Frequently asked questions

Common questions about Grail Atlas, the catalog, the scoring, and what we do and don't do. Want one added? Get in touch.

Is Grail Atlas a marketplace?

No. Grail Atlas is an information-first reference. We don't hold inventory, we don't broker sales, we don't take payment from sellers. We score listings that exist on other marketplaces and link out.

How does the deal-tier scoring work?

Every listing's landed cost (sticker plus duties, brokerage, VAT, verification fees) is compared to a fair-value band built from comparable verified sales. Below the band median by 10%+ is a great deal; 3-10% below is good; ±7% around median is fair; above is overpriced. See /how-it-works for the full pipeline.

Why don't you call out scams?

Risk is graded (clear, caution, elevated, high) and built from factual, non-accusatory signals. We never call any specific seller a fraud or scammer. That's both a legal exposure for us and a harassment vector against people who haven't been proven guilty of anything. See /guides/counterfeit-awareness for the buyer-side discipline.

How does Grail Atlas make money?

Currently: nothing. The project is self-funded. Future monetization channels (affiliate links on outbound platform clicks, membership for advanced features, verified-listing fees) are documented at /legal/disclosure. The trust composite, valuation engine, and risk read are architecturally separated from any monetization channel.

Where does the comparable-sales data come from?

Currently: a curated seed corpus of comparable sales. Production ingestion from the eBay Browse API and selected auction archives is the next major piece of work.

Why doesn't my reference appear on the site?

The catalog grows reference-by-reference as editorial copy lands. Suggest one via the /request form. Anything mechanical with a recognizable market gets queued for editorial.

Are the prices on the site current?

Reference market-value numbers come from comparable-sales data computed at render time. The recency window is 12 months. The momentum readout shows direction over the most recent 90 days vs the prior 90 days. We never display a precise dollar quote without a confidence label.

Can I trust the valuations for resale purposes?

The valuations are honest estimates from public sold data, with confidence labels attached. They're a good starting point for understanding a fair price. They are NOT an appraisal. For insurance or resale you should use a certified appraiser.

How do I find a watch that matches what I want?

Two ways. Use the chip filters at /browse to narrow by style, material, era, complication, country, price band, and more. Or type a plain-English description into the search box at the top of /browse: "small dress watch in white gold under $5k", "vintage Omega chronograph", "blue dial diver 40mm or smaller". The search parses your intent and returns the closest matches from the catalog.

How do I save searches?

Create an account and visit /account/saved-searches. Searches are row-level-isolated to your account (no other user can see them). Email alerts ship after the deal-feed ingest worker is live.

How do I keep a wishlist or track my collection?

Create an account and visit /account/grail-list. Three sections: Wanted (Realistic + Dream), Owned, and Sold. You can set a target budget, mark a watch as acquired with price and provenance, then mark it sold later. Optionally make your list public at /u/<your-username>.

How do I delete my account or request my data?

Use /privacy/request. Type your email and choose access (we send you an export) or erasure (we delete your account data after a 48-hour cooling-off period). The score-audit trail is the only documented exception (legitimate-interest legal-defense override); see the Privacy Policy for the rationale.

Do you have an API?

Yes. /api/reference/[id] for per-reference data, /api/brands, /api/categories, /api/movements, /api/search. The /api/deals endpoint will return live listings once the ingest worker ships; until then it returns an empty list with a status note. All rate-limited and edge-cached. JSON.

Why no AI image recognition?

AI photo authentication is on the roadmap. We're explicit that it will never assert authenticity. It will surface inspection signals. AI-extracted editorial content is off the table: legal hosting immunity gets compromised when a hosting platform substantially-modifies user-supplied content via model.