# Ritchie Bros. Sold Lots Scraper (`artsiom_k/ritchie-bros-auction-scraper`) Actor

Sold heavy-equipment, truck, trailer and machinery auction lots from Ritchie Bros. (rbauction.com) with sold prices, specs and location, across every industry, with incremental runs that return only newly sold lots.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/artsiom\_k/ritchie-bros-auction-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Artsiom Kunitsyn](https://apify.com/artsiom_k) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.50 / 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?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## ritchie-bros-auction-scraper

Scrapes **sold lots** from [Ritchie Bros.](https://www.rbauction.com) (rbauction.com), the world's
largest industrial-equipment auctioneer: trucks, trailers, construction and agricultural machinery,
cranes, forklifts, aircraft, government surplus and more — with specs, location, auction event and,
wherever the site publishes one, the **sold price**. No login required.

### Contents

- [Key features](#key-features)
- [Output](#output)
- [Input](#input)
- [Input examples](#input-examples)
- [Incremental mode](#incremental-mode)
- [FAQ](#faq)

### 🔑 Key features

- **Every industry.** Construction, Consumer Items, Trucks & Trailers, Agriculture, Motors,
  Forklifts & Warehouse Equipment, Oil & Gas, Government Surplus, Cranes, Quarry & Aggregate,
  Forestry, Aircraft, Mining and Real Estate — pick any subset.
- **Real sold-price history.** Filter by sold date (`soldFrom` / `soldTo`); history reaches back to
  2020 and runs to today, with the most complete prices from 2022 onward. Hundreds of thousands of
  sold lots per large industry.
- **Honest prices.** Ritchie Bros. does not publish a sold price for every lot, and for some buying
  formats the price in the search results is only the opening bid. Every lot says where its price
  came from (`price_source`) — a price is never guessed or back-filled (see the [FAQ](#faq)).
- **Local currency and USD.** `sold_price_local` in the lot's own currency, plus `sold_price_usd`
  when the site provides it.
- **Rich lot detail.** Make, model, year, serial number/VIN, usage (hours / miles / km), features,
  catalog notes, location with coordinates, auction event, lot number, buying format and platform
  (Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, TruckPlanet, GovPlanet, IronPlanet, Marketplace-E, SalvageSale).
- **Incremental runs.** Schedule it daily: after the first run, each run returns only the lots that
  sold since the last complete run — never the same lot twice.
- **`maxItems` defaults to 50** — a fast, cheap preview. Clear it (`null`) for a full run.

### 📋 Output

One dataset item per sold lot — see [`.actor/dataset_schema.json`](.actor/dataset_schema.json) for
the full field list.

```json
{
  "source": "ritchie-bros",
  "external_id": "15675409",
  "url": "https://www.rbauction.com/pdp/item/15675409",
  "title": "Enginetics 140151 Bearing Staking Tool Kit",
  "industry": "Aircraft",
  "industry_slug": "aircraft",
  "category": "Ground Support Equipment",
  "make": "Enginetics",
  "model": "140151",
  "year": null,
  "city": "North Las Vegas",
  "state": "NV",
  "country": "USA",
  "latitude": 36.2132,
  "longitude": -115.1197,
  "sale_event_name": "15-Sep-26 GovPlanet Auction (NRS Items)",
  "buying_format": "Online Auction",
  "buying_platform": "GovPlanet",
  "sold_at": "2026-09-15T20:06:00Z",
  "sold_date": "2026-09-15",
  "currency": "USD",
  "opening_price": 425.0,
  "sold_price_local": 475.0,
  "sold_price_usd": 475.0,
  "price_source": "pdp"
}
```

### 🔧 Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `industries` | array | all 14 | Which industries to scrape (searchable multi-select). |
| `soldFrom` / `soldTo` | string | — | Sold-date window, `YYYY-MM-DD`, UTC, `soldTo` inclusive. Setting either runs exactly that window and never touches the incremental state. |
| `mode` | string | `auto` | `auto` / `full` / `incremental` — see [Incremental mode](#incremental-mode). Ignored when `soldFrom`/`soldTo` is set. |
| `lookbackDays` | integer | `30` | How far back the automatic window reaches on a first run (or in `full` mode). |
| `fetchPdpPrices` | boolean | `true` | Open each lot's page where the search result can't give the sold price or the USD amount. Slower, but without it many lots have no price. |
| `maxItems` | integer | `50` | Stop after this many lots (newest first). Set to `null` for a full run. |
| `concurrency` | integer | `6` | Parallel requests (max 12). |
| `impersonate` | string | `chrome` | Browser TLS fingerprint. Change only if requests start being blocked. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | no proxy | Apify Proxy settings. |

### 📥 Input examples

**Default preview (the 50 most recently sold lots, last 30 days):**

```json
{}
```

**All trucks and trailers sold in March 2025:**

```json
{ "industries": ["trucks-trailers"], "soldFrom": "2025-03-01", "soldTo": "2025-03-31", "maxItems": null }
```

**Daily incremental feed for construction and agriculture (schedule this):**

```json
{ "industries": ["construction", "agriculture"], "maxItems": null }
```

**A year of sold cranes, without the slower lot-page price lookup:**

```json
{ "industries": ["cranes"], "soldFrom": "2025-01-01", "soldTo": "2025-12-31", "fetchPdpPrices": false, "maxItems": null }
```

### 🔁 Incremental mode

Sold lots never change once sold and are never delisted, so there is no "changed" or "delisted"
status. Instead, in `auto` mode:

1. The **first** run covers the last `lookbackDays` days and remembers the date it reached.
2. **Every later run** resumes from that date, with a 7-day overlap to catch lots the site indexes
   late, and skips any lot it already returned — so you receive each sold lot exactly once.

Only a complete, unscoped run advances that memory: a run stopped by `maxItems`, one with an
explicit `soldFrom`/`soldTo`, or one that hit an error or your spending limit does not. The memory
is kept per industry selection, so changing `industries` starts a fresh window for that selection.
Use `mode: "full"` to re-pull the whole lookback window on purpose.

### ❓ FAQ

**Why is `sold_price_local` empty for some lots?**
Because Ritchie Bros. doesn't publish a sold price for them, and this actor never guesses one.

- **Make Offer** lots (roughly 1 in 20) have no public sold price at all.
- Lots sold more than about two years ago no longer have a lot page. For those, only **Live
  Auction** lots still carry a reliable price; Online Auction and Sealed Bid lots from that era show
  `price_source: "none"`. Live Auction is 75–93% of lots from 2022 onward, roughly half of 2021, and
  almost none of 2020 (that year was online-only), so most 2020 lots have no price.
- A few recent lot pages are simply empty on the site.

**What does `price_source` mean?**
`pdp` — read from the lot's own page (the site's actual sold price). `search` — a Live Auction
lot's price from the search results, which matches the lot-page price. `none` — no sold price is
available. `opening_price` always holds the raw start price the site reports; for Online Auction and
Sealed Bid lots it is only the opening bid (sometimes a placeholder such as `1`), so don't read it
as a sold price.

**Why is `sold_price_usd` empty when `sold_price_local` isn't?**
The site only gives a USD amount for lots priced in USD, or on the lot page. With
`fetchPdpPrices` on, lots priced in CAD, EUR, AUD, GBP and others get it from the lot page where
that page exists.

**Which date is the "sold date"?**
When bidding ended (`sold_at`, UTC). `soldFrom`/`soldTo` filter on that.

**How far back does it go?**
Sold lots exist from 2020, with the bulk from 2022 onward (hundreds of thousands of sold lots per
large industry). Prices are most complete from 2022 onward — see the first question above for why
2020–2021 lots are less often priced.

**Is a proxy needed?**
Not normally. If requests start failing, try `impersonate: "firefox"` first, then an Apify proxy.

# Actor input Schema

## `industries` (type: `array`):

Which Ritchie Bros. industries to scrape sold lots from. Leave empty (or select all) for every industry.

## `soldFrom` (type: `string`):

First sold date to include (UTC). Setting soldFrom and/or soldTo runs exactly that window: it never reads or updates the incremental watermark. Sold history on the site goes back to about 2020 (sparse before that). Leave both empty for the automatic window (see Mode).

## `soldTo` (type: `string`):

Last sold date to include (UTC), inclusive. Defaults to today when only soldFrom is set.

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

Only applies when soldFrom/soldTo are empty. "auto" (recommended): the first run covers the last `lookbackDays` days; every later run returns only lots sold since the previous complete run (with a 7-day overlap, de-duplicated so no lot is pushed twice). "full": always cover the last `lookbackDays` days and refresh the watermark. "incremental": like auto, but never falls back to the lookback once a watermark exists. Sold lots never change or get delisted, so there is no changed/delisted status.

## `lookbackDays` (type: `integer`):

How many days back the automatic window reaches when there is no watermark yet (first run) or in full mode. Default 30.

## `fetchPdpPrices` (type: `boolean`):

On (recommended): for lots where the search result alone can't give the sold price (Online Auction and Sealed Bid lots from roughly the last 2 years) or the USD amount (Live Auction lots priced in another currency), open the lot page and read its sold price. Slower and heavier, but without it those lots have no sold price. Make Offer lots never have a public sold price, and lot pages older than ~2 years are gone. Every lot reports where its price came from in `price_source`.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop after pushing this many lots (newest first). Defaults to 50 - a fast, cheap preview, and what keeps an unconfigured run within Apify's automated 5-minute QA check. Raise it or clear it (set to null) for a full run. A run stopped by this cap does not advance the incremental watermark.

## `concurrency` (type: `integer`):

Parallel requests. The default is well within what the site tolerates; the maximum is 12.

## `impersonate` (type: `string`):

TLS fingerprint to impersonate. Leave at the default unless requests start being blocked.

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

Apify Proxy configuration. Not needed by default.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "industries": [
    "construction",
    "consumer-items",
    "trucks-trailers",
    "agriculture",
    "motors",
    "forklifts-and-warehouse-equipment",
    "oil-gas",
    "government-surplus",
    "cranes",
    "quarry-aggregate",
    "forestry",
    "aircraft",
    "mining",
    "real-estate"
  ],
  "mode": "auto",
  "lookbackDays": 30,
  "fetchPdpPrices": true,
  "maxItems": 50,
  "concurrency": 6,
  "impersonate": "chrome",
  "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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("artsiom_k/ritchie-bros-auction-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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("artsiom_k/ritchie-bros-auction-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 '{}' |
apify call artsiom_k/ritchie-bros-auction-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,artsiom_k/ritchie-bros-auction-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/jTzxg5qFa1p2bQYKV/builds/tN0LgzSXbSQr3AFBF/openapi.json