PocketDex gives you a clear picture of your collection's value and performance. This guide explains how cost basis, P&L, lot tracking, and price sourcing work under the hood.
Your cost basis is the amount you actually paid for a card (or a group of cards in a lot). It's the foundation of every P&L calculation in PocketDex. Without an accurate cost basis, your gain and loss figures won't reflect reality. Always enter the actual price you paid — including any shipping or fees if you want precise numbers.
Unrealized P&L
The gain or loss on cards you still own. It's "unrealized" because you haven't sold the cards yet. A positive number means the cards are worth more than you paid; negative means they're worth less.
Realized P&L
The actual gain or loss on cards you've sold. When you mark a card as sold in PocketDex, your realized P&L for that card is locked in based on the sale price minus cost basis.
Total P&L = Unrealized P&L + Realized P&L
A "lot" is a bulk purchase — for example, a booster box, a collection bought from a private seller, or a dealer lot at a card show. Lots let you track the total purchase price of a group of cards together, rather than entering a cost basis for each card individually.
When you create a lot, PocketDex distributes its total cost across the individual cards in proportion to their current market values.
Example
You buy a lot for $300 containing Card A (market value $120) and Card B (market value $30). The total market value is $150. Card A represents 80% of that, so it receives $240 of the cost basis. Card B represents 20%, so it receives $60.
Why this matters: when you sell Card A, your realized P&L is calculated using its proportional cost basis ($240), not a flat equal split. This produces accurate per-card profitability data.
PocketDex uses price data from pokemontcg.io, which aggregates TCGPlayer market pricing. All prices shown are estimated market values — they are NOT real-time prices and should not be treated as financial advice. Prices are for reference only. Actual sale prices vary based on condition, platform, and negotiation.
A price freshness indicator is shown next to each card's value to let you know how recently the price data was last updated.
Green dot
Price data updated within the last 24 hours.
Yellow dot
Price data is 1–7 days old. Generally reliable but worth double-checking for high-value cards.
Grey dot
Price data is more than 7 days old. Consider checking an external source manually before making any buying or selling decisions.
Raw Cards
Ungraded cards in various conditions: Near Mint (NM), Lightly Played (LP), Moderately Played (MP), Heavily Played (HP), or Damaged (DMG).
Graded Cards
Cards professionally graded by PSA, BGS, CGC, and others. When adding a graded card, toggle the 'Graded' switch → select the grading company → enter the grade (e.g., PSA 10) and certification number. Graded card values are estimated from recent sales data and may differ significantly from raw card prices.
You can export a full snapshot of your collection at any time.