When it comes to detecting scalper bots, many retailers have tried many different methods over time. Since scalper bots have become more sophisticated, detecting them among regular users is incredibly difficult. Because of this, much of what was traditionally used to prevent bots from buying product no longer works.
Originally, bot prevention was done with basic software, the most common being CAPTCHAs. CAPTCHAs implement a series of questions for the users to answer, they range from just a checkbox to having to write a prompted text written in warped font. The idea with these is that the tasks assigned to the user could only be answered by a person and no bot would be programmed to complete them, therefore weeding out potential bots. Over time, while some less advanced bots still cannot bypass CAPTCHAS, scalper bot engineers have adapted well and made bots almost indistinguishable from a regular user. Another method that was used was Wireless Application Firewalls (WFA), which detected where the users were coming from and detected bots who were flooding the website from a single IP address. Bots also evolved to bypass the WFAs because they use different IP addresses, some even residential, so there is no way to tell them apart from regular users.
The easiest and most cost-effective way that online retailers combat scalpers is by strategically announcing certain sales. If they warn about a product restock or launch too early, it can give time for scalpers to get bots ready to flood the site. So announcing the product closer to launch day decreases the number of potential bots that will sell it out within minutes. There are other creative ways that retailers have tried to slow down scalper bots. For instance, earlier in 202i the UK online tech retailer Currys was offering the new Xbox and PS5 consoles for 2005 pounds above their original price at pre-sale. They would then email those who signed up for the pre-sale an explanation for the price, and a voucher for 2005 pounds. Ultimately, the price increase confused bots, and the customers that wanted a pre-purchase the consoles would be able to buy the products at the original price with their vouchers.
At the end of the day, however, the most full-proof way for online retailers to deter scalping bots is with software. There are plenty of companies that are making bot-detection software, some of which are rapidly advancing to detect bot behavior. The company DataDome uses AI bots to constantly learn about bot behavior and efficiently scan and monitor the retailer's website for scalper bots. There are plenty of other companies creating software dedicated to detecting and taking care of scalper bots trying to sell out merchandise, so it is up to the retailers if they want to make the investment.
Articles used:
https://datadome.co/bot-management-protection/how-to-stop-scalper-bots-and-prevent-scalping/#stop
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/playstation-5-scalping-bots-pandemic
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-10-14-currys-increases-xbox-series-x-s-pre-order-prices-by-gbp2000-surprising-some-customers
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