Shyp Wants to Make Online Shopping Returns Easy Peasy

The San Francisco-based shipping startup is unveiling a new product today that aims to make the process of returning items you buy online hassle free.

learn more about Catherine Clifford

By Catherine Clifford

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

How long have you had that pair of pants sitting in the corner of your bedroom waiting to be returned? You ordered them online and they arrived, what, three weeks ago now? There's no way can keep them; they won't zip. (The retailer you bought them from must have changed their sizing, of course, since there is no way you have gotten any bigger.)

But every morning, as you rush out of the house to go to the office, you can't be bothered to dig up the right box to return those too-tight pants. You also don't remember where you filed the return shipping label. On top of all of that, you can't make it to the post office today, not with the six meetings and hundred emails on your to-do list. And so that pair of too-tight pants just sits and sits, taunting you every night.

That's the scenario that Shyp is trying to save you from.

Related: 10 Promising Startups Poised to Change the Way You Live, Work and Play

The San Francisco-based shipping startup released a product today called Shyp Returns that wants to make returning an item you bought during your last "click, click, click" shopping spree as easy as it was to buy it.

For $5, Shyp will pick up, package, and send any item. That's its sell. With Shyp Returns, you enter an order number and snap a quick picture of the item, and for $5, a Shyp Hero (that's what the startup calls its couriers) comes to you, whisks away that pair of too-tight pants, and away they go.

Image credit: Shyp

Related: Why These Ecommerce Front-Runners Are Building Brick and Mortar Stores

If you happen to be returning an online purchase to one of the most popular Shyp retailers, then you save yourself a step of entering the return address or finding the prepaid return shipping form. Featured retailers are expected to rotate, but right now, they include the likes of Zappos, Banana Republic, Overstock.com, Amazon.com, RenttheRunway.com, J.Crew, Gap, Bonobos.

If you want to return an item to a retailer that isn't featured, then you will need to give the prepaid shipping label to your Shyp Hero when they come and collect your item to be returned.

Related: By 2017, the App Market Will Be a $77 Billion Industry (Infographic)

Catherine Clifford

Senior Entrepreneurship Writer at CNBC

Catherine Clifford is senior entrepreneurship writer at CNBC. She was formerly a senior writer at Entrepreneur.com, the small business reporter at CNNMoney and an assistant in the New York bureau for CNN. Clifford attended Columbia University where she earned a bachelor's degree. She lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. You can follow her on Twitter at @CatClifford.

Related Topics

Editor's Pick

Everyone Wants to Get Close to Their Favorite Artist. Here's the Technology Making It a Reality — But Better.
The Highest-Paid, Highest-Profile People in Every Field Know This Communication Strategy
After Early Rejection From Publishers, This Author Self-Published Her Book and Sold More Than 500,000 Copies. Here's How She Did It.
Having Trouble Speaking Up in Meetings? Try This Strategy.
He Names Brands for Amazon, Meta and Forever 21, and Says This Is the Big Blank Space in the Naming Game
Business News

These Are the Most and Least Affordable Places to Retire in The U.S.

The Northeast and West Coast are the least affordable, while areas in the Mountain State region tend to be ideal for retirees on a budget.

Leadership

Are You Being Too Soft as a Leader? You Might Need to Try a Different Approach

At the core of leadership, we must provide purpose, direction and motivation to our employees — but not everyone is using the right leadership style to offer these things. Here's why you might need to consider a more rigid approach.

Starting a Business

Shopify's President Breaks Down the Best Ways to Grow Your Ecommerce Business

Entrepreneur magazine Editor in Chief Jason Feifer and Shopify President Harley Finkelstein discuss the best strategies to grow an ecommerce business.

Business News

I Live on a Cruise Ship for Half of the Year. Look Inside My 336-Square-Foot Cabin with Wraparound Balcony.

I live on a cruise ship with my husband, who works on it, for six months out of the year. Life at "home" can be tight. Here's what it's really like living on a cruise ship.

Business News

American Airlines Sued After Teen Dies of Heart Attack Onboard Flight to Miami

Kevin Greenridge was traveling from Honduras to Miami on June 4, 2022, on AA Flight 614 when he went into cardiac arrest and became unconscious mid-flight.