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Craigslist

Try our Craigslist scraping API for free in order to extract classified ads, local sales, and more from the po...

Web Scraping Craigslist

Craigslist is a private sales website founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark. It started as a list of local events in San Francisco but quickly expanded to include categories such as jobs, housing, services, sales, and more.

The site operates as a community platform where users can post ads for free or at a cost in specific categories. Craigslist focuses on local transactions and interactions, meaning most ads are related to goods and services available in a specific geographic region. One of the strengths of this site is its affordability; the majority of ads on Craigslist are free, although some categories and locations have fees to limit spam and ensure ad quality.

Craigslist was historically known for its "Personals" section, where users could post personal ads. However, in 2018, this section was removed due to safety concerns.

As with any online platform based on classified ads, it's important for users to take precautions when dealing with strangers.

Why should you scrape Craigslist

While scraping Craigslist, you can get data on topics such as:

Exclusive listings in different categories such as housing, jobs, and services.
User reviews to help you determine trustworthiness.
Numerous discounts compared to buying items online.
Flexible payment options, including online payment or cash.
Constantly evolving marketplace controlled by users.
To understand sales and rentals of commercial space
Beware of scams!

Scraped page

Here's an example of a page that you can scrape on Craigslist:

As you can see here, we're scraping a housing page about a prime location in the San Francisco area. You can see its price, a short description, and pictures.

Returned JSON

When you have finished your scraping, you'll get this JSON:

{
    "data": {
        "title": "3 Bed, one bath, house for rent - real estate - by broker - apartment real estate sale - Craigslist",
        "description": "We have a three-bedroom, one-bath single-family home in a prime location in Menlo Park right off of Willow Road close to all the freeways, five minutes to downtown Menlo Park. Looking for a six month...",
        "image": "https://images.craigslist.org/00m0m_cK4YCKSIoXn_0CI0t2_600x450.jpg",
        "price": null,
        "shippingFees": null,
        "currency": null,
        "isInStock": null,
        "EAN13": null,
        "ASIN": null,
        "ISBN": null,
        "color": null,
        "brand": null,
        "category": {
            "name": "3 Bed, one bath, house for rent",
            "url": "https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/reb/d/menlo-park-bed-one-bath-house-for-rent/7712244531.html"
        },
        "categories": [
            {
                "name": "sfbay.craigslist.org",
                "url": "https://sfbay.craigslist.org"
            },
            {
                "name": "peninsula",
                "url": "https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/"
            },
            {
                "name": "housing",
                "url": "https://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/pen/hhh"
            },
            {
                "name": "real estate - by broker",
                "url": "https://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/pen/rea?purveyor=dealer"
            },
            {
                "name": "3 Bed, one bath, house for rent",
                "url": "https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/reb/d/menlo-park-bed-one-bath-house-for-rent/7712244531.html"
            }
        ],
        "siteURL": "https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/reb/d/menlo-park-bed-one-bath-house-for-rent/7712244531.html",
        "siteHtml": null,
        "productHasVariations": null,
        "statusCode": 200,
        "isFinished": null,
        "isDead": null,
        "htmlLength": 31306,
        "captchaFound": false,
        "isHtmlPage": true,
        "host": "sfbay.craigslist.org",
        "originalPrice": null
    }
}

If you want more information about this scraper, you can check our page made for it :

Real estate web scraper

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