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

• US 7,844,497 B2
• Filed: 12/31/2003
• Issued: 11/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Cervelli, Greg, Wong, Ki Ching, Pan, Yu, Chen, Steve, Phillips, Brian Andrew, Martin, Paul Arthur, Hurley, Chad Meredith
• Primary Examiner(s): FADOK, MARK A
• Application Number:
  US10/749,682
• Publication Number:
  US 20050071244A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,526 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/27
• US Class Current: 705/26.8
• 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 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

An integrated shipping scheme enables users of a third-party payment service to facilitate shipment of packages via a shipping vendor. Web pages corresponding to a web site hosted by the third-party payment service enable a sender to enter ship to: information, while ship from: information may be automatically gathered or manually entered by the sender. The sender is also enabled to enter shipment options, such as package size and weight. Corresponding shipping information is generated 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 sender, enabling the shipping label to be printed out. At the same time, electronic payment transfer operations are performed to effectively transfer payment from the sender directly to the shipping vendor via the third-party payment service in a manner that is transparent to both the sender and the shipping vendor.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a web server; and

an integrated shipping server hosted by a third-party payment service, linked in communication with the web server,

the web server and integrated shipping server, acting as an intermediary server between a sender and a shipping vendor, comprising software instructions that when executed enable the sender to arrange for shipment of a package to a recipient via the shipping vendor by performing operations, by the integrated shipping server, including;

generating and serving web pages via which shipping information including sender address is automatically entered into the web pages based on a current user session and an applicable mode, the shipping information being listed with the third-party payment service;

registering the sender with the shipping vendor based on the shipping information;

arranging for the shipment of the package via the shipping vendor, as the sender'"'"'s a proxy of the sender;

interacting with an on-line interface hosted by the shipping vendor, as if an individual user is directly accessing the on-line interface;

receiving shipping data pertaining to the shipment from the shipping vendor, said the shipping data including data corresponding to a shipping label; and

generating and serving a web page via which the shipping label may be printed.

2. The system of claim 1, 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.

3. The system of claim 2, 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 payment service to the shipping vendor; and

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

4. The system of claim 3, wherein payment from the third-party payment service to the shipping vendor is facilitated via interaction between the payment server and a debit/credit card authorization/settlement network.

5. The system of claim 4, 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.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the virtual debit card is associated with the third-party payment service.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein execution of the software instructions further performs the operation of communicating a document containing shipping information and sender account information to the shipping vendor.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein execution of the software instructions further performs the operation of communicating a document containing confirmation and payment information to the shipping vendor to the shipping vendor.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein execution of the software instructions further performs the operation of receiving the cost of the shipment and shipment options from the shipping vendor.