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Today’s Big Story

The Big Business of Returns

Returners for hire do the dirty work of sending back all the stuff people regret buying (or being gifted)

The good news is that after all the gift-giving stress, the holidays are over and now there are plenty of great sales around the web. The downside is that those few unfortunate gifts you were given (and pretended to love), along with those purchases you thought twice about gifting, are now just waiting to be returned. And you’re faced with a choice: Let them continue to burn a proverbial hole in your pocket or do the work of going about returning them.

But this is 2026. And according to the Wall Street Journal, there’s now a cottage industry of professional returners—gig workers and businesses willing to put in the time to go on a box-laden trek to return clients’ unwanted purchases to retailers or the nearest UPS store.

Taskrabbit, which connects shoppers to gig workers, has seen a 62% year-over-year increase in return-related bookings during November and December, with more people hiring its “taskers” to do the return leg work. ReturnQueen, a six-year-old startup, expects a 15% to 20% increase this January and February, historically the biggest months for returns.

One driver, who works for ReturnQueen, showed how he looks through dozens of pickup orders and preps his van with stacks of bags and sorting labels. Then he zips around town, ringing doorbells, photographing doorsteps and hauling away the physical aftermath of holiday optimism.

An estimated 17% of holiday purchases will be returned, and 82% of people will return a holiday gift within a month of receiving it, per the National Retail Federation. Services like ReturnQueen charge a $10 flat fee for pickups (for up to 12 items) and take care of packaging, labeling and shipping. Larger companies like Uber and UPS are now offering similar services, while smaller ones like College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving are looking to enter the business to handle heavier return items following customer inquiries.

Trump’s Credit Card Pitch

The president has called for a 10% cap on credit card interest rates

Well, this would be interesting … if it wasn’t so unlikely. President Donald Trump has floated the idea of putting a one-year cap on credit card interest rates at a mere 10%. “They’ve really abused the public,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Monday, describing credit card companies. “I’m not going to let it happen.”

In 2023, credit card rates began shooting to new highs. As of November 2025, the average rate was at 22.3%, according to the Federal Reserve, though many cards have terms well above that. A decade earlier, the credit card rate average was 13.9%. The rise is in part due to the high number of delinquencies, or credit card balances that are past due, as well as the federal reserve's elevated interest rates over the past few years. Although the central bank cut rates three times last year, rates remain at 3.5 - 3.75%—benchmarks that banks and other lenders use when deciding what rates to set for mortgages, credit cards and other consumer borrowing.

Axios reports that there’s evidence that capping credit-card interest rates at 10% would save Americans billions of dollars each year, although banks warn of consumers losing access to credit. Of course, the cap idea runs counter to much of what the administration has done on banking over the past year—including scrapping a plan to limit credit card late fees. And while a change would require legislation that's unlikely to pass, the BBC reports that banking lobbyists and investors are freaked out.

Federal ICE Agents Continue Surge Amid Tensions

Minnesota and Illinois sue Trump administration, claiming the enforcement campaigns violated the Constitution

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told media that “hundreds more” federal agents were being dispatched to Minneapolis while Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said during a news conference Monday that they were bracing for more than 1,000 agents. Ellison said the deployment of the armed and masked DHS agents has done “serious harm” to the state, calling for what he described as a “federal invasion“ of the Twin Cities and Minnesota to stop.

Now, officials in Minnesota and Illinois filed federal lawsuits against the Trump administration on Monday, claiming that the mass deployment of immigration agents to the regions violated the U.S. Constitution and infringed on states’ rights. Illinois asked a judge to block U.S. Customs and Border Protection “from conducting civil immigration enforcement” in the state without “express congressional authorization.” The Minnesota lawsuit asked a judge to block the federal government from “implementing the unprecedented surge in Minnesota.”

In a statement, Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin accused Ellison of “prioritizing politics over public safety,” and called the allegations of racial profiling false, saying, “Law enforcement uses 'reasonable suspicion' to make arrests, as protected under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.” On Monday, an NPR reporter witnessed multiple instances where immigration agents drove around Minneapolis and questioned people about their immigration status. Some took place in the parking lots of big box stores. “Are you a green card holder? Do you have it on you?”

Your Annual Review, Created With Shane Parrish

Your annual review, created with Shane Parrish

Behind every successful year is a moment of honest reflection. This workbook, written by Shane Parrish and reMarkable, will guide you through that process, helping you pause, reflect, and pick out patterns.

Most annual reviews look at adding more. More goals, more tasks, more pressure. This one does the opposite. It helps you strip everything back to see what worked, what didn’t, and what to change in the year ahead.

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