Craigslist Scraper — Extract Classified Listings, Prices & Descriptions

Scrape Craigslist for classified listings across US cities. Extract titles, prices, locations, dates, full descriptions, and images. Search by keyword across multiple categories in a single actor run. Residential proxy included for reliable scraping — no manual proxy setup needed.

Features

• 25+ US cities — scrape any major Craigslist city from a dropdown picker
• Multi-category support — search cars, housing, jobs, for-sale, and more in one run
• Keyword filtering — narrow results with search terms (e.g., "toyota", "leather couch")
• Full descriptions — fetches listing detail pages for complete text
• Image URLs — primary listing images included in output
• Automatic pagination — follows "next page" links until maxResults is reached
• Residential proxy — built-in Apify proxy support to avoid Craigslist blocking
• Structured JSON output — clean, well-formatted data ready for analysis or AI pipelines

Use Cases

• Market research — track pricing trends, supply, and demand across cities
• Deal hunting — find underpriced cars, furniture, electronics at scale
• Competitor intelligence — monitor competitor listings and pricing
• Lead generation — collect seller contact info from classified ads
• Real estate analysis — scrape rental and housing listings for market insights
• AI & machine learning — feed structured classified data into LLMs for analysis

Input

Field	Type	Default	Description
city	string	"sfbay"	Craigslist city subdomain (sfbay, losangeles, newyork, etc.)
categories	string[]	["cta"]	Category codes to scrape (cta=cars, apa=apartments, jjj=jobs, etc.)
searchKeywords	string[]	[]	Optional keywords to filter listings within each category
maxResults	integer	50	Max total listings across all categories and keywords (1–500)
maxListingsPerCategory	integer	100	Max listings per category+keyword combination (1–500)
proxyConfig.useApifyProxy	boolean	true	Use Apify residential proxy (recommended to avoid blocking)
maxRequestRetries	integer	3	Max retry attempts per failed request

Output

Each listing record includes 11 fields:

Field	Type	Description
title	string	Listing title as shown on Craigslist
price	string|null	Listing price if specified
location	string|null	Neighborhood or area
datePosted	string|null	Date posted or last updated
url	string	Direct URL to the full listing page
imageUrl	string|null	Primary listing image URL
description	string|null	Full text from the listing detail page
category	string	Craigslist category code
city	string	City subdomain where listing was found
searchKeyword	string	Keyword that returned this result
scrapedAt	string	ISO 8601 timestamp of when data was scraped

Category Codes

Code	Category
cta	Cars & Trucks
apa	Apartments / Housing
jjj	Jobs
sss	All For Sale
ela	Electronics
fua	Furniture
hva	Appliances
moa	Motorcycles
rea	Real Estate
cpg	Computers
bka	Bikes
ata	Auto Parts
ppa	Photo & Video
sya	Tools
tla	Toys & Games

Example Usage

Search Cars by Keyword

{
    "city": "losangeles",
    "categories": ["cta"],
    "searchKeywords": ["honda civic", "toyota camry"],
    "maxResults": 100,
    "maxListingsPerCategory": 50,
    "proxyConfig": { "useApifyProxy": true }
}

Scrape Apartments Across Categories

{
    "city": "newyork",
    "categories": ["apa", "rea"],
    "maxResults": 200,
    "maxListingsPerCategory": 100,
    "proxyConfig": { "useApifyProxy": true }
}

Quick Test Run

{
    "city": "sfbay",
    "categories": ["cta"],
    "searchKeywords": ["subaru"],
    "maxResults": 10,
    "maxListingsPerCategory": 25,
    "proxyConfig": { "useApifyProxy": true }
}

Pricing

This actor uses a pay-per-result pricing model at $0.005 per listing scraped.

Results	Cost
10 listings	$0.05
50 listings	$0.25
100 listings	$0.50
500 listings	$2.50

Residential proxy usage is included — no separate proxy costs.

Example Output

{
    "title": "2019 Toyota Camry SE - Low Miles",
    "price": "$15,500",
    "location": "Downtown SF",
    "datePosted": "2024-05-01",
    "url": "https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/ctd/d/san-francisco-2019-toyota-camry/1234567890.html",
    "imageUrl": "https://images.craigslist.org/00x0x_abc123_600x450.jpg",
    "description": "2019 Toyota Camry SE in excellent condition...",
    "category": "cta",
    "city": "sfbay",
    "searchKeyword": "toyota camry",
    "scrapedAt": "2024-05-03T12:00:00.000Z"
}