Getting Started
Creating an account
GrailVault uses email and password to create your account. Your data is stored securely in the cloud so it syncs across all your devices.
- Open GrailVault and tap Create Account
- Enter your email address and choose a password
- Choose a unique username — this is your trainer handle that friends will see (e.g. @jamiecards). You can't change it later so choose wisely.
- You'll land on your Dashboard — your vault is ready
Setting up cost basis
Cost basis is what you paid for your cards. GrailVault needs this to calculate your P&L (profit and loss). When you first sign up you'll see a two-stage setup flow:
Stage 1 — Build your collection first. Add all your cards without worrying about prices. The app won't show missing-price warnings during this phase.
Stage 2 — Once you've added your cards (or after 3 days), GrailVault asks how to handle existing cards. You have three options:
- Use current market value — sets your cost basis to today's market price. P&L will start from zero.
- Enter your own prices — go through each card and enter what you paid
- Estimate a lump sum — enter your total spend and GrailVault distributes it proportionally across your cards by market value
Currency settings
GrailVault displays prices in Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) by default, with live USD conversion using real exchange rates updated daily. You can toggle between MYR and USD at any time using the USD button in the top right of most screens.
To change your home currency permanently, go to Profile → Settings → Currency. Note: changing currency does not convert your existing budget amount — the number stays the same in the new currency.
Monthly budget
Set a monthly spending limit to track how much you're spending on cards each month. Go to Profile → Settings → Monthly Budget and enter your limit in your home currency.
The budget resets automatically on the 1st of each month. Spending is tracked when you log a BUY trade or complete an Open Pack session. The Dashboard shows your budget progress with a colour-coded bar — green when you're on track, amber at 75%, red when you're over.
Dashboard
The Dashboard is your financial command centre — every key number about your collection in one place, updated live.
Vault Value
The large gold number at the top of the Dashboard is your Vault Value — the total market value of every card in your collection right now, based on live PokéWallet pricing. This includes all cards, even ones you haven't set a purchase price for.
The smaller number below it shows the same value in your secondary currency (USD or MYR).
Stats grid
Below the hero number is the Vault Overview grid — a set of coloured stat tiles. Here's what each one means:
- TOTAL CARDS
- The total number of individual cards in your vault, counting duplicates
- VAULT VALUE
- Total market value of your entire collection at today's prices
- AMOUNT SPENT
- Total cost basis — what you actually paid for your tracked cards
- UNREALISED GAIN
- The difference between what you paid and what your cards are worth now. "Unrealised" means it's only real when you sell.
- TRADING STOCK
- Cards you own more than one of — your potential trade inventory
- STOCK VALUE
- The combined market value of all your duplicate cards
- TOTAL BOUGHT
- The number of buy trades you've logged
- TOTAL SWAPS
- The number of card swaps/trades you've completed
- SWAP GAIN
- The net value you've gained from card swaps — the difference between what you gave and what you received
- REALISED P&L
- Profit (or loss) you've actually locked in by selling cards
Understanding the financial terms
GrailVault teaches real finance through your collection. These terms are used by professional traders and investors — now you're using them too.
- P&L (Profit & Loss) — the difference between what you paid and what you got (or could get) for a card
- Cost Basis — what you paid for a card, including any fees. This is your baseline for calculating profit.
- Unrealised Gain — paper profit. Your card is worth more than you paid, but you haven't sold it yet, so the profit isn't real money yet.
- Realised P&L — profit you've actually received by selling. This is real money.
- Market Value — what your card is worth right now based on live market data from PokéWallet
Portfolio trend chart
The 30-day chart shows how your vault value has moved over the past month. A green line means your collection has grown in value; red means it's dropped. The percentage shows the change over the full 30 days.
The chart only appears once you have at least 2 days of data recorded.
Estimated costs toggle
At the bottom of the stats grid you'll see a toggle: Including estimated costs in P&L. When on, cards where you used market value or a lump sum estimate as your cost basis are included in P&L calculations. Toggle it off to see P&L based only on cards where you entered the exact price you paid.
Collection
Adding cards by number
The fastest way to add a card is by its card number — the number printed at the bottom of the card in the format NNN/NNN (e.g. 025/159).
- Tap + ADD CARDS on the Collection screen
- The NUMBER tab is selected by default. Enter the denominator (e.g. 159) once to lock the set — the input will show as ___/159
- Type just the card's prefix number (e.g. 025) — it becomes 025/159 automatically
- The card is added to a queue. Keep typing more numbers to add multiple cards from the same set
- Tap LOOK UP X CARDS to fetch all the cards at once
- Review the results and confirm the import
Adding cards by name
- Tap + ADD CARDS then switch to the NAME tab
- Type the card name — results appear as you type
- Use the set filter chips to narrow results to a specific set
- Tap a card to add it to your collection
Opening a pack
The Open Pack flow is for when you buy and open a booster pack. It tracks the pack cost as your cost basis, split proportionally across all the cards you pulled.
- Tap OPEN PACK on the Collection screen
- Enter the pack name (e.g. Scarlet & Violet), cost in your home currency, number of cards, and date
- Search and add each card you pulled, one by one. Tap Skip for energy cards or tokens you don't want to track.
- Tap Remove on a card if you added it by mistake
- When all cards are added, tap Complete Pack
- The pack cost is split across all cards as their cost basis. The total is also deducted from your monthly budget.
Camera scanning
Tap the camera icon in the Add Cards modal to scan card numbers using your device's camera. Point the camera at the card number in the bottom corner of the card (format NNN/NNN) and align it with the targeting zone on screen.
In batch scan mode, the app scans one card at a time sequentially — scan a card, it's added to the queue, then scan the next one. Review and confirm all at the end.
Collection views
GrailVault has three ways to view your collection:
Grid view (default) — cards shown as tiles with image, name, set, condition, market value, and cost basis indicator (PAID / MARKET VALUE / ESTIMATED). Coloured borders indicate rarity.
Detail view — tap the card's name/info area in grid view to open the full card detail screen. Shows HP, stage, weakness, retreat cost, attacks, P&L, date added, and cost basis source. Swipe left or right in detail view to browse through your entire collection one card at a time.
Gallery view / Full image — tap the card image in grid view or detail view to open a full-screen image of the card. Pinch to zoom. Tap again to return to detail view.
Filtering & sorting
Search — type in the search bar to find cards by name, set, or card number.
Filter chips — tap filter chips to narrow your collection:
- Type — filter by card type (Fire, Water, etc.)
- Rarity — filter by rarity (Common, Holo Rare, Ultra Rare, etc.)
- Set — filter by expansion set
- Duplicates Only — show only cards you own more than one of
- Missing Price — show only cards without a purchase price recorded
Tap an active filter chip again to deselect it. When Missing Price is active, a bulk action bar appears — tap Apply Market Value to All to set today's market value as cost basis for all unpriced cards at once.
Sort — tap the sort button to choose: Value, Date Added, Name, Card Number, Set, Rarity, or Collection/Pack. Tap again to reverse the order.
Pack filter — search for a specific pack name (e.g. "Scarlet and Violet") then use the set filter chips to lock the search to that pack.
Card detail view
From grid view, tap the card info area (name, set, value) to open the card detail view. Here you can:
- See the full card stats — HP, stage, weakness, retreat cost, attacks
- See your P&L on this specific card
- Edit the purchase price, condition, or quantity
- Mark the card as part of your original collection
- Toggle whether the card is shared with friends
- Swipe left/right to browse to the next/previous card
Original collection tagging
If you had cards before you started tracking properly (bought years ago, received as gifts, etc.), you can mark them as isOriginalCollection. These cards:
- Are included in your Vault Value (they count toward your total)
- Are excluded from P&L calculations (no missing-price warnings)
- Are tracked for market value but not cost basis
To mark a card: open card detail view → tap Edit → toggle Original Collection.
Watch List
Add cards you want to acquire to your Watch List to monitor their price. Tap the WATCH LIST tab on the Collection screen.
Free accounts can watch up to 5 cards. PRO unlocks unlimited watchlist entries.
Trade Log
Logging trades
The Trade Log records every buy, sell, and swap. Tap + LOG TRADE to add a new entry.
BUY — record when you purchase a card. Enter the card name, set, price paid, and date. The price is recorded in MYR with automatic USD conversion. Logging a buy also updates your monthly budget spend.
SELL — record when you sell a card. Enter the price received and the cost basis (what you paid). GrailVault calculates your realised P&L automatically.
SWAP — record a card swap with another collector. Enter what you gave and what you received. GrailVault calculates your swap gain — whether you came out ahead or behind in value.
Filtering trades
Filter the Trade Log by type (All / Buys / Sells / Swaps), result (All / Winning / Losing), and date range (All Time / This Month / Last Month / This Year). Sort by date using the sort button on the Trade History header.
Trade stats
The summary tiles at the top of the Trade Log show:
- Total Trades — all trades logged
- Realised P&L — total profit locked in from sells
- Win Rate — percentage of trades where you made money
- Best Trade — your single most profitable transaction
Full analytics including ROI breakdown are available in the Profile → Stats tab. PRO
Profile
Settings
Access all settings from the Profile tab → Settings:
- Currency — switch between MYR, USD, GBP, and other currencies
- Monthly Budget — set or update your monthly spending limit
- Cost Basis Preference — choose how cost basis is handled for new cards
- Set Cost Basis — manually trigger the cost basis setup flow for existing cards
- Apply Market Value — bulk-set market value as cost basis for all unpriced cards
- Promo Code — enter a promo code to unlock Pro features
- Report a Bug — send a bug report to hello@grailvault.app
- Request a Feature — suggest a new feature to the team
Parental controls
GrailVault includes a parent visibility section so parents can monitor their child's social connections. In Profile → Settings → Parent Controls:
- Parents can view all of their child's friend connections
- Parents can remove any friend connection on their child's behalf
- No free-text messaging exists anywhere in the app — all social interactions are structured
- The social network is closed — connections only happen via invite code
Stats tab
The Stats tab in Profile shows detailed trading performance metrics:
- Total trades, win rate, overall ROI
- Best single trade, total cards owned, duplicate count
- Total swaps completed and total swap gain
Budget tab
The Budget tab shows your monthly spending history — how much you spent each month vs your budget, and your personal best (lowest spend month).
Vault Intel
Vault Intel is GrailVault's financial literacy glossary. Find it in Profile → Vault Intel. Every financial term used in the app is explained in plain English — from P&L and cost basis to trading stock and swap gain. Terms are also accessible via info icons (ⓘ) throughout the app.
Achievements
GrailVault tracks your milestones as a collector and trader. Achievements include First Trade, First Profit, 5 Trades, 10 Trades, Sharp Eye (80%+ win rate), Moon Shot (single trade ROI over 100%), and more. Check your progress in Profile → Stats → Achievements.
Rank
Your trainer rank progresses as you use the app — from Rookie through Apprentice and beyond. The rank progress bar is shown on your profile card at the top of the Profile screen.
GrailVault Pro
GrailVault Pro is RM 29.90/year — less than RM 2.50 per month.
Free tier includes:
- Up to 35 cards in your collection
- Full dashboard and all financial stats
- Manual card search and add
- Up to 5 watchlist cards
- Add friends and view their shared collections
- Attend Pack Pull Parties
Pro unlocks:
- Unlimited cards
- Host Pack Pull Parties
- Send and receive trade proposals
- Unlimited watchlist
- Full P&L analytics and portfolio trend chart
- Rarity analysis
- Gallery view
Social
GrailVault is a closed social network — you can only connect with people you invite. No strangers, no public profiles, no open search. Everything goes through your unique Vault Code.
Adding friends
Your Vault Code is a unique 6-character code shown on the Social screen (e.g. UG3 USZ). Share it with a friend via WhatsApp, iMessage, or show them the QR code.
To share your own code, tap COPY or SHARE on the Social screen. Tap the QR code to enlarge it so a friend can scan it directly.
To remove a friend, long press their name in the Friends list.
Sharing settings
Control what your friends can see about your collection. On the Social screen under MY SHARING SETTINGS:
You can also toggle individual cards as shareable or private from the card detail view.
Viewing a friend's collection
Tap a friend's name in the Friends list to view their shared collection. You can:
Trade proposals
PRO Send a formal trade proposal to a friend — offer your cards in exchange for theirs.
When you receive a proposal, tap it to expand the full card details — see exactly what's being offered and what's wanted, including card images, values, and the value difference. You can Accept, Counter (send back a revised offer), or Decline.
When both parties accept and confirm the physical card exchange, the trade is automatically logged in both Trade Logs as a SWAP.
Pack Pull Party
Open packs live with your friends watching in real time. PRO required to host.
Hosting a party:
Joining a party: Tap JOIN PARTY and enter the room code your friend shared. Watch each card reveal in real time and react with emojis. Attending a party is free for all users.