Help Guide

Getting Started

Start tracking your favourite artists' merchandise stores with these simple steps:

  1. Login or register in the app to access the 'Stores' page. From here, you can enable or disable specific stores to customize your feed and notifications.
  2. Use the search bar or regional dropdown to filter the list of stores to find the ones you need quickly. New stores are added upon request on a daily basis - No updates required, you'll be notified via push notification when new store(s) are available.
  3. Non-Premium users can toggle one store at a time, while Premium users can enable multiple retailers simultaneously. (Premium Feature)
  4. Visit the 'Filtered' page to view items from enabled stores that match your keywords (Premium Feature). Keywords can be set up or modified in the settings page. Refer to the Keywords section for more details.
  5. The 'Unfiltered' page displays items from enabled stores without applying keyword filters.
  6. On both filtered and unfiltered pages, green 'Add to Cart' links indicate in-stock items, while red links signify unavailable items. Note that some stores, such as certain UMG Artists, may incorrectly mark items as unavailable due to how they operate certain products, specifically those with sub-products such as signed inserts which are added as an additional product for inventory management purposes. Clicking a green size link will add the item to your cart instantly if available. Be aware that some stores may not auto-redirect to your region when purchasing outside your usual area.

Using Keywords (Premium Feature)

Keywords refine your notifications and populate the 'Filtered' page with relevant items. Here's how to use them effectively:

  • Navigate to the Settings page and scroll down to the Keywords section
  • Tap the 'Manage My Keywords' button to open the keywords management page
  • Under the 'Add Keyword' header, you'll find:
    • A dropdown menu containing all available MerchVault stores
    • An input field for your keyword
    • A (+) icon to save your new keyword
  • Once saved, your keywords will appear in the 'Your Saved Keywords' section where you can tap to delete them or even search your keywords via the search field.
  • Quick Keyword Feature (Experimental): Look for the quick keyword button (beside the share icon) on any feed item to instantly create a keyword for that specific product.
  • Keywords are not case-sensitive and can be comma-separated (e.g., "signed, vinyl").
  • Each keyword must appear in either the product title or product URL in order to be considered a match. All keywords in your keyword group will need to be present for example if your keyword is "signed, vinyl" then any product which contains "signed" AND "vinyl" in either the title or URL will be a match. You should avoid inputting keywords without commas such as "signed vinyl" as this would mean the words "signed" and "vinyl" must be in the *exact* position, side by side, separated by a space in the product title or URL. We suggest trial and error to find the best combinations for your needs but things such as "signed" or "limited" are simple yet effective keywords for finding restocks of signed and/or limited items.
  • If you need assistance setting up keywords, email us at [email protected] with details of the product you're looking for, and we'll be happy to help.

Keyword Examples (Premium Feature)

Some popular keyword examples include:

  • "signed"
  • "signed, vinyl"
  • "signed, cd"
  • "limited, vinyl"
  • "cardigan"
  • "eras,book"
  • "lovers,paris,vinyl"

If you're using the 'Independent Vinyl Stores' channel as your store, you could use keywords like "sabrina,carpenter,signed" to locate a signed Sabrina Carpenter item across hundreds of vinyl shops. Similarly, you could do the same for stores like A24 Music, Polydor Records, and The Sound of Vinyl to locate releases for specific artists.

Extras in Settings

  • Request A Store: Suggest new stores you'd like to see added to MerchVault.
  • Report a bug: Report a bug or issue you're experiencing to the development team.
  • Clear Feeds: Reset your filtered (Premium Feature) or unfiltered feeds completely
  • Open links in-app: Enable this option to open links within the MerchVault app instead of your default browser. This is particularly useful if you're experiencing issues with certain browsers, like Samsung's internal browser, which may not handle external links properly.
  • Refresh Premium Status: If you've recently purchased or been granted premium status, tap this to force refresh your status in-app and unlock all premium functionality.
  • Reset FCM Token: If you're no longer receiving notifications, try resetting your FCM token as it may have been invalidated or corrupted.
  • Log Out: Sign out of your account securely.
  • Delete Account: Permanently delete your account. Logging out or deleting your account does not cancel your subscription. To manage subscriptions, use the 'Manage Billing' option in the app or on our website.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Why aren't my keywords working? Ensure they are entered correctly according to the guidelines. If issues persist, email us at [email protected] for support.
  • Why does the feed only refresh every 5 seconds? MerchVault monitors for new products and restocks in real time but the feed itself will only be refreshed every 5 seconds. The vast majority of users will not have the application open 24/7 to watch their feed(s) but instead simply rely on receiving push notifications to alert them when for new products and restocks! So whilst the feed may only refresh every 5 seconds, the actual monitoring processes and notifications are running 24/7 with no delays.
  • Why is the item I want already sold out? MerchVault monitors supported retailers with industrial-grade efficiency. There are no bottlenecks, delays, or issues caused by VPNs or localized methods. Our professional background in web scraping ensures near-instant updates on availability. However, some items may sell out quickly due to high demand, especially during restocks where stock quantities are often limited to single digits. Speed and timing are crucial to securing these items. There's also a chance that the item simply loaded out of stock and is yet to have inventory released.
  • Why aren't my feeds populating? The unfiltered feed only shows items that release or restock AFTER you enable them in the stores screen. It will never display backdated items, so it's normal for the feed to be empty if your enabled store(s) haven't released or restocked any items since you enabled them.

    The filtered feed follows the same principle but applies your keywords. If you believe an item should have appeared in your filtered feed after a restock or release, it may be due to how your keywords are set up. Feel free to reach out to our support team for help reviewing your keyword configuration.
  • The notification badge on the app icon isn't disappearing! This is an operating system behavior rather than an app issue. You can disable the notification badge on a per-app basis through your device's settings if you find it bothersome.
  • Why do notifications sometimes come through more than once? This occurs because some stores handle their backend differently, which can trigger multiple notifications for the same product in quick succession (e.g., when availability status changes). It can also happen when a store releases a new product and makes a quick update, triggering a 'restock' notification. These are edge cases that affect a small number of retailers and are outside of our control. We have opted to send duplicate notifications rather than risk not sending a notification at all. If you notice items with different timestamps, this is normal behavior. However, if you see items with identical timestamps, please report this as a bug through the settings page.
  • Why am I seeing a "Could not launch: <url>" error? This error typically occurs with certain default browsers, particularly Samsung's internal browser, which may not handle external links properly. To resolve this, you can either set a different browser (such as Chrome) as your default browser, or enable the in-app browser option in the MerchVault settings.

Need More Help?

If you need further assistance, reach out to our support team at [email protected]. We're here to help!