# Preloved Scraper — UK Classified Ads, Prices & Photos (`yugenox/preloved-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Preloved UK classified ads by keyword, category and location (town, city or postcode plus distance): title, price, ad type, category path, town, county, photos, posted and updated dates, seller type. Optional description, item details and views. Free items, wanted ads, pets. No login.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/yugenox/preloved-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Yugenox Corp](https://apify.com/yugenox) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce, Lead generation, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.50 / 1,000 ads

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

## Preloved Scraper: UK classified ads, prices and photos

Scrape **Preloved**, the UK classifieds marketplace, by keyword, category and location. Every ad comes with the **title, price, ad type (for sale, wanted, swap, free…), full category path, town and county, photos, posted and updated dates, and whether the seller is private, a business or a charity**. Optionally add the **full description, the item details the seller filled in (condition, make, model, size…) and the view count**. Search near any UK town, city or postcode within a distance you choose. No login, no cookies, no Preloved account.

This Actor is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Preloved or its owners.

### What you get

| | |
|---|---|
| **Ad** | Title, link, ad ID, ad type (For Sale, Wanted, To Rent, Swap, Free, Lost, Found…), posted and last-updated dates |
| **Price** | Price as a number and as shown, the note next to it (`ono`, `ovno`, `plus vat`, `no offers`…), free items flagged |
| **Category** | The most specific category plus the full path, e.g. `Health and Leisure > Cycling > Bicycles` |
| **Place** | Town and county, e.g. `Salford, Greater Manchester` |
| **Photos** | All photo URLs and the photo count |
| **Seller type** | `private`, `business` or `charity` — never who the seller is |
| **Ad details** (optional) | The full description, item details such as condition, manufacturer, model, size or engine size, and how many times the ad was viewed |

### How to use it

1. Enter one or more **keywords**, e.g. `bike`, `sofa`, `lego`, `ford transit`, and/or one or more **categories**, e.g. `Bicycles`, `Dogs`, `Household Furniture`.
2. Optionally enter a **location** (a town, city or postcode such as `Manchester`, `Leeds` or `SW1A 1AA`) and a **distance** (20 miles by default). Leave the location empty to search the whole UK.
3. Set **Max ads** and any filters (ad type, private or business sellers, free items only, price range, posted within N days), then run.

Each keyword is searched in each location. **Max ads** is the total for the run, shared fairly between your searches.

#### Input examples

Bikes within 20 miles of Manchester, with full details:

```json
{
  "keywords": ["bike"],
  "location": "Manchester",
  "distance": "20",
  "maxItems": 50,
  "includeDetails": true
}
```

Every dog and furniture ad posted in the last 3 days, anywhere in the UK:

```json
{
  "categories": ["Dogs", "Household Furniture"],
  "maxAgeDays": 3,
  "maxItems": 500
}
```

Private sellers only, £50–£200, cheapest first, in several cities:

```json
{
  "keywords": ["sofa"],
  "locations": ["Leeds", "Bristol", "Glasgow"],
  "sellerType": "private",
  "minPrice": 50,
  "maxPrice": 200,
  "sortBy": "priceAsc",
  "maxItems": 150
}
```

Everything given away for free near a postcode:

```json
{
  "freeOnly": true,
  "location": "SW1A 1AA",
  "distance": "10",
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

You can also paste Preloved links into **Preloved links**: search pages (`https://www.preloved.co.uk/search?keyword=…`, the filters in the link are kept), category pages (`https://www.preloved.co.uk/classifieds/cycling/bicycles`), Freeloved, or single ads (`https://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/…`).

### Output example

```json
{
  "id": "123131718",
  "title": "Hidoes B3 Electric bike well maintained",
  "price": 650,
  "priceText": "£650",
  "priceQualifier": "ovno",
  "currency": "GBP",
  "isFree": false,
  "adType": "For Sale",
  "adTypeCode": "forsale",
  "sellerType": "private",
  "category": "Bicycles",
  "categoryId": "3523",
  "categoryPath": ["Health and Leisure", "Cycling", "Bicycles"],
  "location": "Salford, Greater Manchester",
  "town": "Salford",
  "county": "Greater Manchester",
  "description": "Hidoes HD-B3 Electric Bike\nWell maintened, fully working electric bike.\n\nMotor Power: 1200W brushless rear hub and 48V 18.2Ah battery. …",
  "condition": "Second hand",
  "attributes": {
    "Condition": "Second hand",
    "Manufacturer": "Hidoes",
    "Model": "B3",
    "Type": "Electric Bike",
    "Gears": "7",
    "Frame Size": "26 inches",
    "Wheel Size": "26 inches"
  },
  "imageUrl": "https://preloved.thcdn.com/e2/77/e2773ff077b04439802e1b0bf8887716.jpg?r=0",
  "imageUrls": ["https://preloved.thcdn.com/e2/77/e2773ff077b04439802e1b0bf8887716.jpg?r=0", "…"],
  "imageCount": 3,
  "securePayment": false,
  "viewCount": 6,
  "postedAt": "2026-09-22T15:35:57.000Z",
  "updatedAt": "2026-09-22T18:09:06.000Z",
  "url": "https://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/123131718/hidoes-b3-electric-bike-well-maintained.html",
  "searchKeyword": "bike",
  "searchLocation": "Manchester",
  "searchCategory": null,
  "position": 1,
  "detailsFetched": true,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-01T23:55:50.927Z"
}
```

`condition`, `attributes` and `viewCount` are filled when **Include ad details** is on; without it, `description` is the first ~200 characters that search results show. Every row has the same columns; a value the ad doesn't state is `null`.

### Use cases

- **Price research**: see what second-hand bikes, furniture, tools or caravans really sell for, by region.
- **Deal alerts**: schedule a run every hour with **Posted within: 1 day** and get new ads for your keywords.
- **Resellers and dealers**: find stock in your area by category, price range and seller type.
- **Rescue and rehoming**: track pet and livestock ads by county.
- **Market data**: count listings by category and county over time.

### FAQ

**Do I need a Preloved account, cookies or a login?** No. The scraper reads the same public ads any visitor sees. It never logs in and needs nothing from you except a keyword, a category, a location or a link.

**Which places can I use?** Any UK town, city or postcode Preloved knows (`Manchester`, `Leeds`, `SW1A 1AA`). The distance defaults to 20 miles; choose **Any distance** to search the whole UK with the nearest ads first. A partial name is searched as Preloved's nearest match (e.g. `Manch` → `Manchester`), and the status message says so. A place Preloved doesn't recognise is skipped, not charged, and named in the run's status message.

**Which categories can I use?** Category names as Preloved shows them (`Bicycles`, `Dogs`, `Household Furniture`, `Motorcycles`), a path when a name appears in several places (`Cycling > Spares and Accessories`), the category ID, or a Preloved category link. Several categories are searched together. Unknown names are reported in the status message.

**How many ads can I get?** All of them. Preloved has around 55,000 live ads, and a search returns every match, up to 200 per request. Set **Max ads** to 0 to get everything your searches find.

**How fast is it?** A result page of up to 200 ads takes under a second, so 1,000 ads take about ten seconds. **Include ad details** reads one extra record per ad, about two to four ads per second.

**What does "Posted within (days)" do?** It returns only ads first posted in the last N days, newest first. Preloved lets sellers bump old ads to the top; those are left out (and not charged), and the status message says how many.

**Which proxy should I use?** Keep the default (Apify Proxy, datacenter). It comes with every Apify plan, including the free one. If Preloved refuses datacenter IPs for a while, the run switches to UK residential proxies when your account has them, and carries on without them when it doesn't.

**What does a run cost?** A small fee per run, per search, per ad saved, and per ad whose details were loaded. See the Pricing tab. Ads removed by your filters, duplicates, unknown places and categories are never charged as ads.

**Does it collect seller names or phone numbers?** No. Preloved is mostly private individuals, so the scraper keeps item data only: no seller names or screen names, member IDs, profile links, "member since" dates, membership levels, ratings, phone numbers or e-mails, and no postcode or map position (only the town and county shown on the ad). It never uses Preloved's contact, messaging or favourites features, and it masks phone numbers and e-mail addresses that sellers type into titles, descriptions and item details (`[phone removed]`). It only tells you whether a seller is private, a business or a charity. Ads about people rather than items (greetings, pen pals, introductions) are left out.

**Is it legal to scrape Preloved?** This Actor only collects publicly available data: classified ads that anyone can see on Preloved without an account, such as the title, price, category, town, photos and dates. Collecting publicly available data is generally legal, but you're responsible for how you use it. Ads on Preloved are placed by private individuals, businesses and charities: the scraper never collects a seller's name, profile, phone number or e-mail, and it removes phone numbers and e-mail addresses from ad texts. You must follow privacy laws such as UK GDPR, as well as Preloved's terms. If you're unsure, check with a lawyer. More on this: [Is web scraping legal?](https://blog.apify.com/is-web-scraping-legal/)

**Does it access any private data?** No. Everything comes from the ads Preloved shows to any visitor without logging in. It never uses a login, never touches user accounts, messages, favourites or saved searches, and follows the site's robots.txt.

**Is this an official Preloved product?** No. This Actor is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Preloved or its owners.

# Actor input Schema

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

What to search for on Preloved, e.g. "bike", "sofa", "lego", "ford transit". Each keyword is searched separately (and in each location). Leave empty to browse a category or a place.

## `categories` (type: `array`):

Only ads in these Preloved categories. Use the name as Preloved shows it ("Bicycles", "Sofas", "Dogs"), a path when a name is used twice ("Cycling > Bicycles"), the category ID, or a Preloved category link (https://www.preloved.co.uk/classifieds/cycling/bicycles). Several categories are searched together.

## `location` (type: `string`):

A UK town, city or postcode, e.g. "Manchester", "Leeds", "SW1A 1AA". Leave empty to search the whole UK. A place Preloved doesn't recognise is skipped (and not charged) instead of returning ads from everywhere.

## `locations` (type: `array`):

Run the same search in several places, e.g. "Bristol", "Glasgow".

## `distance` (type: `string`):

How far around the location to search. "Any distance" searches the whole UK with the nearest ads first.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of ads for the whole run, shared fairly between your searches (a search that finds fewer leaves its share to the others). 0 = everything.

## `includeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Also read every ad's own record for the full description (search results show about 200 characters), the item details (condition, make, model, size, colour and other facts the seller filled in) and the view count. One extra request per ad.

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Optional: Preloved search pages (https://www.preloved.co.uk/search?keyword=…, filters in the link are kept), category pages (https://www.preloved.co.uk/classifieds/…), Freeloved, or single ads (https://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/…).

## `adType` (type: `string`):

Only one kind of listing. Empty = all.

## `sellerType` (type: `string`):

Private sellers, businesses or charities. Who the seller is (name, profile, phone, e-mail) is never collected.

## `freeOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Only items given away for free.

## `minPrice` (type: `integer`):

Only ads at or above this price.

## `maxPrice` (type: `integer`):

Only ads at or below this price.

## `maxAgeDays` (type: `integer`):

Only ads first posted in the last N days (newest first). Older ads that were just bumped are left out and not charged. Empty = any time.

## `sortBy` (type: `string`):

Order of the results (and so which ads you get first when Max ads is lower than the total). "Most recent" = most recently posted or updated.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Requests in flight at the same time (1–5); it matters mostly with ad details on. The default 2 is polite and fast enough for most runs.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Apify Proxy (datacenter) is the default and comes with every Apify plan. If Preloved refuses datacenter IPs for a while, the run switches to UK residential proxies when your account has them.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keywords": [
    "bike"
  ],
  "distance": "20",
  "maxItems": 20,
  "includeDetails": false,
  "adType": "all",
  "sellerType": "all",
  "freeOnly": false,
  "sortBy": "match",
  "maxConcurrency": 2,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

All scraped ads.

## `run` (type: `string`):

Status and statistics for this run.

## `report` (type: `string`):

RUN_REPORT: how the run ended, counts, searches, requests and proxy use.

# 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": [
        "bike"
    ],
    "maxItems": 20,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("yugenox/preloved-scraper").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": ["bike"],
    "maxItems": 20,
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("yugenox/preloved-scraper").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": [
    "bike"
  ],
  "maxItems": 20,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call yugenox/preloved-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,yugenox/preloved-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

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/5HXDS3UsazgF6P7TW/builds/fuyXRKpa6GGnAnVBY/openapi.json