Boat24 Scraper & Market Intelligence

Scrape Boat24.com — Europe's leading boat marketplace (34,700+ listings across 14 countries, with global inventory) — with AI-powered natural language search and market intelligence reports.

Three modes for three audiences:

• Buyer — "Family catamaran 38-45ft, under €250k, Mediterranean" → ranked listings with due diligence, negotiation tips, and cost of ownership
• Seller — "What's my 2018 Lagoon 42 worth?" → valuation with comparable analysis, pricing strategy, and listing optimization tips
• Broker — "Catamaran market in Europe" → inventory analysis, pricing benchmarks, and market opportunities

What Makes This Different

This isn't just a scraper. It's a boat market intelligence tool.

Feature	Description
Natural Language Search	Type what you want in plain English — AI converts it to structured filters
AI Market Reports	GPT-4o generates buyer briefs, seller valuations, or broker market analysis
Relevance Scoring	Each listing scored 0-100% against your criteria (price, size, country, year, features)
Feature Matching	Checks equipment lists for specific features ("bow thruster", "diesel engine")
Price Per Metre	Instant value comparison across different-sized boats
Detail Page Scraping	Optionally visits each listing for full specs, equipment, and all photos
Smart Country Handling	"Europe" or "Mediterranean" expands automatically — no need to list 27 countries
Cloudflare Bypass	Built-in WARP proxy handles Boat24's bot protection

Quick Start

Buyer: Find Your Dream Boat

{
  "query": "Family catamaran 38-45ft, under €250k, Croatia or Greece, with bow thruster",
  "mode": "buyer"
}

Seller: What's My Boat Worth?

{
  "query": "2018 Lagoon 42, Croatia, good condition with bow thruster",
  "mode": "seller"
}

Broker: Market Analysis

{
  "query": "Sailing catamaran market in the Mediterranean, 35-50ft",
  "mode": "broker"
}

No AI: Just Scrape

{
  "boatType": ["catamaran"],
  "country": ["Croatia", "Greece"],
  "priceMax": 200000,
  "maxResults": 50
}

Output

Everything in one place. Click the Output tab to see results.

{
  "report": "## Buyer Intelligence Brief\n\n### Top Picks...",
  "query": "Family catamaran 38-45ft...",
  "mode": "buyer",
  "totalListings": 5,
  "priceStats": {
    "avgPriceEUR": 277000,
    "medianPriceEUR": 329000,
    "priceRange": "EUR 199,000 - EUR 500,000"
  },
  "listings": [
    {
      "title": "Lagoon 42",
      "priceEUR": 329000,
      "year": 2020,
      "lengthM": 12.8,
      "country": "HR",
      "pricePerMetre": 25703,
      "relevanceScore": 81,
      "matchedFeatures": [],
      "missingFeatures": ["bow thruster"]
    }
  ]
}

Each listing includes:

Field	Description
relevanceScore	0-100% match against your search criteria
relevanceBreakdown	Score breakdown: price, length, country, year, condition, features
pricePerMetre	EUR per metre of boat length
matchedFeatures	Desired features confirmed present
missingFeatures	Desired features not found
details	Full specs, equipment list, description (when scrapeDetails is on)

Input Parameters

AI Search

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
query	string	-	Natural language search. Examples: "40ft catamaran under €200k in Croatia", "What's a 2018 Bavaria 46 worth?"
mode	string	buyer	buyer (find & recommend), seller (valuation & strategy), broker (market analysis)

Structured Filters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
boatType	string[]	all	sailboat, motorboat, catamaran, motor-yacht, houseboat, fishing-boat, RIB, jet-ski, superyacht, trawler, flybridge, cabin-cruiser, trimaran, and more
country	string[]	all	Country names (e.g., "Croatia", "Germany"). "Mediterranean" and "Europe" work in AI queries
brand	string[]	all	Manufacturer names (e.g., "Beneteau", "Lagoon")
priceMin / priceMax	integer	-	Price range in EUR. Ignored in seller/broker modes (they need all comparables)
yearMin / yearMax	integer	-	Year of manufacture range
lengthMin / lengthMax	number	-	Length range in metres
condition	string	any	new, used, or any

Output Options

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
scrapeDetails	boolean	false	Visit each listing's detail page for full specs, equipment, and all photos. Slower but richer data. Auto-enables in buyer mode with features to match and ≤30 results
maxResults	integer	100	Maximum listings (1-1000)
sortBy	string	newest	price-asc, price-desc, newest, length-desc

How the Intelligence Works

Relevance Scoring

Every listing is scored 0-100% based on weighted criteria:

Criterion	Weight	How It Scores
Price match	25%	100% if in budget, degrades proportionally over
Length match	20%	100% if in range, penalizes distance from target
Country match	20%	100% if in requested country, 0% if wrong
Year match	15%	100% if in range, -10 points per year outside
Condition match	10%	100% if matches, 20% if wrong
Feature match	10%	% of desired features found in equipment/specs

Results are sorted by relevance — best matches first.

Feature Matching

When you mention features in your query ("bow thruster", "diesel engine", "teak deck"), the actor:

1. Parses them from your natural language query
2. Searches each listing's description, specs, and equipment list
3. Reports matchedFeatures and missingFeatures per listing
4. Handles variants: "bowthruster" matches "bow thruster"

AI Reports by Mode

Buyer — Due diligence brief with top picks, price assessments, red flags, questions to ask sellers, cost of ownership, and negotiation ranges.

Seller — Specific asking price recommendation with comparable analysis, pricing factors (+/-), selling strategy (when/where to list), and upgrade ROI.

Broker — Market intelligence with pricing benchmarks, inventory analysis, brand premiums, geographic arbitrage, and a comparable transaction reference table.

AI Configuration

AI is controlled by the enableAI toggle and an optional API key:

enableAI	aiApiKey	What happens	Report charge?
ON (default)	empty	Uses the actor's built-in AI	Yes (per-report PPE)
ON	your key	Uses YOUR key + provider	No
OFF	any	No AI — scraping only	No

Bring Your Own AI Provider

The actor uses the OpenAI-compatible API format, which works with most providers:

Provider	aiBaseUrl	aiModel example
OpenAI	https://api.openai.com/v1 (default)	gpt-4o (default)
Groq	https://api.groq.com/openai/v1	llama-3.1-70b-versatile
Together	https://api.together.xyz/v1	meta-llama/Llama-3-70b-chat-hf
Mistral	https://api.mistral.ai/v1	mistral-large-latest
Ollama (local)	http://localhost:11434/v1	llama3

How to Pass Your API Key

Three options, from simplest to most flexible:

1. Apify UI (easiest) — Paste your key into the aiApiKey field in the actor's input form. It's a masked/secret field — Apify encrypts it at rest.

2. Environment variable (best for repeat runs) — Go to your actor's Settings → Environment variables, add OPENAI_API_KEY with your key. It's used automatically on every run — no need to pass it in the input each time.

3. API call — Pass aiApiKey in the JSON input body. The request is HTTPS-encrypted in transit.

{
  "query": "Sailboat 30ft, Mediterranean",
  "enableAI": true,
  "aiApiKey": "sk-your-key-here",
  "aiModel": "gpt-4o"
}

When you bring your own key, there's no per-report charge — you only pay for listings scraped.

Pricing

This actor uses Pay Per Event pricing:

Event	Price	When it fires
listing-scraped	$0.03	Each boat listing extracted
report-generated	$0.80	Each AI report (only when using actor's built-in AI)

Bring your own key = no report charge. You only pay for compute and per-listing events.

Scenario	Listings	Revenue	Approx. cost
Quick search (own key)	5	$0.15	~$0.04
Standard search (actor AI)	20	$0.60 + $0.80 = $1.40	~$0.10
Scrape only (AI off)	50	$1.50	~$0.05

Technical Details

• Browser: Playwright Firefox with fingerprint rotation
• Anti-bot: Cloudflare WARP proxy (free, built-in) with Apify proxy fallback
• Dimension parsing: Handles Boat24's concatenated text where model numbers bleed into dimensions (e.g., "Hanse 37511.38 x 3.75 m" → correctly extracts 11.38m)
• Country extraction: Scans full location strings for the most specific country match
• Pagination: Detects duplicate pages to avoid wasting time on small categories
• Multi-country optimization: >5 countries collapses to a single global search with post-filtering

Limitations

• Boat24 inventory: Some categories (e.g., catamarans) have limited listings on Boat24. The AI report will suggest alternative platforms when results are thin
• 1000 listings max per run
• Price normalisation uses approximate exchange rates, not live FX
• Detail scraping adds ~5-10 seconds per listing
• No sold prices: Boat24 removes sold listings. Asking prices only

FAQ

Why are there so few catamaran results? Boat24's catamaran category has limited inventory (~5-10 listings at any time). The AI report will flag this and suggest searching YachtWorld, Multihull Solutions, or broker sites for better coverage.

How accurate are the AI valuations? The AI uses real listing data from Boat24 plus general market knowledge. Valuations are directionally correct but should not replace a professional marine survey or broker appraisal.

Can I run this on a schedule? Yes. Set up a recurring schedule in Apify to track market changes over time.

Why does the seller mode ignore my price? In seller and broker modes, price filters are intentionally disabled. You need to see ALL comparables — including ones above your expected price — to make informed pricing decisions.

Can I use my own AI model? Yes. Set aiApiKey, aiBaseUrl, and aiModel in the input to use any OpenAI-compatible provider (Groq, Together, Mistral, Ollama, etc.). When you bring your own key, there's no per-report charge.

What if I don't want AI at all? Set enableAI to false. The actor will scrape Boat24 and return structured data without any AI processing. You only pay per listing scraped.