# AliExpress Search Products (`timbered_oak/aliexpress-search-products`) Actor

Scrapes AliExpress search-result pages for product listings: price, discount, orders sold, rating, store name, image, URL.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/timbered\_oak/aliexpress-search-products.md
- **Developed by:** [Mark](https://apify.com/timbered_oak) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$2.10 / 1,000 product card scrapeds

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

## AliExpress Search Products

### What it does

Fetches AliExpress wholesale search-result pages (`/w/wholesale-<query>.html`)
for each query and extracts the embedded product-listing JSON that AliExpress
ships inside the page (`window._dida_config_._init_data_`) — no browser, no
proxy, no login. One row per product per page (up to ~60 per query, capped by
`maxResults`).

### Input

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `queries` | string\[] | yes | Search terms, e.g. `["phone case", "led strip"]`. One search page fetched per query. |
| `maxResults` | integer | no | Cap on rows per query. Default 50. |
| `locale` | string | no | Page language cookie. Default `en_US`. Currency is always USD. |
| `proxy` | object | no | Off by default. Set `{"useApifyProxy": true}` to route through Apify's datacenter proxy if a run gets blocked. |

### Output example

Real row from a `phone case` smoke run:

```json
{
    "query": "phone case",
    "productId": "3256812899253877",
    "title": "Transparent Candy Colored Magnetic Phone Case For iPhone 17 18 Pro Max 13 14 15 16 For Magsafe Shockproof Airbag Bumper Cover",
    "price": 4.59,
    "currency": "USD",
    "originalPrice": null,
    "discountPercent": null,
    "ordersSold": null,
    "rating": null,
    "reviewCount": null,
    "shippingCost": null,
    "shippingOrigin": null,
    "storeName": "Firefly-8 Store",
    "imageUrl": "https://ae-pic-a1.aliexpress-media.com/kf/Sf9d239c6b6c840f09cf24743053b9d7fY.jpg",
    "url": "https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256812899253877.html"
}
```

`storeName` is a shop's display name (a business), never an individual's name.

### Pricing

Pay-per-event (PPE). One `product-scraped` event is charged per dataset row
(never charged for a query that returns zero rows). Console price:
**$0.0021 per event** (docs/CANDIDATES.md — 16% under the best-rated
competitor).

### Limits / known gaps

- **Not every field is on every row.** AliExpress mixes organic, ad (p4p), and
  promo cards on one search page; `price`/`currency`/`storeName` are only
  present on some card types, `ordersSold`/`rating` on others. Missing fields
  come back `null` rather than guessed.
- **`reviewCount`, `shippingCost`, `shippingOrigin` are always `null`.** They
  are not in the search-page blob at all (verified 2026-09-01) — only on the
  per-product page, which is a second fetch per row and out of scope for v1.
- **Blob key names rotate.** All extraction lives behind one
  `extractProductBlob()` in `src/main.ts` with a regex fallback to
  `__INITIAL_STATE__`. If AliExpress moves the data again, that's the one
  place to fix.
- Free-plan compute only, no residential proxy (`policy/RULES.md` rule 1/4).

# Actor input Schema

## `queries` (type: `array`):

Search terms to run against AliExpress wholesale search, one page per query.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Cap on rows pushed per query (one search page returns up to ~60 products).

## `locale` (type: `string`):

AliExpress locale for page language. Currency is always USD.

## `proxy` (type: `object`):

Optional. Off by default — AliExpress search pages load without one from a US IP. Set useApifyProxy to route through Apify's datacenter proxy if a run gets blocked.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "phone case"
  ],
  "maxResults": 50,
  "locale": "en_US"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

All scraped rows as JSON

# 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 = {
    "queries": [
        "phone case"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("timbered_oak/aliexpress-search-products").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 = { "queries": ["phone case"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("timbered_oak/aliexpress-search-products").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 '{
  "queries": [
    "phone case"
  ]
}' |
apify call timbered_oak/aliexpress-search-products --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,timbered_oak/aliexpress-search-products"
        }
    }
}

```

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/1bGzN8BJx5u0racPP/builds/Q0ivhAfnKzIGJ5ypN/openapi.json