Method and system for facilitating shipping via third-party payment service

• US 20040260615A1
• Filed: 06/18/2003
• Published: 12/23/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Phillips, Brian A., Martin, Paul A., Cervelli, Greg, Hurley, Chad M., Wong, Ki Ching, Pan, Yu, Chen, Steve
• Granted Patent: US 7,895,129 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26.44
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0619 Neutral agent

Abstract

An integrated shipping scheme enables seller users of a third-party payment service to facilitate shipping transactions in connection with payment transactions for items sold by the sellers. Shipping information is automatically gathered and/or entered by the seller via a computer interface hosted by the third-party payment service and sent “behind the scenes” to a selected shipping vendor. The shipping vendor processes the shipping information, and returns shipment data, including data to generate a shipping label. A web page containing the shipping label is then generated and served to a client operated by the seller and displayed on a browser screen, enabling the shipping label to be printed out by the seller. At the same time, electronic payment transfer operations are performed to effectively transfer payment from the seller directly to the shipping vendor via the third-party payment service in a manner that is transparent to both the seller and the shipping vendor.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

enabling, via a third-party payment service, a first party to arrange for shipment of a package to a second party via a shipping vendor; and

facilitating payment from the first party to the shipping vendor for the shipment via the third-party payment service.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the arranging for the shipment of the package includes:

providing a computer interface via the third-party payment service to receive shipping information entered by the first party;

passing the shipping information entered by the first party via the computer interface to an on-line interface provided by the shipping vendor;

receiving shipment data generated by the shipping vendor in response to the passing of the shipping information; and

providing the shipment data to the first party.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein data is passed between the third-party payment service and the shipping vendor in the form of XML (extensible markup language) documents, and the on-line interface comprises an XML application program interface (API).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first party is a seller and the second party is a buyer who pays for an item bought from the seller via the third-party payment service, the method further comprising providing a computer interface containing information pertaining to the payment via which an integrated shipping process that facilitates arrangement of shipment of the item is launchable.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment of the shipment is facilitated by:

providing the payment from the third-party service to the shipping vendor; and

deducting a shipping cost of the shipment from a third-party payment service account held by the first party.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the payment from the third-party service to the shipping vendor is facilitated via a debit/credit card authorization/settlement network.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the payment from the third-party service to the shipping vendor employs a virtual debit card.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a computer interface via the third-party service that functions as a proxy to enable a user to obtain a shipping account with the shipping vendor.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing data to a computer operated by the first party to enable a shipping label to be rendered by the computer and printed out on a printer.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein an arrangement of the shipment and payment to the shipping vendor appears to the shipping vendor as if the first party is directly accessing on-line facilities hosted by the shipping vendor.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling the first party to view tracking information related to shipment of the package via the third-party payment service.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the third-party payment service enables the first party to view tracking information by:

automatically navigating, via a proxy operation, to a web site hosted by the shipping vendor and entering a tracking number; and

directing a web server hosting the web site to send a tracking summary page generated in response to entry of the tracking number to a client computer operated by the first party.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

tabulating shipment purchases for each user over a predetermined period; and

preventing a user from arranging further shipments if the tabulated purchases over the predetermined period exceed a predetermined purchase limit.

14. A system comprising:

a web server; and

an integrated shipping server, linked in communication the web server,

the web server and integrated shipping server comprising software instructions that when executed enable a seller to arrange for shipment of a package to a buyer via a shipping vendor by performing operations, including;

generating and serving web pages via which shipping information pertaining to the shipment may be automatically entered and/or manually entered by the seller; and

interacting with an on-line interface hosted by the shipping vendor to arrange for shipment of the package via the shipping vendor through use of the shipping information.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein shipment of the package relates to a sale of an item to a buyer, and wherein execution of the software instructions further performs the operations of:

retrieving sales transaction information;

extracting shipping information from the sales transaction information; and

automatically entering shipping information into at least one web page.

16. The system of claim 14, further comprising a payment server linked in communication with the integrated shipping server and comprising further software instructions that when executed perform the operation of facilitating payment for the shipment from the seller to the shipping vendor.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the system is configured to be operable by a third-party payment service for which the seller has an account, and facilitating payment of the shipment comprises:

providing payment from the third-party service to the shipping vendor; and

deducting a shipping cost of the shipment from the seller'"'"'s third-party payment service account.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein payment from the third-party service to the shipping vendor is facilitated via interaction between the payment server and a debit/credit card authorization/settlement network.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein execution of the software instructions further performs the operations of:

generating a virtual debit card; and

employing the virtual debit card to pay the shipping vendor.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein execution of the software instructions further perform the operation of performing a proxy operation to enable the seller to obtain a shipping account with the shipping vendor via interaction with web pages served by the web server.

21. The system of claim 14, wherein execution of the software instructions further perform the operations of:

storing a tracking number corresponding to the shipment that is received from the shipping vendor;

automatically navigating, via a proxy operation, to a web site hosted by the shipping vendor and entering the tracking number; and

directing a web server hosting the web site to send a tracking summary page generated in response to entry of the tracking number to a client computer operated by the seller.

22. A system comprising:

means for enabling a seller to arrange, via a third-party payment service, shipment by a shipping vendor of an item to a buyer; and

means for transferring payment for the shipment from the seller to the shipping vendor.

23. The system of claim 22, further comprising means for enabling the seller to track a shipment via the third-party payment service.

24. The system of claim 22, further comprising means for setting up an account with the shipping vendor via a proxy operation provided by the third-party payment service.