eBay Blocks Use of AI ‘Buy-For-Me’ Agents

eBay is preparing to bar third-party “buy-for-me” agents and AI chatbots from interacting with its platform without consent.

The ban is part of a recent update to the eCommerce platform’s terms of service, first noted in a report by Value Added Resource, and is set to go into effect Feb. 20.

The new terms forbid the use of “any robot, spider, scraper, data mining tools, data gathering and extraction tools, or other automated means (including, without limitation buy-for-me agents, LLM-driven bots, or any end-to-end flow that attempts to place orders without human review)” without eBay’s permission.

The Value Added Resource report noted that an earlier version of the agreement banned robots, spiders, scrapers and automated data gathering tools without specifically mentioning artificial intelligence (AI) agents.

PYMNTS wrote last month about the dilemma facing eCommerce companies when it comes to agentic commerce, after Amazon moved to block third-party AI shopping tools from accessing its site.

“New tools from AI companies allow consumers to search for products, compare prices and complete purchases inside a chatbot, bypassing traditional retail sites altogether,” the report said. “That shift threatens Amazon’s direct relationship with shoppers, its advertising business and its ability to control data that drives conversion and loyalty.”

Amazon has thus far taken a defensive posture, the report continued, updating its website code to keep out dozens of AI bots, including agents connected to major AI companies. It has also gone to court on the matter, filing suit against Perplexity over an AI browser agent that can conduct purchases on users’ behalf, claiming unauthorized access to its site.

At the same time, Amazon has invested heavily in its own AI offerings, such as its shopping chatbot Rufus and “Buy for Me,” an experimental agent that can carry out purchases from other retailers within Amazon’s app.

“For payments and commerce leaders, Amazon’s balancing act offers a clear signal,” PYMNTS wrote. “As AI agents move from novelty to infrastructure, the fight over who controls the checkout experience — and the payment rails behind it — is entering a critical phase.”

eBay has also invested heavily in AI. The company last year introduced an AI assistant for messaging that uses information from the seller’s listing description and order details to come up with suggested replies to customer queries about items or shipping.

And in an earnings call early last year, the company characterized the prior year as a “transformative” one in terms of AI, as it deployed new tools for both sellers and buyers.