# Whisky Auctioneer Auction Scraper (`lulzasaur/whiskyauctioneer-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Whisky Auctioneer live auction lots and past-auction sold prices (comps). Per-lot data: title, distillery, current/winning bid (GBP), bid count, auction end time, lot status, bottler, vintage, ABV, size, image, and URL. Keyword search for both live and past auctions.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/lulzasaur/whiskyauctioneer-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 $10.00 / 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

## Whisky Auctioneer Auction Scraper

Scrape **[Whisky Auctioneer](https://whiskyauctioneer.com)** — the world's leading online whisky auction platform — for live auction lots and past-auction sold prices (comps).

### What it does

#### Live mode (default)

Scrapes every lot in the currently running auction (typically ~5,000 lots/month), including **real-time bid data**:

- Lot number, title, and URL
- **Current bid** (GBP) and **number of bids placed** — pulled from the site's live bidding API, so values are up-to-the-second
- Next minimum bid amount and reserve price
- Auction name and **exact auction end time** (ISO 8601)
- Distillery, region, age, vintage, cask type, series (detail enrichment, on by default)
- Bottler, bottled year, bottle size, ABV
- Seller location (UK / EU / USA warehouse)
- Bottle image

Optional keywords filter the live catalogue server-side (e.g. `macallan`, `springbank`).

#### Past mode (sold-price comps)

Searches **ended auctions** by keyword and returns the **winning bid (hammer price)** for each sold lot — ideal for building whisky price histories, valuation models, and investment comps across Macallan, Springbank, Karuizawa, Bowmore, and thousands of other bottlings dating back to 2016.

If no auction is currently live, live mode automatically falls back to past-auction comps so runs always return data.

### Input example

```json
{
    "mode": "live",
    "searchQueries": ["macallan"],
    "maxResults": 50,
    "scrapeDetails": true
}
```

### Output example

```json
{
    "lotNumber": "8192167A",
    "title": "Macallan 1940 TIME:SPACE 84 Year Old",
    "distillery": "Macallan",
    "status": "live",
    "currentBid": 20000,
    "winningBid": null,
    "currency": "GBP",
    "bidCount": 11,
    "nextBidAmount": 21000,
    "reservePrice": 95000,
    "auctionName": "July 2026 Auction",
    "auctionEndsAt": "2026-08-10T22:59:59.000Z",
    "bottler": "Distillery Bottling",
    "bottledYear": "2024",
    "size": "70cl",
    "abv": "43.4%",
    "sellerLocation": "EU",
    "region": "Speyside",
    "age": "84 year old",
    "imageUrl": "https://assets.whiskyauctioneer.com/styles/xlarge_1_1/s3/7030107-001.JPG",
    "url": "https://whiskyauctioneer.com/whisky-lot/8192167a/macallan-1940-timespace-84-year-old"
}
```

### Use cases

- **Whisky investment tracking** — monitor live bids on collectible bottles and get sold-price history for valuation
- **Price alerting** — schedule runs to catch lots still below market value before an auction closes
- **Market research** — aggregate hammer prices by distillery, vintage, or series
- **Collection valuation** — comp your bottles against actual auction results, not asking prices

### Notes

- Prices are in GBP (the site's auction currency).
- No proxy is required by default. If runs log `Blocked (406/403)`, enable Apify RESIDENTIAL proxy in the input.
- This actor scrapes only publicly available data.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

'live' scrapes lots in the currently running auction (current bids, bid counts, auction end time). 'past' searches ended auctions by keyword and returns sold-price comps (winning bid). If no auction is live, 'live' automatically falls back to past-auction comps.

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

Optional keywords (e.g. 'macallan', 'springbank 1966', 'karuizawa'). In live mode they filter the current auction's lots; leave empty to scrape all live lots in catalogue order. In past mode each keyword is searched across ended auctions (default 'macallan' if empty).

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

Maximum number of lot records to return across all keywords. Default 50.

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

When enabled (default), each live lot is enriched from its detail page with distillery, region, age, vintage, cask type, and series (one extra request per lot). Past mode always fetches detail pages since that's where the winning bid lives.

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

Proxy settings. The site serves full pages to browser-fingerprinted requests without a proxy (the default). Enable Apify RESIDENTIAL proxy only if you see Blocked (406/403) warnings.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "live",
  "searchQueries": [],
  "maxResults": 50,
  "scrapeDetails": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (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 = {
    "mode": "live",
    "searchQueries": [],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("lulzasaur/whiskyauctioneer-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 = {
    "mode": "live",
    "searchQueries": [],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("lulzasaur/whiskyauctioneer-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 '{
  "mode": "live",
  "searchQueries": [],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call lulzasaur/whiskyauctioneer-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/0ZXzvij4cjacw80tm/builds/FgZ6vD4v5QYkcg5s2/openapi.json