# Cashbuild South Africa Product & Price Scraper (`lonwabo/cashbuild-scraper`) Actor

Fast, high-performance scraper for Cashbuild South Africa (cashbuild.co.za). Extract live building material prices, timber, cement, roofing, SKUs, and product details with sub-second execution.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/lonwabo/cashbuild-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Lonwabo Mfundisi](https://apify.com/lonwabo) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.95 / 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

## Cashbuild South Africa Product & Price Scraper

Fast, high-performance scraper for Cashbuild South Africa (cashbuild.co.za). Extract live building material prices, timber, cement, roofing, SKUs, and product details with sub-second execution.

Source site: [cashbuild.co.za](https://cashbuild.co.za) | Coverage: building materials, timber, cement and roofing

***

### What it does

Searches **Cashbuild** for each keyword you provide and returns structured product data: title, live price in ZAR, stock status and the direct product link. Prices are collected as shown on the site at the time of the run.

### Features

- Search by one or many keywords in a single run
- Prices in ZAR
- Stock availability where the site exposes it
- Direct product URLs
- Clean JSON, CSV or Excel export from the Apify dataset
- Works with the Apify API, schedules, webhooks and integrations

### Input

| Field | Type | Description | Default |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| `searchTerms` | array | Keywords or building materials to search on Cashbuild (e.g. 'cement 50kg', 'timber', 'corrugated iron', 'paint 20l', 'wheelbarrow'). | - |
| `maxItems` | integer | Maximum number of product results to scrape per search keyword. | `20` |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | Optional proxy settings. Cashbuild SA is directly accessible, but residential proxies can be used for high-frequency runs. | `{"useApifyProxy":false}` |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "searchTerms": [
    "cement",
    "roof sheet"
  ],
  "maxItems": 20
}
```

### Output

Each product is one dataset item.

```json
{
  "title": "Example building material",
  "price": 89.9,
  "formattedPrice": "R 89.90",
  "currency": "ZAR",
  "sku": "CB-0001",
  "store": "Cashbuild",
  "searchTerm": "cement"
}
```

> Fields can be empty when the store does not publish them for a product.

### Pricing

This Actor uses **pay per result**: you pay only for products returned. Platform usage is included in the result price.

**$2.00 per 1,000 results** (Light (direct HTTP / API)).

Tip: set `maxItems` to control cost. A run returning 20 products costs about $0.04.

### Use cases

- Construction tender costing
- Material price comparison
- Supplier price tracking

### Notes and limits

- Data comes from the public cashbuild.co.za website. Site changes can occasionally affect results; please report issues through the Actor's **Issues** tab.
- Prices and stock change frequently. Treat results as a snapshot, not a binding quote.
- Please use the data in line with cashbuild.co.za's terms and applicable law.

### Support

Found a bug or need another South African store? Open an issue on this Actor and it will be looked at.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchTerms` (type: `array`):

Keywords or building materials to search on Cashbuild (e.g. 'cement 50kg', 'timber', 'corrugated iron', 'paint 20l', 'wheelbarrow').

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

Maximum number of product results to scrape per search keyword.

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

Optional proxy settings. Cashbuild SA is directly accessible, but residential proxies can be used for high-frequency runs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": [
    "cement 50kg",
    "corrugated iron",
    "timber"
  ],
  "maxItems": 20,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

List of scraped products from Cashbuild

# 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 = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "cement 50kg",
        "corrugated iron",
        "timber"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("lonwabo/cashbuild-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 = { "searchTerms": [
        "cement 50kg",
        "corrugated iron",
        "timber",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("lonwabo/cashbuild-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 '{
  "searchTerms": [
    "cement 50kg",
    "corrugated iron",
    "timber"
  ]
}' |
apify call lonwabo/cashbuild-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,lonwabo/cashbuild-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/QhEdu0YTKbmdUWKBh/builds/HbyFXH2z2JcEPfZss/openapi.json