The RealReal, a secondhand luxury fashion consignment retailer, says it is updating its bot defense system to make it harder for AI agents to shop on its site. The move follows a report by The Verge that an AI agent could exploit the retailer’s item reserve mechanism.
On The RealReal’s website, an item is placed “on hold” for 20 minutes once it is added to a shopping cart, making it unavailable to other customers during that window. Using Meta’s Muse, The Verge instructed an AI agent to repeatedly re-add listings to a cart as soon as each 20-minute hold expired, effectively keeping items reserved and unavailable to other shoppers.
Why it matters
The case illustrates how automated AI agents can interact with retail systems in unintended ways, using legitimate features like cart holds to block other buyers. It highlights the need for retailers to adapt defenses as consumer-facing AI agents become more capable.
Who should care
Online retailers, e-commerce platform operators, and shoppers on consignment and resale sites have a stake in how such systems respond to automated agents.