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ThriftBooks Scraper: Cheap books, conditions, pricing and inventory specs

Extract clean product listings and complete condition prices from ThriftBooks.com for any genre, keyword, or book list, with 20+ columns including formats, conditions, and stock. Built for book dealers, collectors, price-comparison sites, and retail researchers who need real-world inventory details without manual copy-paste. Drop the data straight into n8n, Make, Zapier, Airtable, or Google Sheets. $7.99 per 1,000 results.

What does ThriftBooks Scraper do?

ThriftBooks is the largest online independent used books seller, with millions of high-quality cheap titles.

This Actor turns those public listing and search pages into clean, structured data you can analyze. Downloads up to 50 product listings per second (over 3,000 products per minute), pulling:

• Format & quality options: Every paperback, hardcover, mass market, and board book variation.
• Pricing & condition details: Detailed lists of available conditions (New, Like New, Very Good, Good, Acceptable) and their respective discount prices.
• Book specifications: Original MSRP prices, publisher, publication year, page counts, star ratings, and ISBN codes.

You can export everything as JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML and load it into any spreadsheet, dashboard, or workflow tool.

Why use ThriftBooks Scraper?

Real inventory data is essential for competitive book dealing, pricing strategies, and catalog curation. ThriftBooks Scraper gives you the clean details automatically.

• Used book pricing strategies: Track prices by format and condition in real time to spot profitable arbitrage or list-matching opportunities.
• Inventory monitoring: Watch stock status (InStock, OutOfStock) to track the velocity of specific titles and authors.
• Price comparison sites: Keep your listings and catalogs synchronized against ThriftBooks' large used books inventory.
• Academics and textbooks: Find the most affordable textbooks and required course readings across multiple editions automatically.
• Rare book tracking: Detect first editions, signed copies, or collectibles across the catalog on a schedule.

How to use ThriftBooks Scraper

1. Open the Actor in Apify Console and go to the Input tab.
2. Pick your filters: choose specific category genres (like mystery-thriller-and-suspense) and keywords (like harry potter), or paste direct book URLs.
3. Set your limit: choose the maximum total products you want to return.
4. Click Start and wait for the results. Most runs finish in under a minute.
5. Download your data as JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML. Connect your account to n8n, Make, or Zapier for automated workflows.

Input

Output

Each row in the dataset represents a single book variant. Here is a real-world example:

{
"book_id":"249579",
"url":"https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/harry-potter-and-the-chamber-of-secrets-by-jk-rowling/249579/",
"scraped_at":"2026-06-19T10:31:04.414Z",
"title":"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets",
"author":"J.K. Rowling",
"publish_year":1998,
"publisher":"Scholastic",
"page_count":368,
"language":"English",
"format":"Paperback",
"condition":"Good",
"price":4.39,
"price_formatted":"$4.39",
"lowest_price":4.39,
"price_new":28.56,
"price_likenew":12.79,
"price_verygood":9.49,
"price_good":6.79,
"price_acceptable":4.39,
"msrp":17.99,
"discount_percent":76,
"availability":"InStock",
"isbn10":"0439064864",
"isbn13":"9780439064866",
"rating":3.37,
"review_count":23,
"image_url":"https://i.thriftbooks.com/api/imagehandler/m/81F48E44BF15719E1662C93AD9E71A644D9C1B2B.jpeg"
}

Data table

Pricing

You pay only for product results successfully saved to your dataset. A typical run with 1,000 records costs exactly $7.99 and finishes in 10 to 30 seconds.

💰 Cost-Saving Tip: You can safely run this scraper on the lowest memory settings (512 MB or 1 GB) in your Apify settings. This is much cheaper to run than other tools on the market and will save you a lot of money!

Tips

• Start small: Run a small query with 10 to 20 products first to verify the data shape matches your needs.
• Combine filters: Search for specific keywords across different categories. The scraper automatically combines them to locate all products.
• Toggle proxy groups: Use US residential proxies for maximum reliability during large catalog scans.

FAQ, disclaimers, and support

Is scraping ThriftBooks legal? This scraper retrieves publicly visible product information that is open to the public and search engines. You are responsible for ensuring your usage complies with local regulations and the target site's guidelines. Do not scrape private account details or pages behind a login screen.

Why do I need proxies? The target site can use anti-bot screens to block automated visits. The scraper automatically manages rotating connections in the background to bypass these screens. No configuration is required.

What is the difference between price, sale_price, and msrp?

• price is the current active price you pay.
• msrp is the manufacturer suggested retail price (the original list price).
• discount_percent is the calculation of your savings.

What if some fields are blank? Some products do not have an original list price, reviews, or technical specifications. Optional fields are left blank, and the spreadsheet tables handle them gracefully.

Can I get a custom solution? Open an issue in the Actor's Issues tab in Apify Console for feature requests, custom requirements, or integration help.