How Autocop Works Under the Hood

#The Speed Challenge

When a sought-after item gets listed on a marketplace like Vinted, it can sell within seconds. Manual browsing simply can't compete. Kops was built to solve this problem from the ground up.

#Architecture Overview

Kops' autocop engine operates on three principles:

1. Real-time monitoring — Continuous scanning of marketplace feeds
2. Instant matching — Sub-millisecond filter evaluation
3. Automated purchasing — End-to-end purchase execution

#The Scanning Layer

Our scanner infrastructure monitors marketplace APIs and feeds in real time. When a new listing appears, it's immediately processed through our matching pipeline.

The key insight: we don't wait for search results. We intercept new listings as they're created, giving us a time advantage measured in milliseconds, not minutes.

#The Matching Engine

Each incoming listing is evaluated against all active filters in parallel. Our matching engine uses a pre-compiled filter tree that evaluates brand, price, size, condition, and keyword rules simultaneously.

A typical evaluation takes < 1ms, meaning a listing can be matched against hundreds of filters almost instantly.

#The Purchase Pipeline

Once a listing matches a filter with autocop enabled, the purchase pipeline kicks in:

1. Validation — Quick sanity checks (seller reputation, listing completeness)
2. Account selection — If multiple accounts are available, select the optimal one
3. Transaction — Execute the purchase via the marketplace's checkout flow
4. Confirmation — Verify the purchase was successful and notify the user

The entire pipeline, from listing detection to confirmed purchase, typically completes in under 800 milliseconds.

#Reliability & Safety

Speed is nothing without reliability. Kops includes multiple safety mechanisms:

• Circuit breakers — If purchase failure rates spike, autocop pauses automatically
• Spending limits — Hard caps prevent runaway spending
• Duplicate detection — Prevents accidentally buying the same item twice
• Seller quality checks — Automatically skips new or poorly-rated sellers

#Real-World Performance

In production, Kops processes thousands of listings per minute across multiple marketplace zones. Our median purchase time sits at 0.8 seconds from listing to checkout confirmation.

For competitive items like limited-edition sneakers or designer pieces, that speed makes the difference between copping and missing out.