🛒 Trade Me Scraper - New Zealand Marketplace Data Extractor

LICENSE

Extract listings from Trade Me - New Zealand's largest auction and classifieds marketplace. Scrape products, electronics, furniture, and general items with detailed metadata including prices, locations, seller information, and images.

🌟 Features

✅ Comprehensive Search - Search by keywords, categories, locations, and price ranges
✅ Rich Data - Extract titles, prices, seller info, ratings, images, and more
✅ Smart Filtering - Filter by condition (new/used), location, category, and price
✅ Anti-Detection - Uses Camoufox browser with residential proxies for reliable scraping
✅ Flexible Sorting - Sort by relevance, price, or date
✅ Fast & Efficient - Extracts data from JSON when available, falls back to HTML parsing

📊 What Data Can You Extract?

Field	Description	Example
title	Listing title	"Apple MacBook Pro 13" 2023"
price	Current price or bid	"$1,299 NZD"
location	Seller location/region	"Auckland"
category	Product category	"Electronics & photography"
condition	Item condition	"Used"
seller	Seller username	"tech_store_nz"
sellerRating	Seller feedback rating	"99.5%"
listingId	Unique listing ID	"4523421234"
listingType	Auction, Buy Now, or Classified	"Buy Now"
url	Direct listing URL	"https://www.trademe.co.nz/..."
imageUrl	Main product image	"https://images.trademe.co.nz/..."
description	Item description	"Excellent condition laptop..."
postedDate	When posted	"2024-01-15"
endDate	Auction end date	"2024-01-20"
scrapedAt	Extraction timestamp	"2024-01-16T12:30:00Z"

🚀 Quick Start

Using Apify Console

1. Create a task from this actor
2. Configure inputs:
   • Search query (e.g., "laptop", "iphone", "furniture")
   • Category and location filters
   • Price range (min/max in NZD)
   • Max results to scrape
3. Run the task
4. Download results as JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML

Using API

const ApifyClient = require('apify-client');

const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN',
});

const input = {
    searchQuery: "laptop",
    category: "Electronics & photography",
    location: "Auckland",
    priceMin: 500,
    priceMax: 3000,
    condition: "Any",
    sortBy: "PriceAsc",
    maxResults: 50
};

const run = await client.actor("YOUR_USERNAME/trademe-scraper").call(input);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();

console.log(items);

Using Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient('YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN')

run_input = {
    "searchQuery": "laptop",
    "category": "Electronics & photography",
    "location": "Auckland",
    "priceMin": 500,
    "priceMax": 3000,
    "maxResults": 50
}

run = client.actor("YOUR_USERNAME/trademe-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

⚙️ Input Configuration

Required Fields

Field	Type	Description	Example
maxResults	Integer	Maximum listings to scrape (1-1000)	50

Optional Search & Filter Fields

Field	Type	Description	Default
searchQuery	String	Keywords to search for	"laptop"
category	String	Product category filter	"Electronics & photography"
location	String	Region/city filter	"Auckland"
priceMin	Integer	Minimum price in NZD	0
priceMax	Integer	Maximum price in NZD	5000
condition	String	Item condition: Any, New, Used	"Any"
sortBy	String	Sort order: Relevance, PriceAsc, PriceDesc, DateDesc, DateAsc	"Relevance"
proxyConfiguration	Object	Apify proxy settings (residential recommended)	{"useApifyProxy": true}

Available Categories

• All categories
• Electronics & photography
• Home & living
• Clothing & fashion
• Sports & outdoors
• Baby & kids
• Toys & models
• Books & music
• Health & beauty
• Office & industrial

Available Regions

All major New Zealand regions supported: Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Otago, and more.

📈 Use Cases

🔍 Market Research - Track product prices and availability across New Zealand
💼 Price Monitoring - Monitor competitor pricing and market trends
📊 Data Analysis - Analyze marketplace trends and consumer behavior
🤖 Automation - Integrate with your workflow via Apify API
🔔 Deal Alerts - Find the best deals on products you're tracking

🛡️ Proxy & Anti-Bot Protection

This actor uses residential proxies by default for best results. Trade Me has moderate bot protection, so we recommend:

• ✅ Using Apify residential proxies (included in input)
• ✅ Setting reasonable maxResults limits
• ✅ Running during off-peak hours for faster performance

📝 Notes & Limitations

• Rate Limits: Respect Trade Me's terms of service and scrape responsibly
• Data Accuracy: Prices and availability change frequently - data is a snapshot
• Coverage: Focuses on marketplace listings (general items) - separate actors available for property
• Updates: Site structure may change; actor is maintained and updated regularly

🤝 Integration with AI Agents

This actor is fully compatible with AI assistants and automation tools:

• ✅ Claude Desktop via Apify MCP server
• ✅ ChatGPT via Apify API integration
• ✅ Custom AI agents via RESTful API
• ✅ Workflow automation (Make.com, Zapier, n8n)

Perfect for AI-powered market research, automated deal finding, and intelligent price tracking systems.

💡 Tips for Best Results

1. Be Specific - Use detailed search queries for better matches
2. Use Filters - Combine category, location, and price filters to narrow results
3. Sort Wisely - Sort by date for newest listings, by price for deals
4. Check Residential Proxy - Always use residential proxies for reliable scraping
5. Reasonable Limits - Start with smaller maxResults (10-50) for testing

🔗 Related Actors

• Trade Me Property Scraper - For real estate listings
• Trade Me Motors Scraper - For vehicle listings
• NZ Marketplace Aggregator - Multi-site comparison

📞 Support

• Issues? Open an issue on GitHub or contact via Apify
• Feature requests? Let us know what you'd like to see!
• Custom solutions? Available for hire for specialized scraping needs

📄 License

Apache 2.0 - See LICENSE file for details.

---

Made with ❤️ for the New Zealand market

Compatible with Claude, ChatGPT & AI agents via Apify MCP.