They bring in blouses from Eloquii, shorts from Chubbies and bags from Everlane.

Instead of telling them to buzz off, Evelyn Taplin, who runs Petals N Wax, gladly takes their items and issues refunds to their credit cards.

The practice would be totally bizarre were it not for the fact that Petals N Wax is partnered with Happy Returns, a Santa Monica start-up trying to make money by making it easier for people to send back e-commerce purchases.

The company sits at a unique intersection of frustrations: Customers who buy things online don't like the arts-and-crafts experience (packing tape, shipping labels, boxes) of online returns. Online-only retailers, feeling pressure from the likes of Zappos and Amazon to offer free returns, are bleeding cash to do the same. And bricks-and-mortar stores losing foot traffic to online competitors are struggling to entice people back.

Happy Returns frames itself as a solution to each of those problems.

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