ParseForge
GovDeals Auction Results Scraper
parseforge/govdeals-scraper
AutomationE-commerceOther
Scrapes closed GovDeals auction listings by search term, category, or direct URL. Returns final price, bid count, seller, location, and auction dates for each asset.
- Total users
- 60
- Monthly active
- 12
- Total runs
- 949
- Bookmarked
- 2
- Rating
- 5.0 (1)
- Last modified
- 12 days ago
Overview
GovDeals Auction Results Scraper
Scrape GovDeals auction results by keyword, category, or direct URL, up to thousands per run. Every closed listing comes with final price, bid count, seller, location, and auction dates. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.
GovDeals lists surplus government assets from police cars to laptops, but the site shows only active auctions and hides historical results behind a clunky search. This Actor reads the public closed-auction pages directly, filtered by keyword, category, make, model, year, state, or auction type, and returns each match in one fixed schema.
| Who uses it | What they scrape GovDeals for |
|---|---|
| Used equipment dealers | Find what similar assets sold for before bidding on the next lot |
| Fleet managers | Track disposal prices for vehicles and heavy equipment across states |
| Market researchers | Build price indexes for surplus government assets by category and region |
| Auction flippers | Spot undervalued assets by comparing final bids against market value |
What it does
This Actor collects closed GovDeals auction listings by search term, category, or direct URL, and returns each one as a flat row with final price, bid count, seller, location, and auction dates.
- 🔍 Keyword search: enter any term like 'ford truck' or 'laptop' and get matching closed listings.
- 🏷️ Category filter: use GovDeals category codes like '94A' for Cars or '29' for Computers.
- 🔗 Direct URL: paste a specific GovDeals asset URL to scrape that one closed auction.
- 📊 Structured rows: every listing returns final price, bid count, seller, location, and auction dates.
- 📁 Export ready: download as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML for analysis or spreadsheets.
Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.
What you can do with GovDeals data
📈 Build price benchmarks.
A used equipment dealer runs the Actor with category '94B' for Trucks and state 'TX' to see what Ford F-150s sold for last quarter, then sets their own bid ceiling.
🔎 Find undervalued assets.
An auction flipper searches 'police car' with auction type 'Online Auction' and sorts by final price ascending to spot Crown Victorias that closed below market value.
🗺️ Track regional demand.
A market researcher filters by state and category to compare final prices for laptops in California versus New York, revealing where surplus IT equipment moves fastest.
📋 Audit agency disposals.
A government auditor scrapes all closed listings from a specific seller agency to verify that assets were sold at fair market value.
Why choose this scraper
| What you get | |
|---|---|
| Final price | The closing bid amount for each sold asset |
| Bid count | How many bids the asset received before closing |
| Seller agency | The government entity that listed the asset |
| Location | City, state, and ZIP of the asset |
| Auction dates | Start and end dates for the auction |
How it compares
This Actor focuses on closed auction results with final prices and bid counts, while the competitors below primarily target active listings or offer fewer filters.
| Feature | ParseForge | GovDeals Scraper - Low-cost💲🔥🚜🏛️ | GovDeals Government Surplus Auction Scraper | GovDeals Government Auction Scraper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Closed auction results | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Final price | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Bid count | Yes | Not listed | Yes | Not listed |
| Filter by make/brand | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Filter by model year | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Filter by state | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Sort by final price | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
Configure the run
Drive the Actor from a search term, category IDs, or a direct URL, and filters run as each listing is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.
A first run with the defaults:
{
"searchText": "ford truck",
"maxItems": 10
}
A larger pull:
{
"searchText": "ford truck",
"maxItems": 200
}
Pricing
Pay-per-result: $0.01599 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.
| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $1.60 |
| 1,000 results | $15.99 |
| 10,000 results | $159.90 |
New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.
Free users
Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.
Run it
- Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
- Open the GovDeals Auction Results Scraper.
- Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
- Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.
Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.
Use with AI agents (MCP)
Give an AI agent live access to GovDeals through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/govdeals-scraper"
Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.
Troubleshooting
Why am I getting no results?
Check your search term or filters. If you provided a startUrl, it overrides all search filters. Also ensure the auction has closed; active auctions are not returned.
Why are some fields empty in the output?
Not every GovDeals listing includes every field. For example, some assets may not have a model year or a make/brand. Empty fields are normal for incomplete listings.
The Actor is running slowly or timing out.
Reduce maxConcurrency to 1 or 2. This slows down the scraping but reduces the chance of rate-limiting or timeouts.
I get an error when using a category ID.
Make sure you are using the correct GovDeals category code. The codes are alphanumeric, like '94A' for Cars. Check the GovDeals category list for the exact code.
FAQ
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Does this scrape active or closed auctions? | This Actor is built for closed auction results. It reads the public listing pages for auctions that have ended, so you get final prices and bid counts. Active auctions are not included. |
| Can I scrape a specific auction by URL? | Yes. Paste the GovDeals asset URL into the startUrl field and the Actor will scrape that single closed listing, ignoring all search filters. |
| How do I filter by category? | Use the categoryIds field with GovDeals category codes. For example, '94A' for Cars, '94B' for Trucks, '94L' for SUVs, and '29' for Computers. You can find the full list on GovDeals. |
| Can I combine filters? | Yes, all filters are combined with AND logic. For example, you can set categoryIds to '94B', makebrand to 'Ford', and locationState to 'TX' to get only Ford trucks in Texas. |
| What is the maximum number of listings I can scrape? | You set the maxItems field to any number. The Actor will collect up to that many listings per run. There is no hard limit, but be mindful of GovDeals rate limits. |
| Does this need an API key or login? | No. The Actor reads public GovDeals pages directly. You do not need a GovDeals account or API key. |
| What export formats are supported? | You can export the results as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify dataset. |
| Can I sort the results? | Yes, use the sortField and sortOrder inputs. You can sort by final price, location, or auction end date, in ascending or descending order. |
| What if I get rate-limited? | Lower the maxConcurrency setting to reduce parallel requests. The default is 5, but you can set it as low as 1 to be gentle on the site. |
| Does this work for all US states? | Yes, you can filter by any US state abbreviation in the locationState field. Leave it blank to include all states. |
Related actors
- govdeals-scraper: Another GovDeals scraper focused on active auction listings with geolocation data.
Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.
🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.
⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by GovDeals, Inc. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.
Input
| Field | Type | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| searchText | string | Keyword search query (e.g. 'ford truck', 'laptop', 'police car'). If provided, startUrl is ignored. | ford truck |
| startUrl | string | GovDeals.com asset URL to scrape a specific closed auction. If provided, search filters are ignored. | not set |
| maxItems | integer | How many listings to collect per run. | 10 |
| categoryIds | string | Category code to filter results (e.g. '94A' for Cars, '94B' for Trucks, '94L' for SUVs, '29' for Computers). See GovDeals category list for all codes. | not set |
| makebrand | string | Filter by manufacturer or brand (e.g. 'Ford', 'Dell', 'Caterpillar'). | not set |
| model | string | Filter by model name (e.g. 'F-150', 'Latitude', 'D6'). | not set |
| modelYear | string | Filter by model year (e.g. '2020', '2019'). | not set |
| locationState | string | Filter by US state abbreviation (e.g. 'CA', 'TX', 'NY'). | not set |
| auctionTypeId | integer | Filter by auction type: 3=Online Auction, 4=Buy Now, 5=Make Offer, 1=Sealed Bid. Leave blank for all types. | not set |
| sortField | string (3 options) | Sort results by this field. | auctionEnd |
| sortOrder | string (2 options) | Sort direction: 'asc' (ascending) or 'desc' (descending, newest/highest first). | desc |
| maxConcurrency | integer | Maximum number of parallel requests. Lower this if you get rate-limited. | 5 |
Pricing
from $11.99 per 1,000 results
| Charged for | What it is | Price each |
|---|---|---|
| Actor Start | Charged once when the run starts. | $0.005 |
| Result Item | Charged once per result collected. | $0.01199 to $0.01599 |
Tiered: the lower figure is the price on a higher Apify plan. Billing and the free credit live on Apify.
API
One POST returns the dataset directly. Same shape for every scraper in the library, so swapping the slug is the only change.
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/parseforge~govdeals-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"helloWorld": 123
}' Examples
Input that runs as-is.
{
"helloWorld": 123
} Reviews
Rated 5.0 out of 5 across 1 review. Read them on Apify.
Issues
We build and maintain this scraper, so a problem with it comes to us. Report it on the Apify listing and the thread stays attached to the scraper where the next person can find it: open an issue.
Broken and urgent, or you would rather not post in public? Write to parseforge@protonmail.com and it reaches the people who wrote it.