System and methods are provided to regulate sales of a product in an online store using computer-implemented delays. The computer-implemented delays can, for example, help mitigate the use of bots in the online store, provide different customers with equal access to the product and/or provide certain customers with priority access to the product. According to an embodiment, a method includes receiving an indication that a user intends to purchase an item of a product in an online store, and determining a delay for a sale of the item to the user to regulate sales of the product. Before completing the sale of the item to the user, the delay is implemented in the online store.