A sneaker bot is software that automates buying limited-release sneakers and other scarce products from online stores. It can watch for new stock, enter raffles, fill in checkout forms and submit orders faster than a person can. Retailers counter these bots with anti-bot defenses such as bot detection, purchase limits and virtual waiting rooms.

Because retailers can block or rate-limit IPs that attempt repeated checkouts, sneaker bot operations use pools of residential proxies to run many simultaneous checkout attempts from what appear to be distinct real shoppers.

Because inventory for a hyped release can sell out quickly, latency between detecting a product going live and completing checkout matters.

What Sneaker Bots Automate

Sneaker bots combine several tasks that the OWASP Automated Threats to Web Applications project lists as separate threats:

  • Scalping (OAT-005): Getting limited-availability goods in a way a normal user could not do manually.
  • Account creation (OAT-019): Creating many accounts in bulk for later misuse, such as extra raffle entries or getting around per-customer limits.
  • Denial of inventory (OAT-021): Holding items in carts without completing the purchase, so other shoppers cannot buy them.
  • BOTS Act: The federal Better Online Ticket Sales Act of 2016 bars circumventing a ticket issuer's security measures or purchasing rules. It applies to tickets for public live events, not to retail products.
  • Proposed rules: The Stopping Grinch Bots Act of 2025 (S. 3516) was introduced in the Senate in December 2025. As introduced, it would ban bypassing the controls online retailers use to enforce posted purchase limits. It would also ban reselling goods bought this way, with the FTC enforcing it.