# GovDeals Scraper (`crawlerbros/govdeals-scraper`) Actor Scrape GovDeals.com - the government & municipal surplus auction marketplace. Search by keyword, browse by category or state, filter by auction type and status. No login, no proxy required. - **URL**: https://apify.com/crawlerbros/govdeals-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Crawler Bros](https://apify.com/crawlerbros) (community) - **Categories:** Automation, E-commerce, Developer tools - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $3.00 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use 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 ## GovDeals Scraper Scrape **GovDeals.com** — the leading marketplace for government and municipal surplus: vehicles, heavy equipment, electronics, real estate, and more, sold by cities, counties, states, schools, and federal agencies across the US. Search by keyword, browse by category or state, and filter by auction type and status. No login, no cookies, no paid proxy required. ### What this actor does - **Three modes:** `search` (keyword), `byCategory` (browse the site's real category taxonomy), `byState` (browse listings by US state) - **Filters:** auction type (Sealed Bid / Online Auction / Buy Now / Make Offer), auction status (open / closed), current-bid price range, vehicle/equipment make and model year - **Sort:** best match, ending soonest/latest, price low-to-high/high-to-low, location A-Z - **Rich listing data:** current bid, buy-now price, bid increment, seller (agency) name, location, auction dates, reserve status, and a full-size image URL - Empty fields are omitted from every record ### Output per listing - `assetId`, `accountId`, `auctionId`, `eventId`, `displayEventId` — GovDeals identifiers - `title`, `description`, `lotNumber` - `makeBrand`, `model`, `modelYear` — for vehicles/equipment where applicable - `categoryId`, `categoryName` - `auctionTypeId`, `auctionTypeName` — Sealed Bid / Online Auction / Buy Now / Make Offer - `currentBid`, `currencyCode`, `buyNowPrice`, `bidIncrement` - `sellerName` — the selling government agency or municipality - `locationCity`, `locationState`, `locationStateName`, `locationZip`, `country` - `auctionStartDate`, `auctionEndDate`, `auctionStartDateDisplay`, `auctionEndDateDisplay`, `timeRemaining` - `auctionStatus` — `open` or `closed` - `isReserveNotMet`, `hasReservePrice`, `isNewAsset` - `imageUrl` — full-size listing photo - `sourceUrl` — canonical GovDeals listing URL - `recordType: "asset"`, `scrapedAt` ### Input | Field | Type | Default | Description | |---|---|---|---| | `mode` | string | `search` | `search` / `byCategory` / `byState` | | `searchText` | string | `truck` | Keyword search (required for mode=search) | | `category` | string | – | Top-level category (required for mode=byCategory) | | `state` | string | – | US state (required for mode=byState) | | `auctionType` | string | – | Restrict to Sealed Bid / Online Auction / Buy Now / Make Offer | | `auctionStatus` | string | `open` | `open` (live) or `closed` (sold) | | `sortBy` | string | `bestfit` | Sort order | | `minCurrentBid` | int | – | Drop listings with a lower current bid | | `maxCurrentBid` | int | – | Drop listings with a higher current bid | | `vehicleMake` | string | – | Structured make/brand filter (e.g. `Ford`, `Caterpillar`) | | `vehicleModelYear` | int | – | Restrict to a specific model year | | `maxItems` | int | `50` | Hard cap on emitted records (1–2000) | | `proxyConfiguration` | object | off | Optional Apify proxy (AUTO group); adds resilience under sustained volume | ### Example: keyword search ```json { "mode": "search", "searchText": "dump truck", "auctionStatus": "open", "maxItems": 30 } ```` ### Example: browse by category ```json { "mode": "byCategory", "category": "6", "sortBy": "endingSoonest", "maxItems": 50 } ``` ### Example: browse by state, closed auctions only ```json { "mode": "byState", "state": "TX", "auctionStatus": "closed", "maxItems": 25 } ``` ### Example: price-filtered keyword search ```json { "mode": "search", "searchText": "excavator", "minCurrentBid": 5000, "maxCurrentBid": 50000, "auctionType": "3" } ``` ### Example: specific vehicle make and model year ```json { "mode": "byCategory", "category": "6", "vehicleMake": "Ford", "vehicleModelYear": 2017 } ``` ### Use cases - **Fleet & equipment buyers** — monitor surplus vehicles and heavy equipment across every US state - **Resellers and liquidators** — track closing auctions by category to plan bidding - **Market research** — analyze government surplus pricing trends by category or region - **Procurement teams** — discover current-bid pricing benchmarks for used equipment - **Auction aggregators** — feed live GovDeals listings into a broader marketplace search ### FAQ **What is GovDeals?** GovDeals is an online marketplace where US government agencies, municipalities, school districts, and public utilities sell surplus and confiscated property — vehicles, heavy equipment, electronics, real estate, and more — via public auction. **Is this affiliated with GovDeals?** No. This is an independent, third-party actor that reads GovDeals' own public listing data, the same way a visitor's browser does. **Why do some listings have no `currentBid`?** A listing with no bids yet has no current bid value, so the field is omitted rather than showing `0` or `null`. **What does `auctionStatus: closed` mean?** The auction's bidding window has ended (or GovDeals has marked it sold). Closed listings can still be useful for price-history research. **Why are `makeBrand`/`model`/`modelYear` sometimes missing?** Those fields only apply to vehicles and branded equipment; general merchandise listings omit them. **Does this cover every category and state?** Yes — the `category` and `state` enums mirror GovDeals' own top-level taxonomy and full US state list. **How current is the data?** Every run queries GovDeals' live listings API directly, so results reflect the current bid and status at run time. # Actor input Schema ## `mode` (type: `string`): What to fetch. ## `searchText` (type: `string`): Free-text keyword search (required for mode=search; optional extra filter for other modes). ## `category` (type: `string`): Browse GovDeals' top-level category taxonomy. ## `state` (type: `string`): Browse listings located in a specific US state. ## `auctionType` (type: `string`): Restrict results to a specific sale format. ## `auctionStatus` (type: `string`): Only currently open (live) listings, or only closed/sold listings. ## `sortBy` (type: `string`): How to order results. ## `minCurrentBid` (type: `integer`): Drop listings with a current bid lower than this. ## `maxCurrentBid` (type: `integer`): Drop listings with a current bid higher than this. ## `vehicleMake` (type: `string`): Structured make/brand filter (e.g. `Ford`, `Caterpillar`, `Peterbilt`) — matches GovDeals' own vehicle-search field, more precise than a keyword search. ## `vehicleModelYear` (type: `integer`): Restrict to a specific model year. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Hard cap on emitted records. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Optional. GovDeals' edge (Akamai) may rate-limit sustained high-volume traffic; enabling the free AUTO proxy group adds resilience. Not required for normal use. ## Actor input object example ```json { "mode": "search", "searchText": "truck", "auctionType": "", "auctionStatus": "open", "sortBy": "bestfit", "maxItems": 50, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `listings` (type: `string`): Dataset containing all scraped GovDeals listings. # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "mode": "search", "searchText": "truck", "auctionType": "", "auctionStatus": "open", "sortBy": "bestfit", "maxItems": 50 }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("crawlerbros/govdeals-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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "mode": "search", "searchText": "truck", "auctionType": "", "auctionStatus": "open", "sortBy": "bestfit", "maxItems": 50, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("crawlerbros/govdeals-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": "search", "searchText": "truck", "auctionType": "", "auctionStatus": "open", "sortBy": "bestfit", "maxItems": 50 }' | apify call crawlerbros/govdeals-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=crawlerbros/govdeals-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "GovDeals Scraper", "description": "Scrape GovDeals.com - the government & municipal surplus auction marketplace. Search by keyword, browse by category or state, filter by auction type and status. No login, no proxy required.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "IEvSlUCUcTS9bkpby" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/crawlerbros~govdeals-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-crawlerbros-govdeals-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/crawlerbros~govdeals-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-crawlerbros-govdeals-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/crawlerbros~govdeals-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-crawlerbros-govdeals-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "mode" ], "properties": { "mode": { "title": "Mode", "enum": [ "search", "byCategory", "byState" ], "type": "string", "description": "What to fetch.", "default": "search" }, "searchText": { "title": "Search keyword", "type": "string", "description": "Free-text keyword search (required for mode=search; optional extra filter for other modes).", "default": "truck" }, "category": { "title": "Category (mode=byCategory)", "enum": [ "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "9", "10", "11", "12", "13", "14", "15", "16" ], "type": "string", "description": "Browse GovDeals' top-level category taxonomy." }, "state": { "title": "State (mode=byState)", "enum": [ "AL", "AK", "AZ", "AR", "CA", "CO", "CT", "DE", "DC", "FL", "GA", "HI", "ID", "IL", "IN", "IA", "KS", "KY", "LA", "ME", "MD", "MA", "MI", "MN", "MS", "MO", "MT", "NE", "NV", "NH", "NJ", "NM", "NY", "NC", "ND", "OH", "OK", "OR", "PA", "RI", "SC", "SD", "TN", "TX", "UT", "VT", "VA", "WA", "WV", "WI", "WY" ], "type": "string", "description": "Browse listings located in a specific US state." }, "auctionType": { "title": "Auction type filter", "enum": [ "", "1", "3", "4", "5" ], "type": "string", "description": "Restrict results to a specific sale format.", "default": "" }, "auctionStatus": { "title": "Auction status filter", "enum": [ "open", "closed" ], "type": "string", "description": "Only currently open (live) listings, or only closed/sold listings.", "default": "open" }, "sortBy": { "title": "Sort order", "enum": [ "bestfit", "endingSoonest", "endingLatest", "priceLowToHigh", "priceHighToLow", "locationAZ" ], "type": "string", "description": "How to order results.", "default": "bestfit" }, "minCurrentBid": { "title": "Min current bid (USD)", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 10000000, "type": "integer", "description": "Drop listings with a current bid lower than this." }, "maxCurrentBid": { "title": "Max current bid (USD)", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 10000000, "type": "integer", "description": "Drop listings with a current bid higher than this." }, "vehicleMake": { "title": "Vehicle/equipment make", "type": "string", "description": "Structured make/brand filter (e.g. `Ford`, `Caterpillar`, `Peterbilt`) — matches GovDeals' own vehicle-search field, more precise than a keyword search." }, "vehicleModelYear": { "title": "Vehicle/equipment model year", "minimum": 1900, "maximum": 2100, "type": "integer", "description": "Restrict to a specific model year." }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max items", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 2000, "type": "integer", "description": "Hard cap on emitted records.", "default": 50 }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Optional. GovDeals' edge (Akamai) may rate-limit sustained high-volume traffic; enabling the free AUTO proxy group adds resilience. Not required for normal use.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": false } } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```