Alibaba Product Scraper in Python: export Alibaba.com products, prices, MOQ and suppliers to JSON/CSV

A short tutorial for pulling Alibaba.com search results (price range and quantity tiers, MOQ, units sold, lead time, supplier name, country, years, Verified/Gold status and rating) into Python with the Alibaba Product Search Scraper on Apify.

Disclosure: I built this actor; it's a paid tool on Apify ($1.50 per 1,000 products). The code in this repo is MIT-licensed.

How it works

The actor calls the same JSON endpoint Alibaba's own search page uses, over plain HTTPS through Apify Proxy. No headless browser, no cookies, no Alibaba account. Blocked requests are retried on a fresh session automatically.

Quick start (Python)

pip install apify-client

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")

run = client.actor("rel8ble/alibaba-product-search-scraper").call(run_input={
    "searchTerms": ["yoga mat", "custom tote bags"],
    "maxResultsPerSearch": 20,
    "maxMoq": 100,
    "verifiedSuppliersOnly": True,
})

for p in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(p["priceMin"], p["moq"], p["supplierName"], p["title"][:60])

example.py is the runnable version: it keeps low-MOQ products from verified suppliers and writes a CSV sorted by price.

Quick start (Node.js)

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>' });
const run = await client.actor('rel8ble/alibaba-product-search-scraper').call({
    searchTerms: ['led strip lights'], maxResultsPerSearch: 20,
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items.length, 'products');

Plain HTTP (curl, Google Apps Script, anything)

One call runs the actor and returns the results. Use format=csv for a spreadsheet, format=json for code:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/rel8ble~alibaba-product-search-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?format=csv"   -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>"   -H "Content-Type: application/json"   -d '{"searchTerms":["yoga mat"],"maxResultsPerSearch":100,"verifiedSuppliersOnly":true,"maxMoq":50}'   -o results.csv

The sync endpoint waits up to 5 minutes; for bigger runs use the clients above (they wait as long as needed). example.js is a runnable Node.js version that writes alibaba_products.csv (npm install, then APIFY_TOKEN=... node example.js).

No code: n8n, Make, Zapier, Google Sheets

• n8n: import n8n/workflow.json (Workflows > Import from file), replace YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN, and add a Google Sheets "Append or update row" node after it, matched on productId so weekly runs don't create duplicates. It uses n8n's built-in HTTP Request node, so no community node is needed (the official Apify node, @apify/n8n-nodes-apify, works too).
• Make: Apify app > "Run an Actor" (actor rel8ble/alibaba-product-search-scraper, wait for finish on, input JSON as above) > Apify "Get Dataset Items" > Google Sheets "Add a Row" or your CRM module.
• Zapier: Apify app > "Run Actor" action (or the "Finished Actor Run" trigger on a scheduled run) > "Fetch Dataset Items" > Google Sheets / HubSpot / Airtable.
• Google Sheets only: run it from the Store page form, download CSV and import. Useful columns: title, priceText, moq, minOrderValue, supplierName, supplierYears, verifiedSupplier, supplierRating, url.
• AI agents: the Apify MCP server (https://mcp.apify.com) lets Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor call rel8ble/alibaba-product-search-scraper as a tool.

Input

Field	Default	What it does
searchTerms	["led strip lights"]	Alibaba keywords or search URLs
maxResultsPerSearch	100	Products per keyword; 0 = all Alibaba serves (~960)
minPrice / maxPrice	-	Unit price in whole USD
maxMoq	-	Maximum minimum order quantity, e.g. 100
verifiedSuppliersOnly	false	Only suppliers with Alibaba's third-party-inspected "Verified" badge
supplierCountry	all	2-letter code: CN, IN, VN, TR, US...
includeAds	true	Sponsored listings are flagged isAd: true

Output sample (one real product, trimmed)

{
  "searchTerm": "bluetooth earbuds",
  "title": "ALOVA Latest Model Bluetooth 6.0 Earphone IPX7 Bone Conduction Headset Waterproof Headphone Wireless Earbuds with Mic",
  "url": "https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/ALOVA-Latest-Model-Bluetooth-6-0_1601511059774.html",
  "priceMin": 6.5,
  "priceMax": 9.9,
  "priceTiers": [
    { "minQuantity": 10, "maxQuantity": 89, "price": 9.9, "unit": "pieces" },
    { "minQuantity": 90, "maxQuantity": 1999, "price": 8.5, "unit": "pieces" }
  ],
  "moq": 10,
  "moqUnit": "pieces",
  "soldCount": 2126,
  "leadTimeDays": 14,
  "productCertifications": ["FCC", "UKCA", "CE", "ROHS"],
  "isAd": false,
  "supplierName": "Shenzhen Alex Technology Co., Ltd.",
  "supplierCountryCode": "CN",
  "supplierYears": 10,
  "verifiedSupplier": true,
  "goldSupplier": true,
  "tradeAssurance": true,
  "supplierRating": 4.5,
  "supplierReviewCount": 65,
  "responseRate": "98.5%"
}

Each row has about 55 fields in total, including image URLs, category, supplier sub-ratings (product quality, service, on-time shipment), employees, factory size, main products, export countries and certifications.

Use cases

• Sourcing shortlists: filter by maxMoq, verifiedSuppliersOnly and supplierCountry, then sort by priceMin.
• Landed-cost planning: priceTiers shows how the unit price drops at each quantity break.
• Supplier vetting: compare supplierYears, supplierRating, responseRate and certifications side by side.
• Price monitoring: schedule the same keywords weekly and track priceMin and soldCount by productId.

Price

$1.50 per 1,000 products, pay per result. No start fee, no monthly rental. Apify's free plan includes $5 of monthly credit.

Limits

• About 960 unique products per keyword: Alibaba serves 20 pages of 48 for any search. Use narrower keywords or the price/MOQ/country filters to slice further.
• Alibaba matches loosely, so a narrow or misspelled keyword still returns related products. Check titles if precision matters.
• Prices are USD list prices from the search card; final prices depend on quantity, options and shipping.
• Supplier location is country level, and only search-result fields are returned (no full specs, SKU lists or review texts).
• minPrice / maxPrice take whole dollars.

Links

• Actor on the Apify Store: https://apify.com/rel8ble/alibaba-product-search-scraper
• Apify Python client docs: https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python

License

MIT