Tradle.FRIENDS’ TESTING GUIDE

Bring your binder.
Try a trade together.

This beta connects separate invited accounts to one server. It is a rehearsal for exchanging cards: no money, physical shipping, identity verification or live dispute provider is connected. Imported collections are real saved records, so export a backup before testing completion.

Join once. Sign in when you return.

Choose Join with a code and use your private invitation to create an account. Pick your own username and a unique password; save both in your password manager. Your display name is the nickname other collectors see and can be different from the username you sign in with.

An invitation works once. When you return, choose Sign in with your chosen username and password, including when opening the Home Screen app. If a connection drops while joining, try signing in before submitting the invitation again: the account may already exist.

GitHub and Render accounts are for managing the project and hosting; friends do not need them to use Tradle. Temporary accounts used for setup tests are separate from the organiser’s personal account. If a saved username is unfamiliar, check with the organiser privately rather than guessing. Never send your password or another person’s invitation. There is no automated account recovery yet.

Private inspection photos

Follow the iPhone photo walkthrough: capture, upload and share →

When enabled by the organiser, open My binder → Inspection photos. Select the actual copy and choose each camera photo to save automatically. Inspect the saved images at full size, then explicitly allow the other collector in your active offers to view them. A retake stops sharing until you review again. Family photo sharing remains disabled pending verified guardian safeguards.

Photos are private account data stored by Tradle and included in confidential server backups. They are re-encoded as JPEGs with location metadata removed; keep your originals. Do not include faces, addresses or personal documents. Recipients can save images they can view. Removal stops app access but older backups may retain copies. This trial is not a permanent photo archive, authenticity check or protected dispute-evidence service.

Your first shared offer

  1. Use the private invitation from the organiser to create an adult-managed account. Each invitation works once and expires after seven days.
  2. Open My binder. Add a card or import your existing collection. New records are private.
  3. Choose Review card & sharing. Check the set, number, condition, language, finish and edition, then share selected entries with the beta group.
  4. A friend opens Trade floor, chooses your card and offers one or more entries from their binder. Both sides can contain several cards.
  5. Open My trades to accept or counter. The person receiving the latest proposal must agree; someone cannot accept their own offer. Changes need a fresh review.
  6. Agreement reserves the records. Both collectors can confirm test completion. Only after both confirmations do quantities move between the saved binders. Do not send actual cards or money.

Updates appear within about 15 seconds while no editor is open. Use Refresh for an immediate update. If an offer changed while a dialog was open, close it and review the latest version before continuing.

Find a card, or discover a favourite

The trade floor starts with search. Combine a card name, set, number, language, condition, collector or illustrator in any order. For example, “English Charizard Base” or “4/102 Arita”. Results update as you type. Open Refine by language, condition or artist for exact filters; use Clear all search & filters to start again. Search finds collection records, not authenticated physical cards. It does not search an external catalogue.

When you are not searching, featured entries rotate through other collectors’ showcases. Pause, use the arrows, or focus a card to read it. Reduced-motion preferences disable automatic rotation. Private and fully reserved entries are excluded.

Your collector showcase

In My binder → Review card & sharing, share an entry and select Feature in my showcase. Up to six shared entries can be featured. Open Showcase to browse, filter by collector and build a test offer. Unsharing also removes the feature. Reserved entries cannot be edited until their trade releases them. No card photographs are uploaded by this feature; these are collection records.

Try a trade with Maple

Open the Maple practice bot for a separate sample session. Offer three sample cards and £15 for a Charizard; Maple counters to £20. Revise, decline or review the terms and continue through simulated payment, dispatch and inspection. Family mode requires a fresh simulated parent review when the terms change.

Maple is a scripted bot, not another collector or an external AI. No money, messages or parcels are sent. It does not change your saved collection, and closing the practice resets it.

Move your collection without starting again

Download a CSV from your existing app, then open Import collection. Choose your export, check the automatic preview, then select Import to my private binder. Column options stay tucked away unless you need to change them. It supports common export headings and lets you map unfamiliar ones yourself. This is a file import, not a linked account or continuous sync.

Collectr’s official export steps were checked on 14 October 2026; other provider availability was checked on 6 October 2026. App formats and subscription requirements may change. No direct integration or affiliation is claimed, and real export files from every provider have not yet been tested. If a heading differs, use the column matcher or the Tradle CSV template. An app without an export or supported API cannot be promised an automatic migration.

Test with the original 151 Pokémon

Download the original 151 test collection for a dedicated test account. It contains one representative card per species from several early sets, with one copy each and fictional condition details. Use Import collection, review all 151 rows, and keep them private until you deliberately share them. Nothing is added to your account automatically.

Pokédex numbers and printed card numbers differ. This collection is not the Scarlet & Violet—151 expansion or a complete catalogue of every printing. It contains no prices or inspection photos. Keep an export of any real collection before testing. The sample demo already lets you search and make practice offers across all 151 species.

What the importer keeps

Card name, set, number, quantity, condition, language, variant, edition, illustrator and supplied grade labels are preserved when supplied and mapped. Missing details remain blank; a missing quantity is explicitly flagged as one copy in the preview. Incorrect or fractional quantities block the import. Zero-copy rows are skipped. Exact rows combine, but different languages, variants, editions, conditions, grade labels or private portfolio details remain separate.

Records are not automatically matched to a licensed card catalogue, so the preview is essential. Grade labels remain unverified. Portfolio names and personal notes are private to your binder and export: they are excluded from shared listings, offers and transfers to another collector. Prices, purchase costs and images are not imported; the preview names unsupported columns. Explicitly labelled non-Pokémon games and unsupported product types, such as sealed products, are skipped with a row report. Check files without those headings yourself: Tradle does not guess whether a product is a card. If a source puts grading inside the condition field, that text is retained without verification. Download the full review report for large files, and keep your original export.

Entries already present are skipped by default. Explicitly opt in only if you intend additional copies. Re-uploading the same committed file is blocked. Untouched imports can be undone; edited, listed or traded batches cannot be removed with a single undo. Exports from Tradle are available without a membership fee and escape formula-like cells for spreadsheet safety.

Your account and privacy

Binder entries remain private until shared. Shared entries are visible to invited accounts; offer details are visible only to the two participating accounts. The organiser operates the server and can access its stored data. Do not enter addresses, payment details, a child’s personal information or another service’s password. The beta uses a username rather than email, and there is no automated password-recovery service yet.

The account owner must be an adult. Family binders are managed through that adult account. The adult declaration is not verified identity, age assurance or parental consent suitable for a public launch.

The earlier practice demo contains the guided photography studio and cash examples. That demo stores progress separately in your browser. Its photo selections are tab-only and are not attached to shared beta records. Catalogue art in that demo loads from PokémonTCG.io. Membership is also a preview; no subscription can be purchased.

Useful feedback to send the organiser

Send only the relevant screen and a short description. Hide invitation codes, usernames and private collection details you do not want to share. No feedback is sent automatically.