# PriceCharting video game price extractor (`data_dino/pricecharting`) Actor

💰 $1.00 per 1000 results❗Extract loose, complete (CIB), and new video game prices from PriceCharting.com console listings, with configurable console selection and concurrency.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/data\_dino/pricecharting.md
- **Developed by:** [Data Dino](https://apify.com/data_dino) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.00 / 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

## PriceCharting Video Game Price Extractor

Turn PriceCharting.com console listings into a structured dataset of video game market values. This Apify actor collects the loose (cart/disc only), complete-in-box (CIB), and new prices PriceCharting publishes for each game, then delivers every game as a separate dataset item with its console and source URL attached.

It is built for collectors, resellers, and pricing-research teams that want a repeatable, batch-friendly way to pull PriceCharting's current price guide without manually scrolling every console page.

### Why use this actor?

- **Full-coverage or targeted** — scrape a single console (e.g. `super-nintendo`) or leave the list empty to walk every supported system (45+ consoles).
- **Three price points per game** — loose, complete (CIB), and new values in one record.
- **Source-linked records** — every item keeps its console slug and the originating PriceCharting console URL for easy verification.
- **Configurable pacing** — tune the scroll pause so lazy-loaded listings fully render before parsing, and control browser concurrency for the full sweep.
- **Apify-native workflow** — schedule runs, monitor progress, and export the resulting dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, or another supported format.

### What you can collect

Each game record includes the following publicly visible fields from PriceCharting:

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `game` | Game title as listed on PriceCharting |
| `console` | Console slug (e.g. `virtual-boy`, `super-nintendo`) |
| `loose_val` | Loose / used price |
| `complete_val` | Complete-in-box (CIB) price |
| `new_val` | New / sealed price |
| `date(D/M/Y)` | The date the values were collected |
| `sourceUrl` | The PriceCharting console listing the record came from |

Missing prices are returned as `N/A` rather than invented.

### Input

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---:|---|
| `consoles` | Array of strings | No | Console slugs to scrape. Leave empty to scrape all supported consoles. |
| `workers` | Integer | No | Concurrent browser instances for the all-consoles run (default `1`). |
| `pause` | Number | No | Seconds between scrolls while a listing lazy-loads (default `1.5`). |

#### Example input

Scrape the Super Nintendo and NES price guides:

```json
{
  "consoles": ["super-nintendo", "nes"],
  "workers": 1,
  "pause": 1.5
}
```

Scrape every supported console:

```json
{
  "consoles": [],
  "workers": 1,
  "pause": 1.5
}
```

### Output

The actor pushes one dataset item per game. A representative result looks like this:

```json
{
  "game": "Wario Land",
  "console": "virtual-boy",
  "loose_val": "69.99",
  "complete_val": "166.56",
  "new_val": "336.45",
  "date(D/M/Y)": "14/08/2026",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.pricecharting.com/console/virtual-boy"
}
```

### Built for practical workflows

- **Collection valuation** — price an entire library across loose, CIB, and new conditions.
- **Reseller sourcing** — compare current PriceCharting market values to listing prices.
- **Market research** — track price-guide snapshots over time by scheduling runs.
- **Data operations** — feed the dataset into spreadsheets, warehouses, or pricing dashboards.

### How to run

1. Open the actor in Apify.
2. Optionally add console slugs to `consoles` (empty = all consoles).
3. Adjust `workers` and `pause` if needed.
4. Start the run and review or export the dataset.

### Important limitations

- Values reflect PriceCharting's public listings at run time and can change between runs.
- A full all-consoles sweep opens a browser per console and can take a while; use `workers` cautiously on memory-constrained runs.
- If PriceCharting changes its page structure, a console may parse partially or return no records; failed consoles are reported separately.
- Use the collected information in accordance with PriceCharting's terms and your organization's data-use policies.

# Actor input Schema

## `consoles` (type: `array`):

PriceCharting console slugs to scrape, e.g. super-nintendo, nintendo-64, gameboy, playstation-2. Leave empty to scrape all supported consoles.

## `workers` (type: `integer`):

Number of concurrent browser instances to run. Applies to the all-consoles scrape; individual consoles are processed one at a time. Increase with caution on constrained containers.

## `pause` (type: `number`):

Seconds to wait between page scrolls while a console listing lazy-loads its games. Increase if games are not fully loading.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "consoles": [
    "super-nintendo",
    "nes"
  ],
  "workers": 1,
  "pause": 1.5
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Structured video game price records (loose, complete/CIB, and new values) collected during the run.

# 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 = {
    "consoles": [
        "super-nintendo",
        "nes"
    ],
    "workers": 1,
    "pause": 1.5
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("data_dino/pricecharting").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 = {
    "consoles": [
        "super-nintendo",
        "nes",
    ],
    "workers": 1,
    "pause": 1.5,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("data_dino/pricecharting").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 '{
  "consoles": [
    "super-nintendo",
    "nes"
  ],
  "workers": 1,
  "pause": 1.5
}' |
apify call data_dino/pricecharting --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

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/kdLEmN83E27rz3uH3/builds/KaoVCfoPZS7Xzecl1/openapi.json