The RealReal tightens login rules to stop AI agents from holding inventory
The luxury reseller changed its security settings after tests showed Meta’s Muse could keep designer items on hold for hours.
By Marcus Johnson ·
Online resale has changed how many people buy designer goods. Now, the companies that run these platforms are adjusting their rules to stop automated programs from acting like human shoppers.
The RealReal, a secondhand luxury fashion retailer, announced an update to its bot defense system on Monday. The change makes it harder for artificial intelligence agents to log in to the site, add items to carts, and complete checkouts. The goal is to prevent software from reserving popular items for extended periods without buying them.
The update follows reporting that identified a specific weakness in the site’s reserve system. When a user places an item in their cart, The RealReal holds that item for 20 minutes so no one else can purchase it. Reporters used Meta’s Muse agent to exploit this rule. The agent automatically re-added listings to a cart the moment the 20-minute hold expired. This process blocked other customers from buying those items for hours at a time.
Luke Friang, the company’s chief technology officer, confirmed the fix in an email after the story published. He said the new configuration targets the specific behavior of the Muse agent. While agents can still find listings and direct users to product pages, they now face greater friction when trying to secure stock. Friang noted the company will keep updating its protections as online shopping technology changes.
Meta did not respond to a request for comment regarding the interaction between Muse and The RealReal. The company recently reported that shopping is the most common use for its new agent. Meta stated that average purchases through Muse are over $200. The app reached 10 million users in the United States within 40 days of its release.
This move adds to a growing trend among retailers. Companies like Amazon have already restricted agent access to protect their advertising revenue. The RealReal’s update acknowledges that automated shopping can disrupt standard inventory management. A human shopper might hesitate to re-add items to a cart repeatedly, but an agent can do so without pause or fatigue.
The situation highlights a shift in how consumers access the web. As more people rely on assistants to find and buy goods, retailers must balance ease of access with protection against automated bulk reservations. The RealReal’s latest changes aim to restore that balance for its designer inventory.
Source: The Verge
