Do you want detailed reviews of eBay products, and you wish to scrape the eBay website to get eBay products prices, product details and descriptions, but you don’t know how? This article provides you with the best eBay scraper you can use to scrape eBay product data.
Web scrapers are interested in two types of data on eBay: product details for individual items or a listing of a collection of items. There are some companies that employ web scraping in order to keep an eye on the prices of their items of interest, while others only scrape the data they need and leave.
The fact that you can easily scrape eBay no matter what type of person you are may be of interest to you. This is due to the fact that it has a simple interface and does not use AJAX, which will impede your ability to scrape. Basically, this implies that downloading and analyzing the pages will be a breeze. However, due to the safeguards in place, getting access to data can be challenging.
Using proxies is a must if you want to scrape at a respectable scale. If you don’t use proxies, you’ll be caught and forced to solve Captchas, at which point you’ll be barred. To avoid IP tracking, use proxies to make your requests seem to come from various machines.
It is also necessary to provide header data such as User-Agent, and to prevent suspicion; you should imitate a well-known browser. It’s not an issue for many of the generic web scrapers on the market; thus, a good number of them can really scrape eBay. There are, however, a few dedicated eBay scrapers out there that can help. I’ve put up a list of web scrapers that I’ve tested and found to be both generic and eBay-specific.
7 Best eBay Scraping Tools in 2024
1. Bright Data (BrightData eBay Collector) — Best eBay Scraper for Non-coders to scrape eBay Data
- Price: Begins at 500 USD (for 151k page loads)
- Data Format: Excel
- Platform Supported: Web-Based
Bright EBay Data Collector is the best web scraper for non-coders that want to extract product data from eBay. You can use this tool to get the most accurate product information on eBay with ease. Product URLs and barcodes are now supported for scraping product data in Data Collector.
This eBay scraper is among the best when it comes to extracting structured data from e-commerce and social media networks. Data Collector has a feature that you’ll appreciate: if a collector isn’t supported, you can request it, and they’ll make it happen.
2. Apify (Apify eBay Scraper) — Easy-to-use eBay Scraper for Scraping eBay Product Data
- Price: Begins at 49 USD monthly
- Free Option (Free account with a credit of 5 USD monthly)
- Data Format: RSS, HTML, XML, Excel, CSV, JSON
- Platform Supported: Desktop, Cloud
Any website can be scraped with Apify’s web scraping and automation software. Apify can extract data from a web page if you can access it manually from a browser. The all-purpose Apify Store Web Scraper may be customized, but it does not yet have a specialized eBay scraper. If you have any questions or concerns, the staff at Apify is always ready to help.
Proxy servers will very probably be required if you intend to scrape eBay. In addition to Apify’s built-in proxy service, web scraping can be done at any scale. Apify Proxy comes with a free 30-day trial and 5 USD in monthly platform credits with the free account.
3. ProxyCrawl (Proxycrawl eBay Scraper) — Best for Collecting Data of eBay Product Descriptions and Prices
- Price: Begins at 29 USD monthly (for 50k credits)
- Data Format: JSON
- Platform Supported: Cloud-Based (accessible through API)
- Free Option (first 1k requests)
An API for scraping product specifications like availability, description, price, title, and name has been created by Proxycrawl. EBay search results can also be organized using this tool. As a scraping API, there are no blocks or Captchas to deal with while using the Proxycrawl eBay Scraper.
The scraper can even be tested in real-time, so you can verify that it is delivering the information you want it to. Simply issue a restful API call, and a JSON-formatted response is delivered with the data you need.
4. Octoparse — Best eBay Scraper with Advanced Features to Scrape eBay effortlessly
- Price: Begins at 75 USD monthly
- Free Option (14 days free trial)
- Data Format: SQLServer, MySQL, JSON, Excel, CSV
- Platform Supported: Desktop, Cloud
Web scraping is made simple using Octoparse. With only a few mouse clicks, this online scraping program transforms web pages into an organized spreadsheet. It has the ability to extract eBay data. With Octoparse’s powerful web scraping features, it is able to extract data from even the most complex and difficult websites.
Octoparse is available in two forms: as a desktop program and as a cloud service. You can utilize eBay’s pre-made template designs for your eBay listings. When you sign up, you’ll get a 14-day free trial with some limits, which you can unlock after making a financial commitment.
5. ParseHub — Best Budget-friendly eBay Scraper
- Price: 149 USD monthly
- Data Format: JSON, Excel
- Platform Supported: Desktop, Cloud
You can use ParseHub if you don’t have a lot of money but still want to scrape eBay product listings and other publicly available data from the site. Why is this so? Even though the ParseHub desktop program is free to use, there are some limits.
Proxies must be configured, and the scraper will handle IP rotation for you. Using rotating proxies, however, is the most efficient method. For data point training, ParseHub also uses a point-and-click interface. At the same time, ParseHub is extremely strong and versatile. It’s possible to program it to scrape on a regular basis.
6. ScrapeStorm — Best eBay Scraper with AI to Extract eBay Product Data
- Price:99 USD monthly
- Data Format: Google Sheets, MySQL, JSON, Excel, CSV, TXT
- Platform Supported: Cloud, Desktop
- Free Option (Free starter plan)
With ScrapeStorm, you can extract the details of products from eBay utilizing AI. To utilize ScrapeStorm’s AI-based system, you don’t first need to train it on a certain popular site like eBay — it accomplishes this automatically using its AI-based system. A former Google crawler team created ScrapeStorm. Using ScrapeStorm, you can choose from a variety of export methods, including cloud-based access.
7. Helium Scraper — Best for eBay Product Scraping on a Big Scale
- Price: 99 USD (One user license)
- Free option (10 days free trial)
- Data Format: SQLite, JSON, Excel, CSV, XML
- Platform Supported: Desktop
If you want to extract data from e-commerce sites like eBay, Helium Scraper is the tool you need. Many of Helium Scraper’s characteristics make it ideal for large-scale eBay scraping. It features SQLite support, which can store up to 140 terabytes of data. It’s a great tool for manipulating text and has a similar element identification method that can identify components that are similar.
Helium Scraper is a visual scraping tool, so you don’t need any coding experience to use it. Helium Scraper’s straightforward point-and-click interface makes it simple to use.
How to scrape eBay Listings using Apify
Step 1: Navigate to the page of the Apify Scraper
Tap the Try for free option on the scraper’s website. You’ll be sent to Apify Console, where you can execute scraper operations. Continue to Step Three if you already have an Apify account and are signed in.
Step 2: Log in
You’ll be redirected to the sign-up page if you’re not logged in (if you are already signed in, skip to Step 3). Google, your email, or GitHub account can all be used to sign up. You’ll be sent to the scraper’s page in your Apify Console as a result of this action.
Step 3: Tap the ‘Start your Free Trial’ tab
To begin utilizing the actor, click the Start your free trial button. No credit card is required, and the free plan includes 5 USD in monthly platform credits. After 14 days of free use, you’ll have to pay 50 USD monthly to use eBay Scraper, which provides excellent support and maintenance.
Step 4: Fill out the required fields
You can now enter data into the appropriate areas. To begin, you must inform the scraper about the object to be scraped. There is a starting URL required. Scraping a whole category isn’t necessary for this instruction. That could take a long time. In order to find the “camera drones” category on eBay.com, let’s check through the many categories. When you select a category, you’ll be sent to a page. The DJI brand sub-category should be visible on that page. Even more specifically, let’s collect some information about the DJI Mini 2. As a result, click on DJI Mini 2. This lesson should be able to make use of this quantity of information. You can use the category page’s URL as your starting point. Access the URL of the DJI Mini 2. So all you have to do now is return to Apify Console and paste in the URL you copied before.
Step 5: Tap on the green Start tab
The tab is clearly visible at the bottom of the page. The eBay Scraper will begin its operation. This indicates that eBay has been effectively scoured. In the output, you’ll be able to monitor how it’s going. This can take up to ten minutes to complete.
Step 6: Successful Scraping Run
When you return, you should see that the scraping operation was successful.
Step 7: Access your Data
Finally, you’ll be able to see your information! Simple, just click on the Dataset tab. That will allow you to access all of your data in a variety of pre-formatted ways. In addition to XML and CSV, you can also get the data in JSON and other formats. It’s possible to see a glimpse of the data by clicking on the Dataset tab.
FAQs
Q. How do I use Python to scrape eBay product data?
In an attempt to monitor the price variations of competitors’ products, several companies utilize web scraping. Some people only extract the info once and never look back. Among the most commonly requested eBay data extractions is a list of items and product information. However, scraping eBay may be of interest to you regardless of your motives. For web scraping protection, eBay does not employ AJAX. The total procedure has been greatly streamlined as a result of this. While getting to the data is a challenge, downloading and processing it aren’t too onerous.
You will need proxies if you wish to scrape eBay data without using any professional tools. It is possible to mask your real IP address with proxies like Bright Data or Proxy Seller, making it appear that the scraping requests are coming from numerous distinct machines. You’ll get caught by eBay if you don’t use these proxies. So, you’ll have to deal with Captchas. In order to avoid suspicion, you’ll need to configure your browser to appear like a well-known one. A typical programming language for scraping in Python. The final extraction of data can be done using BeautifulSoup.
Q. Does eBay data have value?
One of the first online e-commerce websites is eBay. 154 million customers and 19 million vendors from all over the world are currently linked by this 1995 launch. In the third quarter of 2021, gross merchandise volume amounted to 19.5 USD billion. There was a 12.5 USD billion mobile transaction volume; thus, eBay isn’t falling behind in the mobile revolution.
Merchant profiles, locations, photos, pricing, product descriptions, and more are all included in the data that comes from those numbers. eBay trending items and product research tools like this one might help you identify the best-selling things on eBay, learn about your rivals and their pricing strategies, research popular items and uncover opportunities that can’t be met by any amount of manual intelligence.
Q. Is eBay scraping legal?
Scraping is, in fact, a lawful activity. If you’re not familiar with the legal ramifications of web scraping, I have got you covered: It is legal to scrape data from eBay.
Q. If I scrape eBay, would I be blocked?
In other words, scrapers are frowned upon by virtually every website, and eBay is no different. As a result, you must do all in your power to avoid being detected by eBay’s scraper blockers. Fortunately, it’s not as difficult as it seems.
Q. Why do I need to scrape eBay?
The goal of eBay scraping is to obtain data that you can evaluate and utilize to improve your shop. A competition study, pricing tracking and review analysis are a few of the steps you’ll do to better understand the industry. You can’t succeed in your online business unless you take into account these things.
Conclusion
eBay scrapers for eBay product listings and other data can be found beyond the ones listed here. In case you’re looking for an eBay scraper that not only works but is also robust, user-friendly, and packed with several advanced capabilities, then any of the scrapers listed above should do the trick.
