Automating the BaT hunt? (Messing with scrapers)

[Sacasajr]

Hi everyone,

 

I’ve been lurking here for a while as I’ve been researching getting into a Seven (specifically keeping an eye out for an SV chassis since I’m on the taller side).

 

I've been monitoring the Seven category on Bring a Trailer but it's always a mixed bag. Sometimes it’s a pristine Caterham 420R, sometimes it’s a project Locost that needs a total resort. Trying to keep track of the actual sold prices to figure out a realistic budget was getting tedious, especially with how often they pop up randomly.

 

I’ve been reading up on automation lately and decided to see if I could combine that with my car search. I found a platform called Apify that hosts a bunch of different web scrapers, and I managed to find one running specifically for BaT.

 

It was actually pretty interesting. Instead of manually refreshing pages, I just set it to scrape the "Lotus Seven" and "Caterham" search results. It gave me a clean export of: winning bids, comments, and locations (trying not to rack up shipping costs).

 

Here's the link if anyone wants to check it out: https://apify.com/parseforge/bringatrailer-auctions-scraper

 

I’m still pretty new to the whole scraping/automation world, so I’m just testing the waters, but I've found it sooo interesting. Has anyone else here used tools like this to track values or find parts?

 

Any tips on how to refine this or other tools you've used would be appreciated!

 

Thanks!!

[Vovchandr]

We have a scraper bot already @Croc

 

Hints to refine the tool is one discussion

 

If you're just looking for a good Duratec SV I'd have a budget of around $40k and it goes +/- from there depending how many others want that similar color/spec, location, registration docs etc at the same time. 

 

Full range would likely be about $35k to $45k+, likely going more towards $45k due to 420R spec being closer to top of the range. 

[Sacasajr]

17 hours ago, Vovchandr said:

We have a scraper bot already @Croc

 

Hints to refine the tool is one discussion

 

If you're just looking for a good Duratec SV I'd have a budget of around $40k and it goes +/- from there depending how many others want that similar color/spec, location, registration docs etc at the same time. 

 

Full range would likely be about $35k to $45k+, likely going more towards $45k due to 420R spec being closer to top of the range. 

Oh that is awesome, I had no idea there was already a bot running here. I figured you guys might be ahead of the curve on that stuff.

 

Is it something that pulls into a public database/thread, or is it an internal tool? I'll check out the discussion.

 

And I really appreciate the numbers on the Duratec SV. That $40k mark aligns with the data I was pulling, but the spreadsheet definitely doesn’t capture the 'registration docs' headache. I have read enough stories about SB100/titling to know that a clean title is probably worth its weight in gold compared to a cheaper track-only car.

 

Thanks for the help!

[JohnCh]

1 hour ago, Sacasajr said:

And I really appreciate the numbers on the Duratec SV. That $40k mark aligns with the data I was pulling, but the spreadsheet definitely doesn’t capture the 'registration docs' headache. I have read enough stories about SB100/titling to know that a clean title is probably worth its weight in gold compared to a cheaper track-only car.

 

Other than an SV, what are you looking for? Is the car intended exclusively for track use or will it also see registered road use? Will you import it to Honduras, or do you have a place in the US?

[Croc]

2 hours ago, Sacasajr said:

Is it something that pulls into a public database/thread, or is it an internal tool? I'll check out the discussion.

 

 

No need to complicate thinking on data.  Good free to access reference points are here:

 

https://bringatrailer.com/caterham/seven/

 

or 

 

https://bringatrailer.com/lotus/seven-caterham-seven/

 

 

There are enough sales at bringatrailer to make a statistical sample and extrapolate predictions from.  

[Slonie]

7 hours ago, Sacasajr said:

 

Oh that is awesome, I had no idea there was already a bot running here. I figured you guys might be ahead of the curve on that stuff.

 

Is it something that pulls into a public database/thread, or is it an internal tool? I'll check out the discussion.

 

I don't want to ruin a good joke but @Croc is not, in fact, a bot. However, he tirelessly maintains a thread here listing known Seven auctions/listings on countless sites. You'll also find some good discussion on the listings in here.

 

 

[wdb]

I use these for notifications from BaT:

 

https://bringatrailer.com/caterham/seven/

 

https://bringatrailer.com/lotus/other-seven-replicas/

 

https://bringatrailer.com/lotus/seven-caterham-seven/

 

https://bringatrailer.com/lotus/seven-super-seven/

[Croc]

12 hours ago, Slonie said:

 

I don't want to ruin a good joke but @Croc is not, in fact, a bot. 

 

 

 

Joke?  No I am a devilishly handsome gentleman for which ladies fall over themselves......laughing......at my attempts to be suave and debonair.  

 

 

 

 

12 hours ago, Slonie said:

 

.....he tirelessly maintains a thread here listing known Seven auctions/listings on countless sites. 

 

 

Almost.  I accidentally forget on purpose to post the really good deals as I buy them myself!  

 

 

[JohnCh]

Some of you may have noticed that the original post in this thread felt a bit off even though the link to the web scraper was legit. Croc and I agreed to keep the poster in moderation with PMs disabled while we played along and let things unfold. Given our early suspicions, we also felt it was a good opportunity for the community to see how these newer scams operate. Now that it’s been over a week since sacasajr last logged in, we’re comfortable closing this out, explaining the scam, and banning the account until the person inevitably returns under a new name. Scammers may be sleazy, but they're tenacious. 

This scam is more subtle than the usual “my friend has the part you want” PM routine that includes an unsolicited email address. Instead, the scammer posts something mildly technical -- interesting enough to spark discussion, but without presenting themselves as an expert. It’s essentially a slow‑play con designed to draw someone into asking questions. Once a PM exchange begins, the scammer positions themselves as helpful and knowledgeable, eventually slipping in a malicious link or some other scam tactic as the endgame. Hopefully this thread will encourage some of you to be more cautious when dealing with folks you don't know. And when in doubt, remember to ping me with your suspicions so I may investigate.

 

-John

[IamScotticus]

I would call the Cat dealers like Sevens &Elans, Rocky Mountain, WireWheel, Supraformance, Beachman, British Auto Specialists, and whoever is on the Car dealer site.

Let them know you're looking.

Chris & Sevens & Elans flips quite a few 7s. Maybe more than anyone. Get on his list for sure.  His web site inventory is typically not kept up, have to call him @fotsyr

Edited 4 hours ago by IamScotticus

[IamScotticus]

5 minutes ago, IamScotticus said:

I would call the Cat dealers like Sevens &Elans, Rocky Mountain, WireWheel, Supraformance, Beachman, British Auto Specialists, and whoever is on the Car dealer site.

Let them know you're looking.

Chris & Sevens & Elans flips quite a few 7s. Maybe more than anyone. Get on his list for sure.  His web site inventory is not kept up, have to call him @fotsyr

Ok, I didn't read the entire post. But my info is good so I'm leaving it.

I hope the maliciousness is disabled.