US EditioneBay Bans Illicit Automated Shopping Amid Rapid Rise of AI Agents
eBay's new policy addresses revenue risks from AI bots placing orders autonomously, requiring human review or explicit approval to protect seller fees and auction prices.
8 Articles
8 Articles
eBay Bans AI Shopping Bots and Scrapers from February 2026
In the fast-evolving world of online marketplaces, eBay has taken a decisive stand against a burgeoning threat: artificial intelligence agents that automate shopping processes. This move comes amid growing concerns over how these AI tools could disrupt fair competition and enable illicit activities. According to a recent update to eBay’s user agreement, effective February 20, 2026, the platform explicitly prohibits the use of AI-powered “buy for…
write.as
Write.asA seemingly innocuous update to eBay's terms of service has revealed an ongoing transformation in the world of online commerce. Spotted by Value Added Resource, this change explicitly prohibits third-party "buy for me" agents and AI-powered chatbots from interacting with the platform without prior authorization. While a single line added to the terms and conditions might appear trivial at first glance, it actually signals the rapid and disruptiv…
eBay Bans AI Shopping Agents, Updates Arbitration Provision
eBay has long tried to stop other companies from scraping its site, and in the fall, it quietly added “buy for me” AI agents to the list of prohibited crawlers in its robots.txt file. This week, eBay informed customers by email that it was updating its User Agreement to prohibit them from using agentic-shopping technology […]
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