# eBay Keyword Tool - eBay Search Autocomplete Suggestions (`vital_tuxedo/ebay-keyword-suggestions`) Actor

eBay keyword research from eBay's own search autocomplete, per marketplace (US, UK, DE, AU, CA...): every completion for your seeds, expanded a-z, 0-9 and one level deep. Long-tail listing title ideas with eBay's category hints. No login, no invented volumes.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/vital_tuxedo/ebay-keyword-suggestions.md
- **Developed by:** [Stephen Psaradellis](https://apify.com/vital_tuxedo) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, E-commerce
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 suggestion queries

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

## eBay Keyword Suggestions

What eBay's own search box completes your keywords to, on the eBay site you
pick, as a dataset: one row per unique suggestion, with the seed it came from,
the exact query that produced it, its position in eBay's list, and eBay's
category hints for that query.

eBay completes a partial query from what buyers on that site actually type.
That makes its suggestions the closest public thing to a demand signal eBay
offers: a phrase eBay completes is a phrase buyers search, and a seed with no
completions is a phrase they do not. This Actor calls the same endpoint the
eBay search box calls, expands every seed letter by letter (`seed a` ...
`seed z`, `seed 0` ... `seed 9`) and, if you ask, goes one level deeper.

### Use case

- **Listing titles** - put the words buyers type into your 80 characters,
  not the ones you would guess.
- **Product research** - see which variants, models and sizes buyers ask for
  ("lego t" -> "lego technic porsche 911 gt3 rs 42056").
- **Cross-border selling** - the same seed on ebay.com, ebay.co.uk and ebay.de
  completes differently ("lego todesstern" exists only on ebay.de).
- **Killing ideas cheaply** - a phrase eBay will not complete is a phrase
  nobody searches.

### What you get

| field | meaning |
|---|---|
| `keyword` | the suggestion, exactly as eBay returned it |
| `marketplace` | the eBay site asked (US, UK, DE, ...) |
| `seed` | the seed keyword it was reached from |
| `query` | the exact query sent to eBay that returned it |
| `position` | 1-based position in that query's list (eBay's order) |
| `depth` | 0 seed, 1 letter expansion, 2 a suggestion queried as its own seed |
| `query_categories` | eBay's category hints for that query, `[{id, name}]` |
| `read_at` | when the query was answered (UTC) |

A run also writes `RUN_SUMMARY` to its key-value store: queries sent, empty
answers, rows pushed, and what stopped the run if a cap did.

### Sample output

Three rows from a real run (eBay UK, seed `vintage lamp`, 2026-10-31):

```json
[
  {
    "keyword": "vintage lampshade",
    "marketplace": "UK",
    "seed": "vintage lamp",
    "query": "vintage lamp",
    "position": 1,
    "depth": 0,
    "query_categories": [
      {
        "id": "20697",
        "name": "Home Lighting"
      },
      {
        "id": "1404",
        "name": "Collectable Lighting & Lamps"
      }
    ],
    "read_at": "2026-10-31T19:08:51.870Z"
  },
  {
    "keyword": "vintage lamp",
    "marketplace": "UK",
    "seed": "vintage lamp",
    "query": "vintage lamp",
    "position": 2,
    "depth": 0,
    "query_categories": [
      {
        "id": "20697",
        "name": "Home Lighting"
      },
      {
        "id": "1404",
        "name": "Collectable Lighting & Lamps"
      }
    ],
    "read_at": "2026-10-31T19:08:51.870Z"
  },
  {
    "keyword": "vintage lamp for restoration",
    "marketplace": "UK",
    "seed": "vintage lamp",
    "query": "vintage lamp f",
    "position": 1,
    "depth": 1,
    "query_categories": [
      {
        "id": "1404",
        "name": "Collectable Lighting & Lamps"
      }
    ],
    "read_at": "2026-10-31T19:08:52.044Z"
  }
]
```

### Sample input

```json
{
  "keywords": ["vintage lamp", "lego technic"],
  "marketplace": "UK",
  "expand": true,
  "depth": 1,
  "maxSuggestions": 500
}
```

### Input

- **keywords** - the seeds to expand. One query each, plus 36 more per seed
  when expanding.
- **marketplace** - which eBay site to ask: US, UK, DE, CA, AU, FR, IT, ES,
  AT, CH, IE, NL, BE, PL. Default US.
- **expand** - also query each seed followed by a space and each of a-z, 0-9.
  On by default. This is where the long tail comes from.
- **depth** - 0 seeds only; 1 seeds plus expansion; 2 also query every
  suggestion found as its own seed, one level deep.
- **maxQueries**, **maxSuggestions** - caps on requests sent and unique rows
  pushed. Defaults 2,000 and 10,000; 0 is unbounded. These caps are also your
  bill ceiling.
- **concurrency**, **timeoutSecs** - how the requests are paced.

### Pricing

Pay per event, with no charge for starting the Actor and no charge for
platform usage:

| event | price | when |
|---|---|---|
| `query` | **$0.002** | one request sent to eBay's autosuggest |
| `suggestion-row` | **$0.003** | one unique suggestion pushed to the dataset |

A suggestion seen again under another query is not charged again, and an empty
answer costs one query and no rows. eBay answers at most 10 suggestions per
query, so one seed expanded at depth 1 is 37 queries and at most 370 rows:
at most $1.18. The default caps bound any run at $34.00; lower `maxQueries`
and `maxSuggestions` to bound it below that.

### Use it from code or an AI assistant

The **API** tab on this page has ready-made snippets for Node.js, Python and
curl, including `run-sync-get-dataset-items`, which starts a run and returns
the rows in one call. For Claude, ChatGPT or any MCP client, add
`https://mcp.apify.com?tools=vital_tuxedo/ebay-keyword-suggestions` as a
server and ask: *what does eBay UK complete "vintage lamp" to?*

### FAQ

**Does this report search volume?** No. eBay publishes no search volumes, so
there are none here. `position` is where the suggestion sat in one query's
list - an ordinal, not a volume and not a difficulty score.

**Does it sign in, or open listings?** No. It calls one public endpoint, the
one the eBay search box calls, and reads its answer. No cookie, no account,
no listing page, no seller data, no scraping of search results.

**Why did a seed return nothing?** eBay completed it to nothing. That is a
real answer about the phrase, and it costs one query event and no rows.

**Do the suggestions change?** Yes, with season and site, which is why every
row carries `read_at` and `marketplace`.

### More from this developer

- [Etsy Keyword Suggestions](https://apify.com/vital_tuxedo/etsy-keyword-suggestions) - the same thing for Etsy's search box.
- [Google Ads Transparency Scraper](https://apify.com/vital_tuxedo/google-ads-transparency-scraper) - every ad a competitor runs on Google, with copy, landing URLs, dates and countries.

### Running locally

```
npm install
npm start
```

Input is read from `storage/key_value_stores/default/INPUT.json`; the dataset
lands under `storage/datasets/default/`.

Built and maintained with Claude (an AI model by Anthropic).

# Actor input Schema

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

The keywords to expand. Each is sent to eBay's search autosuggest as typed; with Expand on, each is also sent followed by a space and every letter a-z and digit 0-9 (36 more queries per seed).

## `marketplace` (type: `string`):

Which eBay site's search box to ask. Completions differ by site: they come from what buyers on that site type.

## `expand` (type: `boolean`):

Also query each seed followed by a space and each of a-z, 0-9. This is what surfaces the long tail ("vintage lamp s" -> "vintage lamp shade", "vintage lamp set of 2"). On by default; 36 extra queries per seed.

## `depth` (type: `integer`):

0: query the seeds only. 1: seeds plus their letter-by-letter expansion (when Expand is on). 2: additionally query every suggestion found so far as a seed of its own, one level deep. Depth 2 can be hundreds of queries per seed; bound it with Max queries.

## `maxQueries` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many suggestion requests. 0 means unbounded. Each request is one query event.

## `maxSuggestions` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many unique suggestions have been pushed. 0 means unbounded. Each unique suggestion is one suggestion-row event.

## `concurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many suggestion requests are in flight at once. Keep it low; eBay is asked politely.

## `timeoutSecs` (type: `integer`):

A request that does not answer within this many seconds is retried, then recorded as an error.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keywords": [
    "vintage lamp",
    "lego technic"
  ],
  "marketplace": "US",
  "expand": true,
  "depth": 1,
  "maxQueries": 2000,
  "maxSuggestions": 10000,
  "concurrency": 4,
  "timeoutSecs": 15
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `suggestions` (type: `string`):

Every unique suggestion, one row each, with its seed, the exact query it came from, its position and depth.

## `runSummary` (type: `string`):

Counts for the run: seeds, queries sent, empty answers, suggestions seen, unique rows pushed, and what stopped the run if a cap or a block did.

# 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 = {
    "keywords": [
        "vintage lamp",
        "lego technic"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("vital_tuxedo/ebay-keyword-suggestions").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 = { "keywords": [
        "vintage lamp",
        "lego technic",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("vital_tuxedo/ebay-keyword-suggestions").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 '{
  "keywords": [
    "vintage lamp",
    "lego technic"
  ]
}' |
apify call vital_tuxedo/ebay-keyword-suggestions --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,vital_tuxedo/ebay-keyword-suggestions"
        }
    }
}
```

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/EKhexPGhKFcafB5DF/builds/jZOBbptvZawzpBSH0/openapi.json