UPS signed an exclusive deal to handle box-free, label-free returns for TikTok Shop’s US sellers through Happy Returns, the returns company it bought from PayPal in 2023. Sellers can offer it whether they ship orders themselves or use TikTok Shop’s fulfillment. Shoppers drop unwanted items at one of nearly 10,000 return bars at Ulta Beauty, Staples, and UPS Store locations, where staff scan and bag them and then ship them in bulk to processing hubs each day. Happy Returns runs an AI tool that flags suspicious returns and routes them to human auditors, who can hold back the refund if they confirm fraud. UPS and FedEx are both chasing returns work because it earns more than ordinary e-commerce delivery, and Amazon already offers box-free returns.
