Fireside Chat: David Sobie T’04, VP of Happy Returns, PayPal
*This in-person event is being postponed until further notice. Updates will be made to this page when the new date is confirmed.*
The Center for Digital Strategies welcomes alumni fellow, David Sobie T’04, VP of Happy Returns at PayPal. David is the co-founder and former CEO of Happy Returns, which was acquired by PayPal in 2021. He will discuss his career in ecommerce, building a successful reverse logistics startup, and making the decision to sell the company to PayPal, among other topics.
About David Sobie T’04
David is the VP of Happy Returns at PayPal. Previously, he was CEO & Co-Founder of Happy Returns, which was acquired by PayPal in 2021. Happy Returns is a comprehensive return solution for the world’s leading online and omni-channel retailers and their customers. With Happy Returns’ Full Stack Returns, retailers offer customers a best-in-class branded online return and exchange flow as well as the maximum flexibility for returning purchases. Shoppers enjoy multiple ways to return: in-person via Happy Returns’ nationwide network of 350+ Return Bar locations, through the retailers’ own stores, or by carrier. Happy Returns provides aggregated shipping and logistics across all channels with optimized disposition to destinations of the retailers’ choice; all with comprehensive reporting and analytics. The result is a world class experience for customers (NPS® of 95) with maximum value for retailers.
Prior to Happy Returns, David served as the Chief Marketing Officer at REVOLVE, leading all online and offline marketing, branding, acquisition and business development. Earlier in his career, David led Marketing and Business Development for HauteLook, a flash sale pioneer acquired by Nordstrom, and held senior roles at eBay Motors.
About Happy Returns
Happy Returns is a reverse logistics company, enabling ecommerce shoppers to return goods in person instead of managing the return shipping process and waiting for the return to process. They make returns beautiful — for shoppers, retailers, partners, and the planet.
The co-founders of Happy Returns met at HauteLook, an early flash sale retailer that was acquired by Nordstrom. After the acquisition, David and Mark worked on the highly successful Return to Rack program that enabled HauteLook shoppers to return products to Nordstrom Rack stores. The insights gained working on Return to Rack led to founding Happy Returns, specifically, that online shoppers overwhelmingly prefer to return in person to avoid the hassle and wait of returns by mail.
