# PublicSurplus.com Government Surplus Auctions Scraper (`jovian_explorer/publicsurplus-auctions`) Actor Search live government surplus auctions on PublicSurplus.com by keyword and U.S. state and get clean JSON: auction id, title, current price, bids, ends at, agency, pick-up location, description, link. For resellers, flippers, price watchers and AI agents. - **URL**: https://apify.com/jovian\_explorer/publicsurplus-auctions.md - **Developed by:** [Quiet Kits](https://apify.com/jovian_explorer) (community) - **Categories:** E-commerce, Business - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $2.00 / 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 ## PublicSurplus.com Auctions Scraper Search the live auctions on [PublicSurplus.com](https://www.publicsurplus.com), one of the largest marketplaces for **government and school-district surplus in the U.S. and Canada** (vehicles, laptops, tools, furniture, heavy equipment), and get structured JSON instead of a web page. For each auction: id, title, current price, number of bids, bid increment, minimum next bid, end time (ISO and local text), auction type (standard or Dutch), state, selling agency, pick-up address, condition, description, image and link. ### Who uses it - **Resellers and flippers** watching lots before they close, across states, on a schedule. - **Price watchers** building alerts on keywords ("Dell Latitude", "Ford F-250"). - **AI agents**: through the Apify MCP server an agent can ask "find laptops in Texas ending in the next 24 hours" and read the rows back. ### Input | Field | Type | Default | Description | |---|---|---|---| | `keyword` | string | – | search text; empty = browse everything | | `state` | string | – | two-letter state or province code (`tx`, `ca`, `ne`, `bc`) | | `includeDetails` | boolean | true | open each auction page for bids, increment, agency, address, description | | `maxItems` | integer | 100 | 0 = all matching auctions | ```json { "keyword": "laptop", "state": "tx", "maxItems": 50 } ``` ### Output ```json { "auctionId": "4076349", "title": "STIHL CHAINSAW", "currentPriceUsd": 229.5, "bids": 14, "incrementUsd": 2.5, "minimumBidUsd": 232, "endsAt": "2026-09-08T00:00:00.000Z", "endsText": "Sep 7, 2026 06:00 PM MDT", "state": "NE", "agency": "Lincoln Public Schools", "pickupAddress": "505 South Street Lincoln, NE 68502", "auctionType": "standard", "condition": "SEE DESCRIPTION", "description": "…", "imageUrl": "https://…/thumb-b/4076349/71620011", "url": "https://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/auction/view?auc=4076349" } ``` ### Pricing Pay per auction returned. Without details a page of 25 auctions takes about a second; with details, about one second per auction. ### Notes Reads public auction pages only, no login. Contact details that PublicSurplus shows to logged-in users are not included. Auction end times can extend when late bids arrive; re-run close to the end for the final price. # Actor input Schema ## `keyword` (type: `string`): What to search, e.g. "laptop", "ford f-150", "chainsaw". Leave empty to browse everything. ## `state` (type: `string`): Two-letter code, e.g. "tx", "ca", "ne". Empty = all regions. ## `includeDetails` (type: `boolean`): Also open each auction page to get bids, increment, minimum bid, pick-up address and description. Slower. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): 0 = all matching auctions. ## Actor input object example ```json { "keyword": "laptop", "includeDetails": true, "maxItems": 100 } ``` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "keyword": "laptop" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("jovian_explorer/publicsurplus-auctions").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 = { "keyword": "laptop" } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("jovian_explorer/publicsurplus-auctions").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 '{ "keyword": "laptop" }' | apify call jovian_explorer/publicsurplus-auctions --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,jovian_explorer/publicsurplus-auctions" } } } ``` 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 ` 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/UidUXmcXoChPFKq5g/builds/ZMOPJZlTtwMSLhu6C/openapi.json