ParseForge
Sotheby's Auctions Scraper
parseforge/sothebys-auctions-scraper
Developer toolsAutomationOther
Searches Sotheby's auction lots by keyword and returns each lot as a flat row with estimates, realized price, and listing metadata. Supports up to 1,000,000 lots per run.
- Total users
- 1
- Monthly active
- 0
- Total runs
- 61
- Bookmarked
- 0
- Rating
- Not rated yet
- Last modified
- 9 days ago
Overview
Sotheby's Auctions Scraper
Scrape Sotheby's auction lots and sale results by artist, brand, or category, up to a million per run. Every lot comes with its estimates, realized price, and full listing details. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.
Sotheby's official site lets you browse upcoming auctions and past results, but collecting that data by hand for valuation or market research is slow. This Actor searches Sotheby's public lot listings by keyword and returns each matching lot in a flat, structured row. It works for fine art, jewelry, watches, wine, and every other category the house sells.
| Who uses it | What they scrape Sotheby's for |
|---|---|
| Art appraisers | Pull recent comparable sales for a valuation report. |
| Market researchers | Track which artists or categories are outperforming their estimates. |
| Collectors | Monitor new lots matching a saved artist or brand before auction day. |
| Data journalists | Build a dataset of realized prices to analyze art market trends. |
What it does
This Actor searches Sotheby's auction lots by a keyword you supply and returns each lot as a flat row with its estimates, realized price, and listing metadata.
- 🔍 Keyword search: supply an artist, brand, or category such as 'monet', 'rolex', or 'wine'.
- 📊 Price data: estimates and realized prices are included when Sotheby's publishes them.
- 📦 Bulk collection: set maxItems as high as 1,000,000 to pull every matching lot in one run.
Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.
What you can do with Sotheby's data
📈 Build comparable-sale reports.
An appraiser searches an artist name, collects the last 200 realized prices, and exports a CSV to support a fair-market-value opinion.
🕵️ Monitor a wish list.
A collector runs the Actor weekly with a saved brand keyword and filters the dataset for lots closing in the next 14 days.
📰 Feed a market newsletter.
A data journalist pulls all wine lots that sold above their high estimate and writes a story on the quarter's top surprises.
Why choose this scraper
| What you get | |
|---|---|
| No API registration | Reads Sotheby's public lot feeds directly with zero OAuth or app setup. |
| Fixed flat schema | Every lot lands as one row, ready for Excel, SQL, or a BI tool. |
| Estimates and realized prices | Collects the numbers appraisers and researchers need. |
How it compares
Three other Apify actors also target Sotheby's data. Here is how they compare on the features buyers ask about most.
| Feature | ParseForge | Fine Art Auction Results: Sotheby’s Price Comps | Sotheby's Lot Scraper (crawlerbros) | Sotheby's Lot Scraper (crawlergang) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keyword search by artist or brand | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Realized prices and estimates | Yes | Yes | Not listed | Not listed |
| Up to 1,000,000 lots per run | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Multi-house data (beyond Sotheby's) | No | Yes | No | No |
| Fixed flat output schema | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
Configure the run
Drive the Actor with a single search keyword, and set a maximum number of lots so only the newest or most relevant matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.
A first run with the defaults:
{
"query": "monet",
"maxItems": 10
}
A larger pull:
{
"query": "monet",
"maxItems": 200
}
Pricing
Pay-per-result: $0.021 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.
| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $2.10 |
| 1,000 results | $21.00 |
| 10,000 results | $210.00 |
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 Sotheby's Auctions 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 Sotheby's 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/sothebys-auctions-scraper"
Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.
Troubleshooting
Why am I getting no results?
Check the spelling of your keyword. Try a broader term, for example 'watch' instead of a specific reference number. Also confirm that Sotheby's currently has lots matching that term by searching manually on their site.
The Actor stops before reaching my maxItems limit.
The Actor collects every lot that matches your keyword. If Sotheby's returns fewer results than your maxItems value, the run finishes early. This is expected behaviour, not an error.
Some lots are missing the realized price.
Realized prices are only available for lots that have already sold. Upcoming auction lots will show estimates but no realized price. Check the sale status column to distinguish them.
The run is slow with a very high maxItems.
Collecting hundreds of thousands of lots takes time because the Actor respects Sotheby's servers. Use a higher maxItems value and let the run complete, or split the work across multiple keyword-specific runs.
I see a different number of results than the Sotheby's website shows.
Sotheby's search may return slightly different counts over time as lots are added or removed. The Actor captures what is publicly visible at the moment of the run.
FAQ
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Does this Actor need a Sotheby's account or API key? | No. It reads the public lot search pages that anyone can visit in a browser. No login, API key, or OAuth flow is required. |
| What data fields does each lot row contain? | The exact field list is shown in the sample output on the Actor's page. It typically includes title, artist or maker, category, estimates, realized price, currency, lot number, auction name, and a source URL. |
| Can I scrape only upcoming auctions, or only past results? | The keyword search returns both upcoming lots and past sale results. You can filter the dataset after the run by the auction date or sale status column. |
| How many lots can I collect in one run? | You set the maximum with the 'Maximum lots' input field. The upper limit is 1,000,000 lots per run. |
| What keyword should I use? | Use any term that appears in Sotheby's lot titles or descriptions: an artist name like 'picasso', a brand like 'patek philippe', or a category like 'contemporary art'. |
| Does the Actor handle multiple keywords at once? | The input accepts one keyword per run. To cover several terms, queue multiple runs with different keywords, or use Apify's actor orchestration to chain them. |
| Can I get images of the lots? | Image URLs are included in the dataset when Sotheby's provides them on the search results page. |
| What export formats are supported? | You can export your dataset as CSV, JSON, Excel, XML, or push it directly to a webhook or cloud storage through Apify's integrations. |
| Is this Actor suitable for commercial art valuation? | Yes, appraisers and galleries use it to gather comparable sales quickly. Always verify critical figures against the original Sotheby's listing. |
| How often can I run the Actor? | As often as you like. Apify's scheduler can run it hourly, daily, or weekly so your dataset stays current with new auction listings. |
Related actors
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 Sotheby's. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| query | string | Keyword to search across Sotheby's auctions and sale results (for example an artist, brand, or category such as 'monet', 'rolex', or 'wine'). Trimmed before use. | monet |
| maxItems | integer | How many auction lots to collect per run. | 10 |
Pricing
from $19.00 per 1,000 results
| Charged for | What it is | Price each |
|---|---|---|
| result | Single result in the default dataset. | $0.019 to $0.021 |
Tiered: the lower figure is the price on a higher Apify plan. Billing and the free credit live on Apify.
API
One POST returns the dataset directly. Same shape for every scraper in the library, so swapping the slug is the only change.
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/parseforge~sothebys-auctions-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"helloWorld": 123
}' Examples
Input that runs as-is.
{
"helloWorld": 123
} Reviews
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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.