Resale giant: RealReal locks out AI agents

The RealReal has changed its website rules to stop AI agents from hoarding inventory.

The secondhand luxury retailer updated its bot defense system to make it harder for automated software to complete purchases. This move follows recent reports showing how artificial intelligence could manipulate the company's item hold policy.

On The RealReal website, an item goes on hold for 20 minutes once a user adds it to a shopping cart. During that window, other customers cannot buy the product. Previous testing revealed that Meta's Muse agent could exploit this gap. The AI was programmed to re-add listings to a cart the moment the 20 minute hold expired. This process allowed the bot to block other shoppers from buying specific designer pieces for hours at a time.

Luke Friang, the company's chief technology officer, confirmed the fix via email. Friang stated that the new configuration makes it difficult for agents to log in, add items to carts, and check out. Agents can still display listings and guide users to product pages. Friang added that the team will keep strengthening protections as AI shopping tools evolve. Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The timing of this update aligns with a wider trend in the tech industry. Companies are marketing AI agents as always on assistants that can handle tasks like scheduling and buying. Meta noted on its Q3 earnings call this month that shopping was the most common use case for Muse. The company reported that average purchases through the app exceeded $200. Muse also saw rapid adoption, with 10 million US users downloading the app within 40 days.

Retailers face a new challenge as automated buyers become more common. Amazon and other major retailers have already blocked agents from shopping on their sites. The concern is that if humans stop visiting websites directly and rely on chatbots, businesses lose direct access to customers. This shift could impact advertising revenue and disrupt established commerce models.

The RealReal's specific issue highlights how AI agents can strain existing systems. A human shopper might hesitate to repeatedly add and remove items from a cart. An agent performs this task without fatigue. The company now aims to prevent this automated busywork from locking up stock that other buyers want.