BusinessesForSale Scraper

Collect public business-for-sale listings from BusinessesForSale.com. Give the Actor a search URL, or a keyword and location, and it saves listing records to an Apify dataset.

The output covers business details, asking prices, revenue, cash flow, location, labels, tags, contact links, and listing URLs. It works for buyers, brokers, analysts, and lead generation teams that need search results in a structured file instead of a browser tab.

What it collects

Field	Description
listing_id	Listing or advert identifier from the search card
title	Business listing title
url	Listing page URL
description	Summary shown on the search card
location	Location text from the card
region	Region when the location includes one
country	Country code or country name when available
asking_price	Displayed asking price
price	Numeric asking price
currency	Price currency code
revenue	Displayed revenue or turnover
sales_revenue	Sales revenue, or the revenue value when the card uses one label
cash_flow	Displayed cash flow
growth	Growth value on M&A Vault cards
profitability	Profitability value on M&A Vault cards
leverage	Leverage value on M&A Vault cards
listing_type	Business, franchise, or teaser
labels	Badges such as Business, High Value, or Price Reduced
tags	Tags such as Real Property, Lease, or Quick Sale
is_premium	True when the card is marked premium
contact_url	Contact seller URL when the card provides one
image_url	Listing image URL
position	Position on the search page
source_url	Search page that produced the record
source_type	search_page or json_ld
scraped_at	Collection timestamp

How it works

1. The Actor reads the run input.
2. It opens the supplied search URL, or builds a search from the keyword and location.
3. It reads the 25 listing cards on each page.
4. It follows the site's own next-page link.
5. It saves each page to the dataset as soon as the page is parsed.
6. It stops when it reaches results_wanted, max_pages, or the last page.

Input parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
startUrl	String	No	None	BusinessesForSale search or category URL. Takes priority over keyword and location.
keyword	String	No	Gas Station	Search keyword used when startUrl is empty.
location	String	No	None	Location used with the keyword, or alone when the keyword is empty.
results_wanted	Integer	No	20	Maximum number of listings to save.
max_pages	Integer	No	5	Maximum number of pages to process for each source.
proxyConfiguration	Object	No	{}	Optional proxy. The Actor starts direct and uses Apify Proxy if the site blocks a request. Set useApifyProxy to false to disable the fallback.

startUrl wins when it is present. Without a URL, the Actor builds a search from keyword and location. The default keyword keeps runs with no search input working.

Usage examples

Scrape a category URL

{
  "startUrl": "https://www.businessesforsale.com/search/hotels-for-sale",
  "results_wanted": 20,
  "max_pages": 2
}

Search by keyword

{
  "keyword": "Gas Station",
  "results_wanted": 20,
  "max_pages": 1
}

Search by keyword and location

{
  "keyword": "Restaurant",
  "location": "Florida",
  "results_wanted": 50,
  "max_pages": 3
}

Sample output

{
  "listing_id": "3992541",
  "title": "COAM Waiver! Gas Station Property In Cordele, GA",
  "url": "https://us.businessesforsale.com/us/coam-waiver-gas-station-property-in-cordele-ga.aspx",
  "description": "THE COAM OPPORTUNITY: Seller will obtain a COAM waiver for the property! The Buyer will NOT be locked into the existing COAM agreement!",
  "location": "Cordele, Georgia, US",
  "region": "Georgia",
  "country": "US",
  "asking_price": "$399,000",
  "price": 399000,
  "currency": "USD",
  "revenue": "$342,000",
  "sales_revenue": "$342,000",
  "cash_flow": "$132,000",
  "listing_type": "business",
  "labels": ["Business"],
  "tags": ["Real Property"],
  "contact_url": "https://us.businessesforsale.com/us/coam-waiver-gas-station-property-in-cordele-ga/contact",
  "image_url": "https://www.businessesforsale.com/uploadsstatic/a3992541mediumthumbnail.jpg",
  "position": 1,
  "source_url": "https://www.businessesforsale.com/search?formName=searchForm&newSearch=Search&keywords=Gas+Station",
  "source_type": "search_page",
  "scraped_at": "2026-10-22T07:12:00.289Z"
}

Reliability

• The Actor follows the site's pagination instead of guessing page numbers.
• Blocked, rate-limited, and server-error responses are retried with a different browser profile.
• When direct access is blocked on Apify, the Actor can retry through Apify Proxy groups. A proxy you configure is used from the start.
• An unsupported page-size parameter is removed before the first request.
• If the result cards change, the Actor can use the page's embedded structured data as a fallback.
• A search with no matches is saved as an empty run, not reported as a crash.
• A 404 or 410 URL error is reported in the log and fails the run when no listings were collected.

Limits

• The source returns 25 listings per page. Use max_pages and results_wanted to control run size.
• The Actor reads public search pages only. It does not log in.
• Some sellers hide price, revenue, or cash flow. Those cards keep text such as On request and leave the numeric field empty.
• Listing detail pages are not opened. The dataset comes from the search cards.
• Category URLs can change on the source. A supplied URL is used as given, except for the page-size cleanup.

Integrations

• Google Sheets for review and sharing.
• CSV, Excel, JSON, and XML exports from the Apify dataset.
• Webhooks to start a workflow after a run.
• Make, Zapier, or your own service through the Apify API.

FAQ

Can I use a search URL instead of a keyword?

Yes. Put the URL in startUrl. It takes priority over keyword and location.

Can I search without a URL?

Yes. Leave startUrl empty and provide keyword, location, or both.

Can I collect more than one page?

Yes. Raise max_pages and results_wanted. The Actor follows the site's next-page link until it reaches a limit.

Why are some financial fields missing?

Some sellers do not publish asking price, revenue, or cash flow. The Actor leaves the numeric price empty when the card says On request or Undisclosed.

Why does a large results_wanted value still stop early?

The source may have fewer matches than requested, or max_pages may be lower than the number of pages needed. Raise max_pages or use a broader search.

Can I export the dataset to CSV or Excel?

Yes. Apify datasets export to CSV, Excel, JSON, XML, and other formats.

Is scraping BusinessesForSale.com legal?

Scraping public data can be legal, but you are responsible for following applicable laws, the site's terms, and privacy rules. Use the Actor for lawful research and compliance-friendly workflows.

Legal notice

This Actor collects publicly available business listing data. Users are responsible for how they use the data and for complying with applicable laws, platform terms, and data protection rules.