Sneaker botting has been a controversial yet lucrative side hustle for years. With bots that can automatically purchase limited sneaker drops within seconds, resellers have made big profits flipping hyped shoes on the secondary market.
However, recent years have seen major changes in the sneaker botting industry, leaving many wondering if it‘s still a viable business in 2024. In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll examine the current state of sneaker botting and help you decide if it‘s worth getting into today.
Contents
What is Sneaker Botting?
For the uninitiated, sneaker botting involves using automated bots to purchase shoes online during hyped releases. These bots can process checkout faster than any human, giving botters an advantage over the average sneakerhead.
Once the shoes are secured, botters resell them on secondary marketplaces like StockX, GOAT, eBay, and Stadium Goods at heavily marked-up prices. Limited sneaker collaborations that retailed for $100-200 can resell for $500-1,000+ per pair.
Top sneaker bots retail between $500-$2000, with most bots requiring monthly renewal fees. Proxies, servers, and cook groups add even more overhead costs. But for successful botters, the profit margins make the investment well worth it.
Why Botting Has Gotten Harder
In the early 2010s, sneaker botting was like the Wild West. Bots encountered little resistance gobbling up inventory, allowing botters to easily clear out full releases. Those days are gone.
In 2022, sneaker retailers have gotten extremely sophisticated at combating bots. Here are some of the measures they‘ve implemented:
CAPTCHAs
CAPTCHA systems requiring human verification have gotten much harder for bots to solve. Retailers use advanced tracking to identify bot activity versus real users.
Raffles
Major releases are now almost entirely raffle-based, randomized online drawings that bots can‘t predict or game. Raffles level the playing field and give average users better odds at securing shoes.
Queue Systems
Queue-It and other virtual waiting room systems sporadically drop inventory, preventing bots from predicting exact release times down to the millisecond.
Access Control
Retailers identify and blacklist data centers, servers and proxies commonly used for botting. Maintaining usable resources requires immense effort.
Partnerships With Bot Mitigation Companies
Retailers work with companies that specialize in identifying and stopping bot traffic using sophisticated fingerprinting, heuristics and machine learning algorithms.
Order Review
Many retailers now manually review orders, cancelling ones that exhibit bot patterns like duplicate billing/shipping info.
Inventory Control
Limited releases no longer dump all inventory at once. Retailers hold stock in reserve and strategically restock at randomized times to combat bots.
Legislation
Pending federal laws look to outright ban the use of bots for online retail purchases. If passed, those caught botting would face criminal penalties.
Major retailers like Nike and Adidas have implemented every bot mitigation measure conceivable. Successfully botting them requires world-class tools and expertise. Even then, there are no guarantees.
The State of The Top Sneaker Bots
Sneaker bots have been playing catch-up to retailers‘ ever-advancing bot defenses. Some have adapted better than others:
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Cybersole – Long the gold standard in sneaker bots, Cybersole still cooks but has lost considerable ground. With retailers blocking its data centers, Cybersole now requires using residential proxies for any chance at success.
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Kodai – The new kid on the block, Kodai has quickly made a name for itself with constant iterative updates. Its declarative config system simplifies creating detailed bot tasks. Kodai works well for Shopify sites and Yeezy Supply.
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Balko – Balko‘s brute force methods still work on some Shopify sites but have become less effective on tougher targets like Footsites and Yeezy Supply. Balko remains extremely popular but needs an update.
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Ganesh – A newcomer bot that made waves cooking PS5s, Ganesh is now transitioning to sneakers. It copped well during initial sneaker tests but still has kinks to work out compared to veterans like Kodai. Definitely one to watch.
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MekAIO – Mek has always been solid for Shopify but very weak elsewhere. An upcoming major rewrite dubbed “MekPreme” aims to make the bot more well-rounded. But with other bots advancing so rapidly, it’s unclear if Mek can catch up.
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Phantom – Phantom was an instacop legend back in the day but has struggled mightily since Nike implemented tougher bot defenses. The bot now rarely cooks on mainstream sites, instead focusing on lesser-known Shopify brands.
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Tsunami – This newcomer bot showed promise cooking Shopify but has failed every major test against tougher targets. The developers give excuses and false hope rather than execution.
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Splashforce – Splashforce COPY once cooked but those days are long gone. The bot’s obsolete and outright broken on modern sites using current bot defenses. Most users have wisely abandoned it.
Across the board, no current sneaker bots work reliably against the toughest targets like Yeezy Supply and Footsites anymore. The days of instantly clearing out full sneaker releases are over. Success now requires tremendous botting skill and top-tier tools.
Proxies Remain Essential For Sneaker Botting
Quality sneaker proxies are more critical than ever for success botting in 2024. Retailers aggressively block data centers, residential IPs and subnets with prior botting usage.
Rotating through thousands of freshly-generated residential proxies gives you the best chance at smoothly adding to cart and checking out. Top proxy services for sneaker botting include:
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Luminati – The Ferrari of proxy services, Luminati offers unrivaled residential proxy quality at premium pricing.
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Smartproxy – Smartproxy‘s backconnect residential proxies offer good results for medium botting budgets.
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Proxyrack – Proxyrack has a wide variety of residential proxy plans to fit different needs and budgets.
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Leaf Proxies – Specializing in sneaker/Shopify proxies, Leaf is a newcomer quickly making waves in the space.
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Shifty Proxies – Shifty offers an affordable mix of residential and mobile proxies suitable for beginner botters.
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Proxies.horshark – Budget mobile proxies that work decently for less intensive shopify botting.
Having proxies on point is necessary but not sufficient for success. Every aspect of your botting setup and strategy must be flawless.
Key Factors for Botting Success in 2024
Given how much sneaker retailers have leveled the playing field, success botting in 2024 requires mastering many intricacies:
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Using Multiple Bots – Each sneaker bot has strengths and weaknesses. Combining bots like Kodai, Ganesh and Balko gives you optimal coverage.
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Browser Profiles – Setting up fresh browser profiles with no history or linked accounts helps bots mimic real users.
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Jigged Accounts – Creating accounts with jigged varied info is mandatory for bypassing bot detection.
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Cookies – Backdooring restock cookies from previous releases helps immensely with inventory drops.
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Cards – Mixing virtual credit cards and privacy.com cards is vital for passing payment fraud filters.
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Servers – Local servers keep latency low. Many seasoned botters use dedicated servers from High Proxies.
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Gmails – Aged Gmail accounts help for creating jigged accounts and solving captchas.
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Label Makers – Quickly generating printable shipping labels bypasses the need to enter addresses manually.
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Localhost Testing – Testing your setup locally avoids burning through resources by troubleshooting on live sites.
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Cookgroups – Getting the latest intel, updates, tips and tricks from knowledgeable groups.
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Release Monitoring – Closely tracking inventory numbers and site traffic flow using tools like Kodai Moments.
Today‘s anti-bot technology forces you to perfect every single detail and strategy, or risk taking L‘s.
What‘s The ROI on Sneaker Botting In 2024?
Let‘s crunch the numbers on estimated costs and profit potential for sneaker botting, based on copping a standard Shopify or Footsite release in 2024.
For this example, we‘ll go after a release of 1000 pairs priced at $180 retail. We‘ll be extremely conservative and estimate:
- Copping 10 pairs manually
- Copping 40 additional pairs using bots
Upfront Costs
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Sneaker Bots – $2000-$3000 for 2 copies of the top bots
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Cookgroup – $30-$60 per month
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Local Server – $60 per month
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Gmail Accounts – $20 for 20 aged accounts
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Label Printer – $200
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Labels – $50
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Proxies – $1000 per month
Total Upfront Cost: $3300 – $4300
Cost Per Release
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Proxies – $1000
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Bots Copped Shoes – 40 pairs x $180 = $7200
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Manually Copped Shoes – 10 pairs x $180 = $1800
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Total Shoe Cost = $9000
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Label Printing = $20
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Cookgroup (Monthly) = $30-$60
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Server (Monthly) – $60
Total Cost Per Release: $9110 – $9140
Profit Per Release
Now let‘s estimate how much we can profit:
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Bots Copped Shoes
- 40 pairs x $400 resale profit per pair = $16,000
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Manually Copped Shoes
- 10 pairs x $250 resale profit per pair = $2500
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Total Profit = $18,500
Net Profit Per Release
- Total Profit – Total Cost
- $18,500 – $9110 – $9140
- = $9360 – $9400
Even with today‘s challenging botting environment, this conservative estimate shows ~$9300 in potential profit per release. For the right releases, profit can be much higher.
The key is having the requisite skills and tools to succeed against tougher and tougher bot defenses. It‘s not easy, but remains very profitable if done right.
The Bottom Line – Is Sneaker Botting Worth It In 2024?
Given the rising challenges and costs, is sneaker botting still a viable business today?
The short answer – yes, it absolutely still can be extremely profitable for those committed to excelling at the craft.
However, it requires far more knowledge, effort and capital than ever before. Expect a significant learning curve. Platforms like Shopify and Yeezy Supply require truly mastering every botting skill and strategy to see success.
Major retail chains like Footlocker and Finish Line are implementing raffles and tougher bot defenses every day. While still bottable for now, they continue getting harder at a rapid pace.
Blindly running bots with no real methodology will lead to failure and financial losses. Today‘s sneaker botting mandates flawless execution.
For beginners, temper your expectations. Starting out profitably botting in 2024 demands accepting the new realities:
- Retailers have the upper hand now
- Easy money days are over
- Success requires immense skill + resources
- You will take many Ls before you cook
But for those truly determined to master the art and science of sneaker botting, the profits remain alluring. Now is the time to step up your game and leave no strategic stone unturned.
While the future regulatory environment remains uncertain, sneaker botting still presents a tremendous opportunity for those able and willing to excel at it in 2024.
