Earlier this year, eBay updated its user agreement to explicitly ban third-party “buy for me” agents and AI chatbots from interacting with its platform without permission. The move highlights a broader question facing online marketplaces as AI shopping agents become more capable: Who controls the transaction when software acts on the buyer’s behalf?
Blaine Nielsen, president of retailers at Rithum, suggested that eBay’s action makes an important statement that autonomous purchasing should not operate without accountability.
Rithum, formed by the 2023 merger of CommerceHub and ChannelAdvisor, is an end-to-end commerce operations platform connecting brands, retailers, and suppliers to automate product listings, manage dropship programs, and scale fulfillment across hundreds of online marketplaces.
He expects a human-in-the-loop partnership to always exist. But as marketplaces build technical standards and AI earns more trust, the concept will likely evolve. Consumers will approve spending thresholds, delivery preferences, and trusted-seller rules, with AI handling execution within those limits.
“Setting clear boundaries gives marketplaces the ability to protect themselves in the short term while establishing guardrails, formal access points, and monetization models for AI-driven transactions as they continue to mature,” he told the E-Commerce Times.
