is a collectible, you can do much more with it:
- Wear it. Open My Profile > Gifts, tap the gift and choose Wear. It becomes your emoji status, and your profile takes on its backdrop and symbol.
- Style your profile. Premium subscribers can use a gift’s backdrop and symbol on their profile cover. Some collectibles also unlock unique reply styles.
- Set a chat theme. Some collections unlock chat wallpapers based on the gift. One gift unlocks one theme for one chat.
- Transfer it. Send it to another user or channel.
- Check its value. A Value field shows an approximate resale price based on recent sales, plus statistics such as the average sale price in the collection.
Collectibles as NFTs on TON
Since January 2025, collectibles can be moved to the TON blockchain, the same way collectible usernames and numbers can. To do this, open My Profile > Gifts, tap the gift and choose Transfer > Send via Blockchain. Telegram says this gives owners permanent control of the gift, even if they lose access to their account or delete it.
A gift in a TON wallet can be used with outside services, such as auction sites. Since October 2025, you can connect your account to Fragment to show those blockchain gifts on your Telegram profile. Blockchain transactions cannot be reversed, so check the destination address carefully before you send.
Gift auctions for new releases
Some limited gifts used to sell out within seconds. In November 2025, Telegram started releasing new collections through auctions held over several rounds:
- You bid in Stars. At the end of each round, the highest bidders each win a gift.
- Your final position sets your gift’s number, so the top bidder in round one gets gift #1.
- A bid that does not win moves to the next round automatically. When all gifts have been awarded, the remaining bids are refunded.
- You can raise your bid at any time. The auction screen shows how many Stars you need to win the current round, and you can enter more than once to win several gifts.
Auctions appear in the gift list with an Auction banner and also have their own t.me/auction links.
The Gift Marketplace: buying and selling
Telegram opened the Gift Marketplace in May 2025. It is the built-in place to trade collectibles with other users for Stars, and Telegram describes it as safe and secure.
How to buy a rare gift
- Open any user’s profile, tap ⋮ or ⋯ and choose Send a Gift.
- Select the Collectible filter to see rare upgraded gifts listed by other users. Earlier versions called this filter Resale.
- Narrow the list by model, backdrop or symbol.
- Choose a gift and pay in Stars.
How to sell a collectible
- Open the gift on your profile and tap Sell.
- Set a price in Stars. The gift appears on the Marketplace and shows a Sale label on your profile.
- To withdraw it, tap Unlist.
The Stars you earn can go toward new gifts or anything else Stars pay for. Before setting a price, check the gift’s Value field and the recent sales in its collection. These are useful context, but they are estimates and not a promise of what a buyer will pay.
Signed gifts (August 2026)
The newest addition is signed gifts. When you buy a gift on the Marketplace, you can now add your signature and a comment before it is delivered, so a pre-owned collectible can carry a personal message. Gift descriptions can also be removed. Since October 2025, owners can pay Stars to hide a sender’s name and message from their profile. Telegram notes this can make a gift more attractive to resell.
Gift offers in Stars or TON
What if the gift you want is not for sale? Since December 2025, you can make an offer. While viewing a gift on someone’s profile, tap ⋮ or ⋯ and choose Offer to Buy. You set the price, in Stars or TON, and a time limit:
- Your payment is held while the offer is open.
- The owner sees how your offer compares with the gift’s estimated value.
- If the owner accepts, the gift transfers to you automatically.
- If the owner rejects the offer or it expires, your payment is refunded.
Telegram presents offers as protection against scams. A deal made through Offer to Buy is much safer than paying a stranger directly and hoping they send the gift.
Gift crafting (February 2026)
By early 2026, users had minted millions of collectibles from more than 100 collections. In February 2026, Telegram added crafting, which combines existing collectible gifts into Uncommon, Rare, Epic or Legendary versions with new artwork and effects.
- You can add up to four gifts to the crafting screen. Each extra gift improves your chance of success.
- If several gifts share an attribute, that attribute is more likely to appear in the result.
Crafting depends on chance, so treat it as a creative feature rather than a sure way to get a better gift.
Quick reference
| Feature | Since | Paid with |
|---|---|---|
| Sending gifts | Oct 2024 | Stars |
| Upgrading to collectibles | Jan 2025 | Stars |
| Moving to TON blockchain | Jan 2025 | TON blockchain |
| Gift Marketplace | May 2025 | Stars |
| Auctions for new gifts | Nov 2025 | Stars |
| Purchase offers | Dec 2025 | Stars or TON |
| Gift crafting | Feb 2026 | Combines collectibles |
| Signed Marketplace gifts | Aug 2026 | Stars |
A word on value
Collectibles have a market, and market prices move. The Value field and collection statistics show what has happened recently. They do not predict what will happen next, and nothing guarantees that a gift will hold its price. Buy gifts because you like them or want to give them, and only spend Stars you are happy to spend. This guide explains how the features work. It is not financial advice.
Gifts, Premium and your channel
Gifts and Telegram Premium are connected. Premium can itself be gifted with Stars, and some profile styling options for collectibles require a Premium subscription. Premium users also give boosts. If your channel or group depends on Premium members for its level, read how many boosts Telegram Premium gives, or see our Telegram boost packages if you need to reach a level sooner.
Frequently asked questions
How do I buy a Telegram gift?
Open someone’s profile, tap the menu (⋮ or ⋯), choose Send a Gift, pick a gift and pay with Telegram Stars. You can add a message and choose to hide your name.
How do I sell a collectible gift on Telegram?
Open the upgraded gift on your profile, tap Sell and set a price in Stars. It appears on the Gift Marketplace with a Sale label, and you can tap Unlist to withdraw it.
Can I buy a gift that isn’t for sale?
Yes. Since December 2025 you can open the gift on the owner’s profile and choose Offer to Buy, setting a price in Stars or TON and a time limit. Your payment is held and refunded if the owner declines or the offer expires.
Are Telegram collectible gifts NFTs?
Collectibles can be moved to the TON blockchain via Transfer > Send via Blockchain. There they work like NFTs and can be used with outside services. Gifts that stay in Telegram can still be traded on the in-app Gift Marketplace.
What is Telegram gift crafting?
Introduced in February 2026, crafting combines up to four collectible gifts into an Uncommon, Rare, Epic or Legendary version. More gifts raise the chance of success, but the result is not guaranteed.