The RealReal Tightens Bot Defenses to Block AI Shopping Agents

The RealReal, a secondhand luxury goods platform, confirmed to The Verge on Oct. 28, 2026, that it has strengthened its bot defense system to curb abuse by AI shopping agents. The company will now make it harder for AI shopping agents to log in, add items to carts, and check out.

The move followed a test by The Verge reporters, who used Meta's Muse AI shopping agent to exploit The RealReal's "hold" feature, which normally reserves an item for 20 minutes. Because AI agents can run around the clock, the reporters were able to keep items on hold for hours, blocking other shoppers from buying them.

The RealReal is not alone in restricting third-party AI agents. According to The Wall Street Journal, Tapestry, owner of Coach and Kate Spade, and department store Kohl's do not allow AI agents to complete purchases. Chewy and Neiman Marcus block some agents, and Amazon quickly blocked Muse after Meta launched it, while offering its own in-house assistant.

Meta released Muse in early September 2026. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on an earnings call in late October that more than 10 million people in the U.S. and Canada had set up personal agents, with agentic shopping as the dominant use case.