On Tuesday, eBay updated its User Agreement to explicitly ban third-party “buy for me” agents and AI chatbots from interacting with its platform without permission, first spotted by Value Added Resource. The update signals the emergence of what some call “agentic commerce,” a category of AI tools designed to browse, compare, and purchase products on behalf of users.
The updated terms, which take effect on February 20, 2026, specifically prohibit users from employing “buy-for-me agents, LLM-driven bots, or any end-to-end flow that attempts to place orders without human review” to access eBay’s services without the site’s permission. The prior agreement included a general ban on robots, spiders, scrapers, and automated data gathering tools but did not name AI agents or LLMs.
At first glance, the phrase “agentic commerce” may sound like marketing jargon, but these tools are already in use. OpenAI began adding shopping features to ChatGPT Search in 2025, and by September launched Instant Checkout, enabling purchases from Etsy and Shopify merchants directly within the chat. In November, eBay CEO Jamie Iannone hinted the company could join OpenAI’s Instant Checkout program in the future.
Analysts describe agentic commerce as a spectrum of AI-enabled shopping tools that operate across browsing, comparison, and checkout, with various tools taking different approaches. While the label may seem marketing speak, the broader trend is real, as multiple platforms experiment with AI-powered shopping experiences.
Enforcement of the policy aims to curb unauthorized automation that could bypass human review and introduce risks such as pricing inconsistencies or checkout errors. eBay also indicates that tools operating with explicit site permission could still be considered legitimate, hinting at potential sanctioned collaborations with OpenAI or other partners.
Beyond this policy, eBay has recently adjusted its robots.txt in December and emphasized explicit permission for AI agents to access its services, underscoring a broader industry push to regulate automated shopping. The company’s stance clarifies the line between permitted, human-verified purchases and autonomous tools that require explicit consent.
