Purchase Bot
How Do Bots Buy Up Graphics Cards? We Rented One to …
PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing. Learn more.
PC graphics cards sell out online in seconds. So we rented a bot that scalpers have been using to nab the products. However, botting GPUs in today’s market is no cakewalk.
(Credit: AMD/Pixabay)
It’s Sunday morning, and I’ve just purchased two AMD graphics cards from Amazon—all without being anywhere near my computer. Given the ongoing shortage for GPUs, it feels like I’ve pulled off a miracle. But I had help. For the past week, my Windows laptop has been running a bot. Or rather, a piece of automated software that scalpers have been using to nab PC graphics cards from all the major online retailers. The bot can do what I can’t: Every three seconds, the program checks Amazon’s listings for various PC graphics cards. If they’re back in stock, the bot will automatically complete the checkout process—at a rate far faster than my mouse clicks could ever do.
The bot I had running. (Credit: Stellar)
Finally, the bot has snagged something: It’s bought not one, but two Radeon 6700XT cards while I was outside playing basketball. Now the GPUs are mine. Or so I think. It turns out botting graphics cards is pretty hard. Desperate Times, Desperate Measures
Graphics cards being resold on eBay for three times the normal price. (Credit: eBay)
In November, I wrote a guide on how to land an Nvidia RTX 3000 graphics card. The great GPU shortage had begun and PC builders everywhere were clamoring for the new products. It’s six months later, and little has changed. Retailers continue to sell out of graphics cards in minutes, if not seconds, making the products incredibly hard to obtain. But not everyone has struggled to land the cards. PC builders have been cursing scalpers, one of the culprits behind the limited supplies. Since September, they’ve been using automated bots to buy up PC graphics cards, and then resell them on eBay for a profit. The scalping has gotten so pervasive, literally tens of thousands of GPUs have been resold on eBay for twice or even triple the normal pricing. It got me wondering: Could I fight fire with fire, and use a bot to help me land a GPU?
Tweet
Last month, I noticed one such bot named Stellar. The developer behind it brazenly claimed on Twitter that the program had helped clients secure over 20, 000 graphics cards from retail sites. “Members are making thousands in profit with GPU restocks, thanks to Stellar! ” it I decided to rent it. Enter the Bot
Stellar’s website. (Credit: Stellar)
Like other bots, Stellar tries to limit access. If there are too many users running bots, then the chances of scoring the desired goods can decline, bot developers have told PCMag. Still, botting isn’t a secret. You can easily find numerous such services through a simple Google search, which will direct you to middle-men marketplaces. I ended up using, and paying $120 to get about two weeks of access to the Stellar bot. In return, the website gave me a download link to the program, along with a digital license key to activate the 500MB application, which runs on Windows.
The various websites you can target with the Stellar bot program. (Credit: Stellar)
Installing it gave me a view into how sophisticated botting can be. While the technology is often associated with “copping” limited-edition sneakers, Stellar doesn’t focus on shoe websites. Instead, the bot is designed to automatically buy products from major retailers including Best Buy, GameStop, Newegg, Target, and Walmart, along with AMD’s own website. The program also has support to beat CAPTCHA tests, which try to verify whether you’re a human. In addition, the developers behind Stellar are updating the bot almost every day with bug fixes and improvements. One such feature even promises to bypass Best Buy’s queue system during a restock to help you purchase a graphics card without needing to wait.
You can enter CAPTCHA-solving services in the settings panel. (Credit: Stellar)
The interface is also fairly easy to use. To teach you how to set it up, Stellar created an online user manual. You can also go on YouTube to learn more from other Stellar users. I first tested the bot on Amazon by purchasing some random products. Stellar automatically entered my provided login information, and about three seconds later, it added the product to my cart and completed the checkout process. All I had to do was press a button and watch. Too Many Cooks
Running the bot, but receiving only Out of Stock notices, and failures to Add to Cart. (Credit: Stellar)
So did I end up becoming a greedy GPU scalper? No, it did not corrupt me. For two weeks, I ran the Stellar bot, assuming it would be quick enough to snag a product from Amazon, Best Buy, or AMD itself. During that time, I saw dozens and dozens of GPU listings come and go. But even so, my botting attempts struggled to land a graphics card. One reason is the competition. Sure, I have a bot, but imagine how many other bots are out there, trying to buy up the same GPUs. It explains why my Stellar setup mostly came up empty. The market simply has too many buyers—whether it be bots or human consumers—vying for the same goods. In my case, the bot still wasn’t quick enough to place orders on Amazon, despite checking the product pages for over a dozen GPUs every few seconds. You can also see this play out in so-called “cook groups, ” where resellers gather online and share info on how to nab GPUs. These groups are usually hosted on the Discord chat platform, and they can have hundreds or thousands of users, ranging from newbies to veteran scalpers. Stellar’s own Discord group has over 10, 000 members. We joined one free cook group, called Zero Risk Flips, which can let you know when retailers such as Amazon and Walmart restock GPUs. Users will also brag about their successes while newbies will complain about their failures. “Too much competition now on GPU botting, ” wrote one user last week. “Very few cop and competition rises by the day, ” wrote another. A Cat-and-Mouse Game
The Stellar bot showing two successfully placed orders on Amazon. (Credit: Stellar)
The other challenge I faced came from the retail websites that detected my bot. The closest I came to securing a GPU through Stellar was on that Sunday. The program had finally managed to purchase two AMD graphics cards from Amazon, one a Gigabyte model, the other from the Aorus brand. Why the bot was able to snag the GPUs may have been due to a change I made. I decided to pay $25 more and buy proxies for the bot. These proxies can trick a website into thinking your bot is coming from multiple IP addresses instead of one, enabling you to avoid getting banned. But perhaps more importantly, the proxies can accelerate your data requests to an e-commerce site at up to 100Gbps. The added speed may have helped my bot finally purchase the two AMD graphics cards on that Sunday during an Amazon product restock. Success? Not at all. I later checked my email inbox and noticed Amazon had sent me an email just minutes after the purchase. To my dismay, the company had placed my account temporarily on hold and canceled the orders. The reason: The company’s anti-bot measures had kicked in and detected “unusual activity” on the account. The whole episode underscores why the developer behind Stellar is constantly updating the program with new enhancements. Botting GPUs is a cat-and-mouse game, and both sides are constantly trying to outdo the other. I’m not exactly sure how Amazon detected my botting attempt. But checking GPU product pages on a single Amazon account probably didn’t help. In response, I decided to start over and create a new Amazon account. But days later, the e-commerce company once again noticed the suspicious activity coming from my bot, and flagged the new account. To Bot or Not to Bot
Credit: AMD
In the end, I did score an AMD GPU. But not thanks to my bot. For over two weeks, I had been trying to land a graphics card with Stellar. During that same time I also tried to buy the GPUs the old-fashioned way: When a restock occurred, I would also click on the the product pages through a browser, and then try adding them to cart. But no matter what I did, no matter how fast, I failed—over and over again—to land a graphics card. Yep, trying to buy a GPU in today’s market means enduring a psychological hellscape. Most of the time, there is no relief in sight. It was only out of sheer luck that I was finally able to buy one. Last Friday I noticed AMD’s website was restocking its GPU products. So with a browser and mouse, I tried to see if I could purchase an AMD Radeon 6800 XT graphics card like a normal consumer would. To my surprise, I was able to add the product to my cart, and successfully complete the checkout process with few network interruptions. The GPU gods had blessed me right before AMD’s website started to buckle amid a flood of user traffic. My Stellar bot, on the other hand, failed to purchase a Radeon graphics card that day. Instead, it encountered an error, indicating AMD’s website had detected the bot activity, resulting in a ban of the proxy IP addresses I was using. The developers of Stellar did not respond to emails asking about the bot’s backstory. I can’t fault Stellar entirely, though. I’m a newbie, and I was botting in my spare time during and after work. I never went all out like veteran scalpers can do by using numerous proxies, multiple fake user accounts, and dozens of virtual credit card numbers to try and beat the anti-bot measures from the major retailers. Still, I don’t condone botting. Nor do I recommend that the average consumer try it. In total, I spent $150 and too many hours trying to learn how to use the bot. In return, I received nothing but stress and disappointment. And if I want to continue using the bot, I’d have to pay more. No thanks. Really, the economics of botting make the most sense if you’re an experienced scalper, not if you’re a regular consumer trying to obtain a single GPU. So if you’re looking to buy a PC graphics card at normal retail pricing, my advice is to try the steps below. The journey will be tough, but persistence pays off. The Best Way to Land a GPU in Spring 2021Follow the free YouTube channel and Discord chat server from “Fixitfixitfixit. ” They’ve been tracking GPU restocks in real-time across the major retailers, and notified me about the restock on AMD’s ’t bother with restocks on Amazon. Its GPU products always sell out too quickly. Best Buy has been restocking GPUs on Thursdays usually in the morning or mid-day. AMD has been restocking on Thursday or your luck at the Newegg Shuffle. It took me over 12 times, but eventually I won a raffle to buy an Nvidia RTX 3070 graphics card. If you live near a Micro Center store, go out and line up in the morning. At least you won’t have to contend with online scalpers.
Get Our Best Stories!
Sign up for What’s New Now to get our top stories delivered to your inbox every morning.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
You can buy a bot to do your holiday shopping, but should you?
A bot can make a purchase in the time it takes you to blink your eyes. Some experts recommend buying one to snatch popular items, but others say it’s too risky.
PORTLAND, Ore. — The lights, the toys, the sales: The holiday shopping season is here, and this year we are expected to spend more than a trillion dollars.
This would make it the first trillion-dollar holiday season EVER, according to Business Insider’s Holiday Shopping 2019 report.
Hot new products and toys frequently dominate the top of people’s wish lists but getting your hands on them is tough, especially when you’re going up against a bot, a system that can make an online purchases in a fraction of a second.
“You’re fighting against an army of bots for these hot-ticket items you want to buy for Christmas, and you may not know it, ” says Kerry Tomlinson, a cyber security expert with Archer News.
A bot is an automated system to buy things online, so that you don’t have to manually do anything. Some claim they can make a purchase in as little as 200 milliseconds.
Right now, most are used to snatch concert tickets, hotel reservations, new gadgets or sneakers. Tomlinson says they will look for items in high demand, buy up a lot of the inventory, and then resell it to you on the secondary market at a higher price.
In fact, Tomlinson says 99% of ticket purchases are made by bots.
Now, some experts suggest that to catch up with those guys and get some of these hot-ticket items for yourself, you need to get your own bot. You can go online and buy a bot from anywhere between $10 to $500. But it’s risky.
“Some experts say, ‘Yes, get yourself a bot because you are not going to be fast enough using your fingers, ‘” Tomlinson says. “Other people say, ‘Hey, watch out for bots, some of them are illegal, some of them may soon be illegal, some of them may be stealing your data. ‘”
She says you may lose your information, your credit card number and you may not even end up with the product.
So what can you do to have a chance at getting popular items this season?
Tomlinson recommends shopping early, and not waiting until the last minute when items run out. She also suggests these websites, where you can track which retailers have which items in stock:
You can also follow these sites on Twitter and Facebook too, where they frequently update new information about toys and hot items.
11 Best Sneaker Bots of 2021 – Good, Bad & Where To Buy | The VOU
Sneaker bots, a new concept to the world of fashion, are taking the industry by storm.
Simply put, sneaker bots are behind almost everything sneakers-related right now.
Sneaker bots have become critical tools to hardcore sneakerheads, sneaker spotters, resellers, and collectors.
These tools are also paired with residential proxies to avoid any blocks on sneaker online storefronts – check out this Smartproxy blog to learn more.
Sneaker bots are used to find the latest releases, buy, sell, boost online advertising and sales, and even copy sneaker designs.
With hundreds of exclusive sneaker releases dropping every year, accounting for hundreds of millions of dollars in profit, the sneaker bot business is growing fast.
In this article, I’ll detail the sneaker bot business, and introduce you to the best sneaker bots of 2021.
I’ll also share with you what we like and what we don’t like about each sneaker bot in this list.
Finally, at the end of the article, I’ll answer some of the most asked questions right now, such as: are sneaker bots illegal, how do sneaker bots work, and so on.
IN THIS ARTICLE:
Top 11 sneaker bots of 2021
What is a sneaker bot?
How do sneaker bots work?
Are sneaker bots illegal?
Do sneaker bots actually work?
How much does a sneaker bot cost?
What are the best sneaker bots?
Top 11 Sneaker Bots Of 2021
New sneaker bots join the market every year, but there’s no way to tell how they’ll perform.
Thus, rather than making a risky investment in unknown bots, it is better to focus on trialed and tested bots.
History shows that a bot that’s been performing well in the past, does well in the next years too.
In this guide, I’ve picked each sneaker bot based on past performance, features, and price.
I have also checked each sneaker bot’s Twitter account, discussions on Reddit, and lots of users’ reviews, to ensure each sneakerbot legitimacy and performance proof.
Without further ado, these are the best 11 sneaker bots of 2021 you can buy right now:
1.
GANESH BOT
Overall Score 7
From $500
PROS
CONS
Very easy to use with a fast return on investment, if you use it right.
Reselling price is very high, around 5k USD.
SUPPORT | 8/10
EASE OF USE | 7. 5/10
SUCCESS RATE | 8. 5/10
AVAILABILITY | 4/10
Ganesh is one of the best sneaker bots to perform on EU-based sites.
Catering for a part of the community that’s long been overlooked.
In terms of websites, Ganesh supports Footlocker EU, Footsites, Finishline, Solebox, Offspring, and many more.
With an applaudable performance on Footlocker EU and Footsites US.
Of course, that’s all great news for EU fam, but if you’re located in the US and want to run Ganesh.
Well, you can always resort to reshipping services. Even if they’re gonna add to your running costs.
Generally speaking, 2020 was a successful year for Ganesh users who copped the Mochas, Jordan 5 Oregon, AJ5 “What The”, Nike Sacai Vaporwaffle, AJ1 Lucky Green, and a lot more.
The retail price of Ganesh falls more into the higher range of prices at £550.
In addition to the renewal fees of $80/ 6 months. But, that’s nothing compared to its aftermarket price.
If you’re looking to buy Ganesh and can’t waste time waiting for a restock, it’ll cost you anywhere between $4500 and $5000.
Pretty pricey, but as with all great sneaker bots, copping the right pairs will pay you back very soon.
2.
CYBERSOLE AIO
From $300
Good retail price and fairly available, if you know where to look.
Support can be a total letdown at times, so rely on Reddit groups if you need help.
SUPPORT | 6. 5/10
SUCCESS RATE | 8/10
AVAILABILITY | 6/10
Cybersole is one of the most in-demand sneaker bots at the moment, at least on the secondary market.
Part of this goes to the excellent success rate it delivers.
Flipping a key of Cybersole, which is Out-of-Stock, could make you as much as selling 3 or 4 pairs of new Yeezys sneakers
Why does it cost so much? Well, because of the reselling bots.
So, if you want to get your hands on the Cybersole bot, before the next drop, you’ll need to pay a good sum.
Now, even if you’re short on cash, you can still cop Jordans and Yeezys, using Cybersole.
After all, the bot sneaker community is one of the most helpful you’ll ever join.
You can rent a good sneaker bot for a period as short as one day, or as long as a month and the bot renting business also applies to Cybersole.
Cybersole bot has earned this reputation by having a consistent and strong performance throughout 2020.
People using this bot have been successfully copping Supreme, Yeezys, Jordans, Off-whites, and streetwear items from Shopify, and Footsites.
Moreover, the bot’s success rate with Supreme merch is what made some critics call it ‘the best supreme bot of 2021‘.
3.
BALKO BOT
Overall Score 6. 8
From $250
Decent success rate and renting option is relatively cheap for those new to sneaker bots
Balko does not support Footsites.
SUPPORT | 7. 5/10
EASE OF USE | 7/10
SUCCESS RATE | 7/10
Another top sneaker bot in the business, Balko supports Shopify, Adidas, and Supreme.
Balko has a decent success rate, you gotta wait for a restock or buy it for the resale price of $1500 to $2000.
However, with Balko, renting is the cheaper and less time-consuming option.
Renting Balko bot isn’t that hard. First, check Twitter and Discord to find plenty of renting keys for a short period of time.
However, one negative point is that Balko does not support Footsites.
As you may know, most air Jordan sneakers drop on Footsites.
Running a bot that doesn’t cop off these sites means a major decrease in your ability to get some of the most coveted pairs of sneakers.
Along with all the cash you’re spending, and the cash you could’ve made flipping them.
4.
NSB BOT
Overall Score 7. 8
From $499
One of the easiest to use sneaker bots out there with a good success rate.
Higher priced bots for shoes than some competitor bots.
EASE OF USE | 8/10
SUCCESS RATE | 7. 5/10
AVAILABILITY | 8/10
NSB (Nikeshoebot) is another highly-performing All-in-one Bot in the sneaker industry.
And just like AIO bot, it supports Shopify, Footsites, Supreme, and many more sneaker shops.
In 2020, NSB’s name was mentioned among the top-scoring bots on most releases.
Among NSB’s best cops this year were the Jordan 1 Satin Snakeskin, Yeezy Carbon & Zyon, Travis Scott’s Cactus Trails, and thousands of Supreme pieces.
Nike snkrs bot NSB has been maintaining a consistent rate of success, so far.
Plus, being always-in-stock is what makes NSB one of the most sought-after bots.
Moreover, if you were to compare its retail price of $499/year with the resale value of OOS bots, NSB might actually win.
5.
AIO BOT
From $325
One of the oldest sneaker bots in the business, great availability, trust, and success rate.
The support can get better, especially for the operating age of the team behind the bot.
SUPPORT | 6/10
SUCCESS RATE | 6. 5/10
AIO Bot is the OG sneaker bot and a major sneaker bot.
It is the first name that comes to your mind when you think about copping, collecting, and reselling rare sneakers.
Right now, AIO Bot is one of the best sneaker bots in the business.
Not only in 2020 but ever since it launched back in 2014.
The bot supports Shopify, Adidas, Yeezysupply, and Footsites.
AIO Bot is also one of the easiest bots to run if you’re just getting started.
The price of $325 and the availability factor, make it one of the best sneaker bots ever.
In terms of numbers, AIO Bot users cooked on every single Air Jordan Release, including the AJ1 Royal Toe, Satin Snakeskin, Jordan 1 Smoke Grey, and a lot more.
And Yeezy-wise, The Adidas Yeezy 350 V2 Carbon, and Zyon were 2 of the best releases of 2020 and some of the best cops for AIO bot.
AIO Bot would cost you $325 with $69 renewal fees every 6 Months.
6.
KODAI SNEAKER BOT
From $175
Cheap sneaker bot (if rented) with a simple user interface.
Very high resale price with slow return on investment, at least for beginners.
Kodai might not have always been under your radar, but it’s been one of the best sneaker bots in the industry so far.
As an all-in-one bot, Kodai supports Adidas, Yeezysupply, Supreme, and Footlocker EU, and Shopify.
However, Kodai’s biggest strength is the Footsites US.
Since the bulk of sneaker stock drops there, running Kodai can increase your chances of copping, flipping, and cashing in.
Unless you buy it for the resale price, which falls between $6000 and $7000, then you’ll go short on money for a long time.
For that, it’ll take some time for Kodai to start paying you back.
Some of Kodai’s biggest moments of 2020 were:
The Jordan 1 Mochas, Yeezy Carbon, AJ1 Satin, and Jordan 12 Gold.
Check out their Twitter feed, for proof of success.
As for the usage, Kodai’s interface is smooth and relatively easy to use.
So if you’re still new to the sneaker bot business but can afford it, go for it; you shouldn’t have a hard time running and benefiting from Kodai.
7.
WRATH SNEAKER BOT
Overall Score 6. 4
From $350
Easy of use, with good results.
High retail price and a further subscription model that charges you every month.
Launching back in February 2018, Wrath bot is not new to the sneaker bot wars.
However, 2020 seems to be doing the bot justice.
The retail price of Wrath starts at $350 plus a monthly subscription.
But as cupcakes and rainbows as this price sounds, Wrath also follows the very trendy “Out-of-stock” model.
Making it impossible for you to get a key unless you pay the resale price for it.
Which, in the case of Wrath bot, is about $5000 to $6000!
Or you could stay glued to their Twitter account hoping for a restock.
Quite frustrating when you got a whole bunch of Yeezys lined up to drop soon.
Wrath cops sneakers from Footsites, Shopify, and Yeezysupply.
And for your weekly dose of pricey streetwear, Wrath also supports Supreme.
However, to continue on this copping journey, you must pay $125 every 6 months to keep sneakers coming through your windows PC or Mac.
So far in 2020, we’ve seen Wrath cop on almost all hyped releases with checkout numbers ranging from good to impressive!
Some of the biggest successes of Wrath bot would be the Yeezy Linens, Jordan 1 Royals, New Balance Casablanca, and of course Supreme.
8.
PHANTOM BY GHOST
Overall Score 6. 5
Good price, easy to use, and good support.
Sold as an AIO sneaker bot, but it lags updates with certain sites.
SUPPORT | 7/10
SUCCESS RATE | 6/10
Designed $300 for a decent all-in-one bot is not much to pay if we’re being honest.
And Phantom, the AIO Bot by Ghost is one that’s worth your cash.
However, when such a sneaker bot opts for an OOS business model, things get pricey.
So, if you’re aching to cop sneakers or Supreme using Phantom, brace yourself to shed anything from $1500 to $2000.
But even that is not a lot considering how much you can make when you play your cards right and cop smart.
Some of the latest successful drops for Phantom include the Yeezy Quantum Barium, Jordan 1 Royal Toes, Jordan 13 Flints, and Yeezy 700 MNVN Black.
And though its performance on Supreme wasn’t a match to its competitors’, Phantom still counts as an AIO bot.
One that’s actually compatible with Windows and Mac.
9.
EASYCOP BOT
$600/year
Great success rate, with an increasing number of verified checkouts.
Just out of beta testing, little things need ironing here and there, before it goes wrong.
EASE OF USE | 6. 5/10
AVAILABILITY | 7/10
Easycopbots best sneaker botsOne of the promising sneaker bots that joined the industry recently is Easycop Bot.
Known to be a Footsites only bot, Easycop is slowly getting the attention of sneakerheads on big releases.
In terms of performance, this sneaker bot has been getting an increased number of checkouts regularly.
With their recent success scored on the Yeezy Asriel release where they claim to have copped thousands of pairs.
And we can’t help but notice the big hype over this new bot.
The number of shoutouts and rate of engagement on Twitter is remarkable for a bot just out of beta testing.
As for the sites, Easycop supports Footsites only.
And it’s still not clear whether or not it will add more sites anytime soon. However, for a relatively new bot, Easycop’s performance on Footsites is quite remarkable.
Among its recent wins, we can mention the Black NMD HUs, the Yeezy 380 Natural and Carbon, and the Kobe “Bruce Lee” on which ECB scored a success rate of 95%.
At the price point of $600, Easycop is not so easy on the pocket.
But again compared to the crazy resell prices of OOS bots, it’s not a lot to pay for such performance.
However, if you’re into all-in-one bots and streetwear, ECB is not your bot.
10.
THE SHIT BOT
Overall Score 7. 5
$999/year
High-performance dedicated sneaker bot to Nike releases.
The price keeps changing which can be very confusing for starters.
We’ve focused more before on AIO bots and those specialized in wiping shelves of Footsites and Shopify.
But unless we talk about Nike bots, we’d be overlooking one major subsection of the sneaker industry.
Nike bots have always been a major part of the industry.
In fact, the whole sneaker botting scene kicked off with Nike bots back when Kanye was part of Nike and Nike Yeezys were the real deal.
Five or six years later, Nike bots are back in the spotlight, with Nike dropping most of the stock on hyped Dunk and Jordan releases.
And although BetterNikeBot is one of the oldest Nike bots around, it seems like The Shit Bot is taking the limelight lately.
With a unique character, one-of-a-kind UI, and lately great performance on SNKRS, The Shit Bot (No really, that’s its name! ) is considered one of the best Nike bots out there.
Scrolling through TSB Twitter, you can tell it performs very well and cops sneakers that aren’t accessible by other bots.
And well, when you add up the number of the Jordan 1 Mochas, AJ5 Off white sail and Nike Dunks copped, TSB’s users seem to be making some good cash!
According to their website, using TSB you can cop Nike sneakers from more than 45 different regions.
As for the retail price, the 10 Grand on the website might look freaky, but the actual retail/ restock price of this Nike bot is $299.
So it’s on the lower side of the price range.
11.
THE KICK STATION
Overall Score 6. 6
Good sneaker bot, once found! Great success rate and good support.
Very hard to get hold of, even the website requires an invitation of password access.
After a very successful year in 2019, TKS has had a rough time getting that same level of success in 2020.
So, if you’re looking to invest in a top-notch sneaker copping tool, TKS might not be the bot for you.
Best bots TKSTheKickStation, aka TKS, was one of the best sneaker bots in 2019.
With its power points being Footsites and Shopify-based websites.
TKS UI is considered a bit tricky to work with so it might not be the best bot for beginners.
However, at the price of $360, it is a fair investment if you consider the potential ROI if you cop.
The biggest downfall would be that it’s out of stock.
So you can’t just buy these shoe bots when you’ve saved up enough.
In fact, you’re probably doomed to pay the resale price which can go up to over $800.
But just in case you really need this bot, in particular, you can always rent it or buy it second-hand off Discord servers.
And that’s where most sneaker bot trading happens.
You just need to find a sneakerhead that’s not interested in whatever drop you’re copping.
Ultimate Beginner Guide To Sneaker Bots
This is the ultimate guide to everything sneaker bots right now!
I’ll show you how to use sneaker bots to increase your money-making chances exponentially, with minimal effort.
Right now, there are many bot services around and endless YouTube tutorials on how to use them.
But, before you start, you have to understand the business where sneaker bots are most used: reselling sneakers.
Rare, expensive, limited-edition sneakers, a good sneaker bot will help you find and sell them very, very fast.
The easiest way to explain how the reselling of sneakers works is via a parallel to concert tickets.
Most concert tickets re-sell for more than their retail price.
However, it is hard to know when someone decides to resell the ticket. For that, some clever buyers use automated bots to spot and buy them.
Just like the ticketing industry, the footwear industry is also run by bots.
Retailers, brands, and designers often speak out about the use of bots are a potential problem, attempting to stop them or to fight back.
More recently, KAWS announced that they were canceling and blocking orders made by bots.
Similarly, Berrics tricked one bot user into spending $11, 000 on a sneaker, while Kith used a similar bait-and-switch tactic to dupe someone into buying 21 pairs, or $1, 700 worth of “Wheat” Jordan 1s.
The sneaker bots war is ongoing, with both sides consistently re-positioning to gain new ground.
What Is A Sneaker Bot?
A sneaker bot is an application, or an automated script, designed and used to speed up the checkout process when buying products online.
Any computer can run a sneaker bot. However, large servers are preferred, given their extra processing speed.
Sneaker bots facilitate the purchasing of extremely rare or limited edition shoes that make their way to the aftermarket to be sold for profit.
Most Valuable Sneakers – adapted from ‘The Korea Economic Daily’.
Many of these shoes are nearly impossible to find and buy without using bots.
Why? Because there are hundreds like you, simultaneously “botting” the same sneakers, so there’s crazy competition right from the start.
The most usually botted sites are Supreme, Dover Street Market, Shopify stores like YeezySupply, and Footsites (Foot Locker, Champs, Eastbay, and Footaction), given that they regularly drop covetable pieces.
For more sneaker stores, check out our full list of best sneaker websites.
How Do Sneaker Bots Work?
In a nutshell, you type your information and purchasing details into the bot interface, such as your credit card, name, delivery address.
Then you instruct the bot on what to buy.
This part can be done in two main ways:
1. Just enter the URL (web address) of the product into the bot.
2. Provide the bot with the product name and other related keywords.
Buyers often search for early information (like the product URL) from so-called ‘cook groups’ which provide support to botters.
Once the bot is launched, it will automate the checkout process and purchase items quicker than is humanly possible.
In fact, a good sneaker bot can check out products in as little as 0. 2 seconds.
Without bots, shopping limited-edition releases would prioritize those with fast internet or close to the manufacturer’s server.
“In order for any release to be fair, everyone has to be using the same speed of internet. Moreover, everybody must be at the same physical distance from the servers, as that also affects the amount of time it takes to be first in line, ” said Erik Fagerlind from Sneakersnstuff.
Although it sounds simple, using sneaker bots can become quite complicated.
That is because you have to set up and use proxies, alongside a dedicated server and the bot.
Servers are preferred with bots because they increase the speed to which you are connecting to the site that sells rare sneakers.
Proxies are unique IP addresses that can be used to make you seem like you are multiple buyers, from different parts of the world.
For instance, if you want to enter into an online queue to buy the latest YEEZYs, the more entries you have, the higher the chances of completing your purchase.
If you don’t use proxies, the site will identify all your entries as one source, resulting in an IP ban.
After procuring a sneaker bot, a server, and proxies, it comes the training time.
You’ll have to get used to your sneaker bot, know the delays, how the targeted site works, and if it has bot protection.
The bot and user training part sometimes takes months as it is not something you pick up once you get the bot.
Also, buying an expensive bot won’t assure you to get sneakers.
There are sneaker bot users, usually, the people copping and cooking shoes, that have been in the sneaker-reselling game for a long time.
They know this business from the back of their head, so remember that in your early days. It might take some time.
1. Sneaker Bot Proxy
There are Unknown proxies, Oculus proxies, Shadow and Leaf proxies.
But, the most popular types of proxies are ISP and residential.
Residential proxies are needed for sites with very high bot protection.
Most residential proxies are rotating the provided IP addresses while, on the other hand, a data center doesn’t rotate IP addresses.
So if the IP gets banned, it’s banned and you have to wait until you’re unbanned.
2. Sneaker Bot Proxy
There are Unknown proxies, Oculus proxies, Shadow, and Leaf proxies.
3. Gmail Accounts For Sneaker Bots
Gmail accounts are needed for four different sites: Supreme, Yeezy Supply, Footsites, and Shopify.
When a CAPTCHA message pops up, Gmails make it easier for you to solve the CAPTCHA, and thus, it gives you fast access time.
Ideally, you’ll use an aged Gmail account.
Aged Gmail accounts are from 2010 and even older.
There’s a black market for Gmail accounts, but the most wanted are old Gmail accounts.
Another way to get an aged Gmail account is from people that farm Gmail.
Gmail farms put a lot of activity on these accounts so they don’t look fake.
4. Virtual Credit Card Profiles
There are many ways to get credit cards for sneaker bots.
For once, there are virtual credit cards. Here’s how it works.
Most modern credit card providers have a feature called virtual cards that allows you to make unlimited cards.
Always use these virtual cards so your card does not get flagged and canceled.
As a form of bot protection, most sneaker sites no longer allow buyers to save profile checkouts anymore.
For that, use different credit cards, names, numbers, and addresses.
But, how do you use a different address on your card? It’s simple, you just jig on your virtual credit cards.
5. How To Jig On Credit Cards
Let’s say your address is 123 Apple St. It is a house, and it is just you living at that address.
But, by jigging, you’ll add a ‘Room 1’ to your address.
Then, on the next profile, you put ‘Room 2. ’
The third profile you put ‘Room 3 and so on, up to 500, if needed.
You can change room to an apartment (in the same house, 123 Apple St. ) and can go up to 10, 000 apartments.
In this way, jigging shows the company or the site that’s dropping the sneakers that this guy is not getting multiple pairs of shoes.
To them, these are all different addresses.
In reality, you’re just changing the room number, in your own house.
6. Sneaker Bots Updates
The developer of the bot pushes frequent updates.
Most sneaker bot developers tend to push updates every day.
Software updates are needed because the sites fight to ban the bots, and developers create patches or updates that allow them to fight back.
Usually, developers inform users on Discord when there’s an update available.
If you don’t update, your sneaker bot might not work as expected or, you might get a bunch of errors during the drop.
Are Sneaker Bots Illegal?
Sneaker bots are not illegal.
However, the use of sneaker bots goes against the terms and conditions of most websites.
Supreme, Shopify, Nike, and Adidas are aware of sneaker bots, and they all update their online protection against them on a regular basis.
However, sneaker bot developers are also quick to update their operating software in order to bypass any new protective measures.
These bot updates entail changes in coding that aim to tell the difference between a bot and a human user.
Although sneaker bots are legal, do not confuse them with ticketing bots, illegal in the USA.
Is Botting A Pyramid Scheme?
No, sneaker botting is not a pyramid scheme.
Sneaker manufacturers, sellers, and resellers are legit businesses run by legitimate people.
What sneaker botting does is the selective acceleration of the sneaker trade.
– What Are Retailers Doing To Combat Sneaker Bots?
Sneaker bots are something they “focus very much on“, said Simon Lister, marketing director at End Clothing.
“We’ve implemented a number of solutions designed to make life more difficult for bots. When we release limited products, we do so through our new Launches Platform. Instead of having a ‘first come, first served (FCFS) operational system in place, where bots triumph, we enter the customers in a raffle. Only the lucky winners will be able to purchase the limited items, ” added Simon.
Simon asserts that releasing limited products in this way is the only way of “ensuring fairness for customers”.
A lot of other retailers have since followed suit.
Chris Bone, general manager of Livestock, shares a critical outlook on sneaker bots, referring to bot users as “vampires” who “suck the life out of whatever it is they’re trying to make a buck off. ”
Bone also mentions that in-store releases and raffles are the way forward to combat the issue, stating that Livestock is constantly “working to get these releases into the right hands”.
Some retailers are now also implementing CAPTCHAs onto their site to try and stop bots.
Supreme has also tried this tactic, though it wasn’t successful – bots now allow you to log in to Gmail accounts, and if enough activity is monitored on the email account, the site will not ask you to solve a captcha.
Similarly, Simon Bus from SNIPES, mentioned that the brand “uses a market-leading system to successfully block bots, ” and that “suspicious orders, classified technically flawless by the system, are hand-checked by the staff”.
It means that even if you manage to get past their anti-bot protection, your order is still at risk of being canceled.
Do Sneaker Bots Actually Work?
Botters are now increasingly competing with other botters.
Some site, such as Adidas, YeezySupply, and Nike, release their products with a raffle-based system.
Each buyer enters a queue and then a small number of people are randomly selected to purchase the item.
While this might sound like it could eliminate the success of bots, this isn’t the case, as they are also used to put mass entries into queues and raffles.
So, while bots do not guarantee success, they drastically increase your chances of success.
How Much Does A Sneaker Bot Cost?
The average sneaker bot cost is $50-$60 a month.
However, you might not be able to get your hands on a bot, despite paying for it, because they barely restock for retail.
So if you can catch a sneaker bot for retail, it’s going to cost you from $300-$500 a year.
A good sneaker bot retail for £300 and even more. However, some of the most popular and successful bots are very hard to get.
There are cases when a sneaker bot user has paid £4, 000 to buy one of these top bots from a reseller.
`Ironically, it is actually harder to purchase the sneaker best bots at retail value than it is to get an average pair of collectible sneakers like YEEZYs.
If you’re going to pay resale, you could pay from $1, 000-$8, 000.
There’s a bot called Sole AIO, which goes for $2K, and Balko, which goes for $3K.
Cyber bot, for example, goes for seven grand or more, while Wraith bot sells for eight grand and up.
There are so many more sneaker bots we could keep naming but the main problem is finding one to buy.
Then, the costs add up as some people don’t have computers powerful enough, so they have to get a server.
A good server can cost you almost $80 to $100 a month.
Add to the cost proxies, which depends on how many tasks you run and how secure you want to be.
The average person runs 50 to 100 tasks on every release.
Proxies will help you hide your identity and the IP address from websites so they can’t block you from being a reseller.
A good proxy provider will charge you about $100-$150 a month.
Then, each aged Gmail account is about a dollar.
So you could end up paying $30 a month for Gmail accounts, used to help bypass CAPTCHAs on retailers’ websites.
And then you have extra expenses, such as Nike’s SNKRS accounts.
You can get them for about $1. 50 per account. However, SNKRS accounts get banned very quickly, so you could end up paying more.
I personally know people that pay $100 a month for SNKRS accounts, just because they keep getting reset.
Overall, you’re looking at an expense of $800-$1, 000 per month to be successful.
Based on my calculations, the cheapest way to use a bot and resell sneakers will cost you at least $600 per month.
What Are The Best Sneaker Bots?
There are a couple of bot types and bots names you must know about when going into the sneaker reselling market.
There are going to be Shopify bots, Nike bots, Adidas bots, Footsites bots, Supreme bots, and Yeezy Supply bots.
The best bots for these sites are going to be Cybersole AIO, Balkobot, Splashforce, Polaris, MEKPreme, VeloxPreme, Wraith, and Nike Shoe Bot.
The best and most popular sneaker bots occasionally restock, and due to the unprecedented demand, they sell out in seconds.
We tapped a UK-based sneaker bot developer who chose to remain anonymous, to ask what he’s doing to stay ahead of retailers and brands.
“I don’t think that retailers can win this cat and mouse game of anti-bot protection. I put it down to 2 main factors:
Firstly, it is expensive and time-intensive for retailers and brands to attempt “patching” the plethora of sneaker bots out there.
Secondly, where there is demand, there’s money… and a way around.
Right now, there’s crazy money to be made in the botting industry. See for example the developers of ‘Cyber bot’, boasting that their users collectively spent over 30 million dollars in the last year. “
Personally, I don’t recommend buying all-in-one (AIO) bots. That’s because they don’t really work.
Why? Well, there’s no bot that supports every site.
The sellers will market these bots as fully compatible with all sites but, because all sites change so much so fast, the developers can’t keep up.
To get your own sneaker bots, you have to follow the developers on Twitter.
There you can be the first to know if they do restocks, when, where, and how.
The most interesting part of the sneaker bots business is that there are bots designed to let you know when to get the restocks.
Simply put, people use bots to buy bots.
However, most people are getting their bots from resale or restocks.
Usually, you can get a bot from $1, 000-$8, 000.
The most popular top 3 resale markets for bots are BotBroker, Bot Mart, and Tidal.
Above all, don’t get scammed.
Often, when people buy bots, they go through middlemen.
There are people that join those bot marketplaces and impersonate real middlemen with fake names and accounts.
Final Words
If you want to buy a sneaker bot just to get yourself a pair of rare sneakers, I wouldn’t recommend it.
That’s because you might not succeed for the first time and things will become increasingly expensive, soon.
There is another important to know; not everyone in the sneaker bot business is getting rich.
You should know that this is not an easy business and it’s not like you’re going to be making instant money.
It’ll take you six months to a year to get the ball rolling as nothing happens overnight.
Finally, if you’re serious about using a sneaker bot, this article should give you a headstart over the competition.
You know what you’re dealing with, where to start, and who to trust.
Also, keep in mind that the sneaker industry is ever-growing.
The industry’s growth calls for new sneaker bots to join every season.
And, while some new bots might not have (yet) the reputation of OG sneaker bots, there’s a chance they’re going to be even better.
So, keep an open mind, heart, and an eye on this article for future sneaker bots updates!
You have Successfully Subscribed!
Now it’s your turn…
What is your favorite sneaker bot in 2021 and why?
Do you think online stores will be able to stop sneaker bots from working in the future? If yes, how?
Do you think AI will play a role in the market of sneaker bots? If yes, how?
Would love to hear your thought below!
Frequently Asked Questions about purchase bot
Can you buy a purchasing bot?
You can go online and buy a bot from anywhere between $10 to $500. But it’s risky. “Some experts say, ‘Yes, get yourself a bot because you are not going to be fast enough using your fingers,’” Tomlinson says.Nov 13, 2019
How much is it to buy a bot?
Moreover, if you were to compare its retail price of $499/year with the resale value of OOS bots, NSB might actually win….Overall Score 7.8. From $499.PROSCONSOne of the easiest to use sneaker bots out there with a good success rate.Higher priced bots for shoes than some competitor bots.Feb 22, 2021
