# BidFTA Liquidation Auction Scraper (`lulzasaur/bidfta-scraper`) Actor

Scrape BidFTA liquidation & returns online auctions across all warehouses. Per-item data: title, current bid, MSRP, condition, category, brand, location/warehouse, end date, image, and item URL. Search by keyword or browse everything.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/lulzasaur/bidfta-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [lulz bot](https://apify.com/lulzasaur) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce
- **Stats:** 6 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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#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

## BidFTA Liquidation Auction Scraper

Scrape live **BidFTA** liquidation, returns, and overstock online auctions across every BidFTA warehouse. BidFTA runs low-starting-bid ($1) auctions on Amazon returns and store overstock at dozens of locations across the Midwest and South. This Actor extracts the full item catalog with live bid data.

### What it does

- **Search by keyword** (e.g. `laptop`, `power tools`, `apple`) or **browse everything** across all warehouses.
- Pulls per-item data from BidFTA's public JSON API — fast, reliable, no HTML parsing.
- Optionally enriches each item with **live bid data** (current bid, next bid, bid count).

### Output fields

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| `itemId` | BidFTA item ID |
| `lotCode` | Internal lot code |
| `title` | Item title / description |
| `brand` / `model` | Brand and model (when available) |
| `condition` | e.g. `New/Like New`, `Good Condition`, `As Is` |
| `category1` / `category2` | Primary and secondary category |
| `msrp` | Manufacturer's suggested retail price |
| `currentBid` | Current high bid (with `scrapeDetails` on) |
| `nextBid` | Minimum next bid |
| `bidsCount` | Number of bids placed |
| `quantity` | Item quantity |
| `auctionId` / `auctionNumber` | Parent auction identifiers |
| `endDate` | Auction close time (UTC ISO) |
| `auctionStartDate` | Auction start time (UTC ISO) |
| `warehouse` | Warehouse / location nickname |
| `address` / `city` / `state` / `zip` | Warehouse location |
| `imageUrl` | Item image |
| `itemUrl` | Link to the item on bidfta.com |
| `scrapedAt` | Scrape timestamp (UTC ISO) |

### Input

```json
{
  "searchQueries": ["laptop", "power tools"],
  "scrapeDetails": true,
  "maxResults": 100,
  "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"] }
}
```

| Input | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `searchQueries` | array | Keywords to search. Empty = browse ALL active items. |
| `scrapeDetails` | boolean | Fetch live bid data per item. Default `true`. |
| `maxResults` | integer | Max records across all queries. `0` = fetch everything. Default `100`. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | Proxy. Defaults to Apify RESIDENTIAL. |

### Example use cases

- **Resale / arbitrage** — find items where `msrp` is far above `currentBid`.
- **Deal hunting** — track a keyword across all warehouses near you (filter output by `state`/`city`).
- **Market research** — analyze returns/liquidation inventory by category and brand.

### Notes

- BidFTA auctions are location-based (pickup at a warehouse). Use the `state`/`city`/`warehouse` fields to filter to a location near you.
- Bids move fast and auctions close frequently — re-run to keep data fresh.
- This Actor uses BidFTA's own public API endpoints; it does not place bids or require a login.

# Actor input Schema

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

Keywords to search for on BidFTA, e.g. 'laptop', 'power tools', 'apple'. Each query is paginated separately. Leave empty to browse ALL active auction items across every warehouse.

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

Fetch live bid info (current bid, next bid, number of bids) for each item via a second API call. Recommended. Disable for faster metadata-only runs.

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

Maximum number of item records to return (across all queries). Use 0 to fetch ALL matching items via pagination (can be thousands). Default 100.

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

Proxy settings. BidFTA's site is fronted by a Vercel challenge, so RESIDENTIAL proxy is used by default as a safety net (the API subdomain itself is unprotected).

## Actor input object example

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

# 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 = {
    "searchQueries": [
        "laptop"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ]
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("lulzasaur/bidfta-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": ["laptop"],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
    },
}

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

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).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": [
    "laptop"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}' |
apify call lulzasaur/bidfta-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,lulzasaur/bidfta-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/SrIdXCJtu3EnXI6iA/builds/83SOgwzL6IQlfpJkm/openapi.json