Use Wholesale Central Supplier Directory Scraper with Python

Browse or search wholesale supplier and dropshipper listings on WholesaleCentral.com by product category, keyword, location, or minimum order, with company name, category, location, and contact details per supplier.

1. Choose the data you need

Review the published README for supported collection modes, examples, and limits. The recipe below uses the current published input definition.

2. Prepare a source-based input

This JSON contains published prefills and required-field defaults. Review every value for your task before running it; it is not a promise of successful collection.

{
  "categories": [],
  "category": "Apparel",
  "featuredOnly": false,
  "includeDetails": true,
  "includeEmbeddedContact": false,
  "includeProductSummary": true,
  "maxItems": 1,
  "mode": "byCategory",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  },
  "supplierUrls": []
}

Download input.example.json and save your reviewed copy as input.json.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`mode`	string	required	How to discover suppliers. `search` uses the supplier-only search tab; `bySupplier` refreshes a known list of supplier URLs/slugs.
`category`	string	optional	One of the 54 live top-level supplier categories (mode=byCategory). Use `categories` to crawl several at once, or `customCategorySlug` for a narrower sub-category.
`categories`	array	optional	Crawl up to 10 live category slugs in one run, e.g. ["Apparel", "Electronics", "Pet-Supplies"]. Values must come from the `category` list. Overrides `category`; `customCategorySlug` is ignored when this is set.
`customCategorySlug`	string	optional	Use any narrower WholesaleCentral.com category slug, e.g. `Mens-Apparel` or `Apparel-Dropshippers`. Overrides `category`; leave empty to use the live dropdown list.
`searchQuery`	string	optional	Keyword search over supplier names/profiles (mode=search), e.g. `candles` or `bluetooth speakers`. Required in search mode.
`supplierUrls`	array	optional	Full supplier URLs, paths, or slugs to refresh, e.g. ["https://www.wholesalecentral.com/suppliers/fourse0001"]. Duplicates are removed.
`state`	string	optional	Keep suppliers in one US state. Accepts a full name or two-letter code (`NY`, `New York`, `California`). Matches the state exactly; it never matches a city substring.
`maxMinimumOrderUSD`	integer	optional	Only include suppliers whose minimum order is at most this amount. Suppliers with no disclosed minimum are always included.
`keyword`	string	optional	Only include suppliers whose name or description contains this text (case-insensitive).
`featuredOnly`	boolean	optional	Only include suppliers the directory badges as a Featured (premium/paid) listing.
`includeDetails`	boolean	optional	Read each supplier page for phone, full address, website, description, social links, postal code, and product-catalog summary. Turn off for the fastest listing-only run.
`includeProductSummary`	boolean	optional	When details are fetched, include productCount, categoryCounts, collectionsCount, sampleProducts, and shipsFrom. No extra request is made.
`includeEmbeddedContact`	boolean	optional	Opt in to business email addresses and extra phone/fax numbers that the site embeds in the supplier page payload but does not display. Off by default. Review your privacy and outreach obligations before enabling.
`proxyConfiguration`	object	optional	Optional. The actor connects directly first and automatically picks a working Apify connection if the site blocks it; you do not need to configure anything.
`maxItems`	integer	optional	Hard cap on emitted supplier records. Each category is additionally capped at 100 cards.

3. Start an Actor run

Set APIFY_TOKEN in your environment. Python 3.10 or newer is sufficient; this recipe uses no third-party packages.

Execution may incur charges. Review current pricing on Apify. The request asks for a 120-second timeout and a charge limit; these settings are subject to Apify’s pricing and do not guarantee an all-inclusive spending cap.

import json
import os
import urllib.request

# Save the schema-derived example as input.json; review and edit it first.
with open("input.json", encoding="utf-8") as stream:
    actor_input = json.load(stream)

token = os.environ["APIFY_TOKEN"]
request = urllib.request.Request(
    "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/0DBfCnh9xJK5PP48C/runs?timeout=120&maxTotalChargeUsd=0.50",
    data=json.dumps(actor_input).encode("utf-8"),
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer " + token, "Content-Type": "application/json"},
    method="POST",
)
# This starts a potentially billable run. Do not automatically retry this POST.
with urllib.request.urlopen(request, timeout=40) as response:
    run = json.load(response)["data"]
print("Run ID:", run["id"])
print("Status:", run["status"])
# Inspect and download results in Apify Console once the run succeeds.

4. Inspect the actual results

Open the run in Apify Console and wait for a successful completion. Use the published output schema to locate results and the dataset schema to understand declared views. Missing or optional record fields must not be treated as guaranteed values.

US wholesale, dropship and closeout suppliers from WholesaleCentral.com — public contact details, location, membership and minimum-order data, social links, optional page-embedded business contacts, and product-catalog summaries. Wholesale prices are login-gated and are not included.

Questions before you run

Which inputs are required?

The published required fields are mode

What does this guide verify?

The fields, prefills, and schema links are rendered from the published build. This is a usage recipe, not a paid live extraction test. Source availability and collection results can vary.

What if the run request times out?

Check Apify Console before retrying. The first request may already have created a run. Do not automatically repeat a run-creation POST.

Open on Apify Full Actor reference

Generated from source build Kw2mExxbbkuj6wSRV and its README and schemas. Source changes regenerate this guide; no third-party editorial claims are inferred.