# BidSpotter Scraper - Industrial & Machinery Auctions (`lulzasaur/bidspotter-scraper`) Actor

Scrape industrial, commercial machinery and equipment auctions from BidSpotter.com. Get auction titles, auction houses, locations, categories with item counts, start/end dates, descriptions, listing URLs, and images. Search by keyword or browse all current auctions.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/lulzasaur/bidspotter-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [lulz bot](https://apify.com/lulzasaur) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## BidSpotter Scraper - Industrial & Machinery Auctions

Scrape **industrial, commercial machinery and equipment auctions** from [BidSpotter.com](https://www.bidspotter.com), one of the largest online marketplaces for business & industrial auctions (plant, machinery, vehicles, tools, restaurant equipment, and more).

Search by keyword or browse all current auctions and get clean, structured data for every auction catalogue — perfect for resellers, equipment buyers, market researchers, price trackers, and lead generation.

### What it does

- Searches BidSpotter for one or more keywords (e.g. `tractor`, `cnc`, `forklift`, `woodworking`) — or browses **all current auctions** when no query is given.
- Extracts rich, structured data from each auction catalogue (combining the page's embedded schema.org JSON-LD with on-page HTML).
- Merges and de-duplicates results across queries by catalogue ID.
- Optionally enriches each record with a full description from the auction's catalogue page.

### Output fields

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| `catalogueId` | Unique BidSpotter catalogue identifier |
| `title` | Auction / catalogue title |
| `auctionHouse` | Name of the auctioneer running the sale |
| `location` | Physical location of the sale (city, region) |
| `categories` | List of lot categories, each with item count (e.g. `"Tractors (12)"`) |
| `category` | The first/top category |
| `startDate` | Auction start date (ISO 8601) |
| `endDate` | Auction end / closing date (ISO 8601) |
| `saleDatesText` | Human-readable sale date text |
| `auctionType` | Auction type (e.g. `Timed`, `Live`) |
| `description` | Short auction description |
| `fullDescription` | Full description (only when *Scrape Auction Details* is enabled and the page is reachable) |
| `imageUrl` | Auction thumbnail/banner image URL |
| `listingUrl` | Direct link to the auction catalogue |
| `searchQuery` | The query that produced this record |
| `scrapedAt` | ISO timestamp of when the record was scraped |

### Input

```json
{
  "searchQueries": ["tractor", "cnc"],
  "maxResults": 100,
  "scrapeDetails": false,
  "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"] }
}
```

- **searchQueries** — array of keywords. Leave empty (`[]`) to browse all current auctions.
- **maxResults** — max records across all queries (`0` = unlimited).
- **scrapeDetails** — also visit each catalogue page to add `fullDescription`.
- **proxyConfiguration** — proxy settings. RESIDENTIAL proxies are recommended.

### Notes & limitations

- BidSpotter is protected by AWS WAF. The scraper uses realistic browser fingerprints to reliably read the **search/listing** pages.
- Individual **lot detail** pages (per-item current bid / estimate) sit behind a JavaScript anti-bot challenge. This Actor works at the **auction catalogue** level — which exposes the auction title, auctioneer, location, dates, image, and per-category lot counts. Enabling RESIDENTIAL proxies and *Scrape Auction Details* improves the odds of reaching deeper pages.
- Please use responsibly and respect BidSpotter's Terms of Service.

### Example use cases

- Track new industrial & machinery auctions by keyword.
- Build a feed of upcoming equipment sales by auction house or region.
- Market research on used machinery supply and auction activity.
- Lead generation for equipment dealers and resellers.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchQueries` (type: `array`):

Keywords to search across BidSpotter auctions (e.g. 'tractor', 'cnc', 'forklift', 'woodworking'). Each query is searched separately and results are merged & deduplicated. Leave empty to browse all current auctions.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of auction records to scrape across all queries. Set to 0 for unlimited (all available results). Default is 100.

## `scrapeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

If enabled, the scraper also visits each auction's catalogue page to enrich records with a full description. Note: BidSpotter protects detail pages with an anti-bot challenge — enabling residential proxies greatly improves success here. Listing-level data is collected regardless.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Proxy settings. BidSpotter is behind AWS WAF; RESIDENTIAL proxies are recommended for large runs and required for reliably scraping auction detail pages.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQueries": [
    "tractor"
  ],
  "maxResults": 100,
  "scrapeDetails": false,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searchQueries": [
        "tractor"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("lulzasaur/bidspotter-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "searchQueries": ["tractor"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("lulzasaur/bidspotter-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searchQueries": [
    "tractor"
  ]
}' |
apify call lulzasaur/bidspotter-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=lulzasaur/bidspotter-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/EduPfesHy6pIif3qK/builds/8Rg2tlv9SkmRsUZj1/openapi.json