Scalping isn’t a new phenomenon, and you might already be familiar with the term. A scalper will buy sought-after products or services, such as concert tickets or limited edition sneakers, in bulk and resell them for a profit. Even though ticket scalping doesn’t affect the original seller much, they negatively impact fans. The chosen tool for modern scalpers is retail bots, and without them, no one stands a competitive chance. But how do these retail bots work?
This article will look closely at how scalpers use retail bots to buy products or tickets in bulk. We’ll also look at the damages ticket scalpers have on the concert industry and others. You might also have to start using bots alongside proxies to stand a chance against these bulk buyers and resellers. Chances are you won’t get your hands on the new set of limited edition sneakers without a retail bot and sneaker proxies.
The following topics on retail bots will be covered:
- What are retail bots?
- What effect do retail bots have on various industries?
- How do these scalping attacks work?
What Are Retail Bots?
Retail bots are automated software programs that can make purchases in bulk without the need for human intervention. There are many different types of retail bots, depending on the type of industry you’re buying from. A few of the most popular examples of retail bots are ticket bots and sneaker bots.
Ticket bots are used alongside proxies to buy tickets to popular concerts and shows in bulk. Ticket scalpers will then resell these tickets for an inflated price once the concert is sold out and the demand is at its highest. Similarly, sneaker bots are used alongside specialized sneaker proxies to buy limited edition sneakers in bulk to resell for a profit. Since these products are highly sought-after, and there’s always less stock than demand, reselling these items remains a lucrative income stream for scalpers.
If you enjoy exclusive or high-value products and services, you’ve probably been battling it out against bots without even knowing – and chances are they won. For you to stand any chance, you might need to start using the same tools.
What Effect Do Retail Bots Have On Various Industries?
The secondary ticket market is still booming. In 2020 it was valued at $5240.1 million despite the covid pandemic. With live shows and concerts resuming, these ticket scalpers have also resumed their activities. Sneaker and other e-commerce resellers might not have been affected as much by the pandemic as purchases can be made online and shipped to the buyer. However, there were definite delays caused by lockdowns.
The use of retail bots gives these scalpers a competitive advantage as a bot can complete a purchase much faster than a human and when using suitable location proxies, can also ensure they’re first in line so that they can buy more. This doesn’t directly impact the financial income of the venue, organizers, or performers, as they’re still getting the primary ticket price.
However, the fans are the ones to suffer as they often cannot compete with these bots, and before they blink, tickets to popular concerts or sporting events are sold out. This forces fans to buy tickets from secondary sellers at an inflated price. This can discourage many fans from buying tickets or attending the show in the first place, which can affect the performers and organizer indirectly as less merchandise and refreshments will be sold.
Even in the product reselling space, it’s still the fans who suffer. Sneaker resellers use advanced bots and sneaker proxies to give them the edge. While the retailers try to keep things fair by limiting purchases to one pair per person and banning bots in bulk, the use of sneaker proxies alongside a bot allows these resellers to avoid being detected and blocked. It also allows them to buy multiple pairs by changing the IP of each purchase request of the bots. Sneakerheads have no chance to buy limited edition shoes without bots.
How Do These Scalping Attacks Work?
Scalpers use bots in three phases to ensure they end up with the product, tickets, or services they want to resell. The stages are as follows:
- Monitoring target websites for news on item drops, launches, and events. This includes creating accounts for those platforms’ bots so they’re ready when sales happen.
- Adding items to the cart. Resellers must be first in line and have access to multiple IPs to buy in bulk. Therefore they often use specialized residential proxies, like sneaker proxies or similar.
- Automated checkout to complete the purchase. Payment details or rotating lists of credit card details are added to the bot and used so that purchases look to be made by different people.
Final Thoughts
Retail bots can be used to buy any products or services in bulk to be resold. Tickets and sneakers are prime examples, but even PC parts can be targets for these resellers. It’s strange to think that in the future, you might have to build a PC dedicated to running bots so that you can buy more PC parts.
