A haul is a piece of social video in which a creator presents a batch of items they recently bought, or were sent, and talks through each one: what it is, where it came from, what it cost and whether it was worth it. The word borrows the sense of a haul as a large catch. The format exists because it compresses a shopping trip into a few minutes of watchable content, and because it turns the creator's purchases into a catalogue that viewers can buy from. Titles and hashtags such as "Shein haul" or "back to school haul" make it searchable as a genre.

How a haul works

The mechanics are simple and highly standardised. A creator assembles a pile of products, typically clothing, cosmetics, home goods, groceries or stationery, and films themselves unpacking or holding up each item in turn. Price and retailer are stated on camera or in captions, fashion hauls often include a try-on segment, and a closing verdict ranks favourites and returns.

The commercial plumbing sits around the video rather than in it. Three layers are common:

  • Affiliate links and product tags. The description box or an on-screen sticker links each item to a retailer, and the creator earns a commission on resulting sales. On YouTube, the Shopping affiliate programme lets creators tag products from participating retailers. In March 2026 YouTube opened that programme to creators with 500 subscribers in 12 markets, down from a previous threshold of more than 10,000; commissions are paid through AdSense 60 to 120 days after purchase, so that returns can be reversed.
  • Gifted or paid hauls. A brand sends products, sometimes with a fee, in exchange for inclusion. These are a form of brand deal, and the disclosure obligations that apply to sponsored content apply to them.
  • In-platform checkout. Since TikTok Shop launched in the United States on September 12, 2023, according to TikTok's newsroom, a haul posted to TikTok can link directly to a product page inside the app, with the creator paid through the platform's affiliate system rather than a retailer's.

On the buy side, merchants and agencies recruit haulers through affiliate networks, creator marketplaces or direct outreach, and increasingly pay to boost the resulting videos as ads. Platform rules shape the format directly. TikTok Shop's quality standards, updated on May 23, 2026, require shoppable short videos to carry at least three seconds of dynamic content filmed in a real setting and penalise affiliates with commission restrictions for breaches - rules that favour the handheld, show-the-product style hauls already use.

A worked example clarifies the economics. A creator posts a 12-item clothing haul with an average item price of $20. If 50,000 people watch and 1 per cent click through and buy one item, that is 500 orders and $10,000 in merchandise sales. At a 10 per cent commission the creator earns $1,000, before returns claw some of it back. The figures are illustrative; brands set their own rates.

Origin and evolution

The haul followed the unboxing video, which appeared on YouTube around 2006 and focused on gadgets. According to Know Your Meme, the earliest known haul was uploaded by Blair Fowler, posting as juicystar07, on April 9, 2008, and featured MAC cosmetics. Bethany Mota uploaded her first haul on June 12, 2009.

Growth was quick. By late 2010, nearly a quarter of a million haul videos had been posted to YouTube, according to Forbes, cited by Wikipedia. Retailers noticed: J.C. Penney approached haulers for its back-to-school campaign in 2010, according to the Dallas Morning News. NPR asked in February 2010 whether hauls were "the ultimate in materialistic PG porn". In December 2013, BuzzFeed reported that haul videos had more combined views than "Gangnam Style" according to Know Your Meme. Sarah Sykes and John Zimmerman of Carnegie Mellon University presented "Making sense of haul videos" at the CHI 2014 conference in April 2014.

The second phase came with short-form video and ultra-low-price retail. On TikTok, the format shrank to under a minute and fused with discount fashion. An analysis by Illumin of the most-watched TikTok haul videos in fashion and home decor, reported in December 2023, found that Shein accounted for 42 per cent of featured products, at an average of $9.33 per item, ahead of H&M at 8.2 per cent and Temu at 7.7 per cent. The same analysis counted more than 60 billion views on #haul and 14.1 billion on #sheinhaul. Those are cumulative views, not monthly reach.

The third phase is the integration of hauls into platform commerce infrastructure: TikTok Shop in 2023, the expansion of YouTube's affiliate programme through 2025 and 2026, and retail media products that let brands put paid reach behind creator content. In September 2026 YouTube said more than 1.3 million channels were enrolled in YouTube Shopping and that commission payouts had doubled year on year.

Why it matters for marketers

For brands, the haul is one of the few creator formats in which the product is the entire subject, not a 60-second integration in the middle of something else. That makes it unusually measurable. Each tagged item carries its own click and conversion data, which links creator spend to sales more directly than most influencer work.

The format's reach is also its regulatory exposure. Paid and gifted hauls are advertising under consumer protection law in most markets. The US Federal Trade Commission's revised Endorsement Guides, issued on June 29, 2023, and the first revision since 2009, define "clear and conspicuous" disclosure for the first time as "difficult to miss" and "easily understandable", according to a summary by law firm Davis Wright Tremaine. In Europe, a sweep by the European Commission and national authorities published on February 14, 2024, examined 576 influencers across 24 countries and found that 97 per cent posted commercial content but only 20 per cent systematically disclosed it as advertising.

Limitations and criticisms

Three criticisms recur. The first is positivity bias. Haul videos are rarely negative about the products shown, which is precisely what makes them attractive to sponsors, as Wikipedia's entry notes.

The second is overconsumption and waste. Hauls normalise buying in bulk, and the ultra-fast-fashion haul became a lightning rod. In June 2023, Shein flew a group of influencers to its Guangzhou facility, and their upbeat videos triggered a backlash; creators interviewed by Fortune said their Shein hauls had lost traction on TikTok and Instagram. Sha'Riauna Campbell told Fortune that "Shein Hauls are becoming less popular."

The third is disclosure failure. Despite years of guidance, compliance remains partial. ASA research cited by IAB UK in May 2026 found that about 57 per cent of influencer advertising met disclosure requirements, a figure PPC Land reported when YouTube said it would automatically label branded content creators fail to declare. Sweden's courts have gone further, ruling that common labels such as "#samarbete" do not let an average consumer recognise advertising on a brief encounter, with penalties of up to 1.5 million kronor per violation.

Haul versus adjacent terms

  • Unboxing focuses on opening the packaging of one product, often a gadget, and the experience of first contact. A haul covers many items and is organised around a shopping trip or a retailer, not the packaging.
  • Try-on describes the act of wearing garments on camera. Many fashion hauls include a try-on, but a try-on video can feature borrowed or brand-supplied clothes with no purchase involved.
  • Product review implies evaluation over time against criteria. A haul is closer to a first look; the two overlap when a creator returns with a follow-up video.
  • Amazon Haul is a separate meaning: a low-price storefront Amazon launched in beta in the United States in November 2024, with every item priced at $20 or less, to compete with Temu and Shein. It reached the UK as a trial on May 6, 2025, with items capped at GBP 20. In logistics, "haul" also means the transport of freight, as in long-haul trucking, which is unrelated.

Recent developments

The economics behind cheap hauls shifted in 2025. The United States ended the de minimis duty exemption for shipments under $800 on August 29, 2025, according to Axios, removing the customs advantage that had kept Shein and Temu parcels inexpensive; de minimis entries had grown from about 153 million in 2015 to more than 1 billion in 2023.

France then targeted the format by name. Parliament gave final approval to its ultra-fast-fashion law on June 29, 2026, when the Senate adopted the text, according to Euronews, which reported that social media promotions, "notably hauls", would be banned from January 1, 2027, with fines of up to EUR 100,000 for influencers. Law no. 2026-602 was promulgated on July 8, 2026, according to France's ecology ministry, which says all advertising for ultra-fast-fashion brands, "including via influencers", will be prohibited from that date. Implementing decrees defining which companies qualify were still pending as of October 2026, and Euronews reported European Commission reservations about the advertising ban's compatibility with EU law.

Platform enforcement is moving the same way. YouTube's September 3, 2026, policy update introduced automated detection of undeclared paid promotion. The European Commission's Digital Fairness Act proposal, expected to clarify influencer labelling, was scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026 and had not been published as of October 2026. Meanwhile, the affiliate infrastructure that pays haulers keeps widening, with YouTube aiming for Shopping commissions in 35 markets by the end of 2026.

Timeline

  • 2006 - Unboxing videos emerge on YouTube, the format hauls grew out of.
  • April 9, 2008 - Blair Fowler (juicystar07) uploads the earliest known haul video, featuring MAC cosmetics.
  • June 12, 2009 - Bethany Mota uploads her first haul.
  • August 7, 2009 - First Urban Dictionary entry for "haul".
  • February 2010 - NPR and Marketplace cover hauls as a YouTube phenomenon.
  • 2010 - J.C. Penney recruits haulers for its back-to-school marketing; nearly 250,000 haul videos on YouTube by late 2010.
  • December 3, 2013 - BuzzFeed reports hauls have more combined views than "Gangnam Style".
  • April 26, 2014 - Sykes and Zimmerman present "Making sense of haul videos" at CHI 2014.
  • June 2023 - Shein influencer trip to Guangzhou prompts backlash against Shein hauls.
  • June 29, 2023 - FTC issues revised Endorsement Guides, the first update since 2009.
  • September 12, 2023 - TikTok Shop launches in the United States.
  • December 2023 - Illumin analysis finds Shein accounts for 42% of products in top TikTok hauls.
  • February 14, 2024 - EU influencer sweep finds 20% of 576 influencers systematically disclose ads.
  • November 2024 - Amazon launches Amazon Haul, a sub-$20 storefront, in beta in the US.
  • May 6, 2025 - Amazon Haul trial begins in the UK.
  • August 29, 2025 - US de minimis exemption for imports under $800 ends.
  • March 2026 - YouTube opens Shopping affiliate programme to creators with 500 subscribers.
  • May 23, 2026 - TikTok Shop updates content quality rules for shoppable videos and LIVEs.
  • June 29, 2026 - French Parliament adopts ultra-fast-fashion law banning haul promotion.
  • July 8, 2026 - French law no. 2026-602 promulgated.
  • September 3, 2026 - YouTube announces automated labelling of undeclared branded content.
  • January 1, 2027 - French ban on ultra-fast-fashion advertising, including via influencers, scheduled to apply.

Summary

  • Who: Creators on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram who film their purchases; the retailers, from Shein and Temu to H&M and Walmart, whose products dominate the format; platforms that pay commissions on tagged items; and regulators including the FTC, the European Commission and the French government.
  • What: A video format in which a creator presents a batch of recently bought or gifted items, usually with prices and verdicts, increasingly linked to affiliate tags and in-app checkout.
  • When: The earliest known haul dates to April 9, 2008; the format moved to short video and social commerce from 2023, and France's ban on ultra-fast-fashion promotion via influencers is scheduled from January 1, 2027.
  • Where: Born on YouTube, now concentrated on TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram, with legal treatment differing by market.
  • Why: Hauls turn shopping into content and content into a catalogue, giving brands item-level sales data, while drawing criticism over positivity bias, overconsumption and undisclosed sponsorship.