Overview

Instructions for enabling the "Allow 3rd Party Billing" option so that customers can provide their own shipper account number to be used for shipping their purchase.

Configuring Shipping Methods

In order to provide the customer the option to enter their shipper account number during the checkout you'll first need to configure:

one or more of your offered shipping methods with the "Allow 3rd Party Billing" setting
the related option "Approved Customers Only".

The configuration check-boxes for these two settings are located in the "other" tab of the Shipping Methods Editor (shown below using UPS Ground as example).

There are two options on this screen:

Allow 3rd Party Billing (checkbox field) - REQUIRED
Approved Customers Only (check-box field) - Optional

The required field designates this method as available for the "third party billing account number" during the checkout.

The optional, Approved Customers Only, makes the "Allow 3rd Party billing" available only if the customer has logged in to their Customer Profile during the checkout and are approved for 3rd Party Billing (explained below).

Configuring Customer Profile as Approved for 3rd Party Billing

In order to allow only specific "approved" customers the option of providing their shipper account number, you'll need to select both checkbox fields described in the previous section and then edit the customers' customer profile and select the "Allow 3rd Party Billing" check-box then save the changes:

Limitations regarding Fulfillment Integration

Presently, 3rd Party Billing is only supported by the following integrated fulfillment services:

AtLast Fulfillment
ProLog Logistics

What About other Fulfillment Services?

Each Fulfillment service integration is unique and some fulfillment services may not be able to accommodate the passing of the 3rd Party Billing account number during the fulfillment transmissions.

If you are using another integrated fulfillment service and would like to investigate adding support for the third party billing, please contact proservices@ultracart.com

How does the field appear during the checkout?

When the customer reaches the Options page of the checkout and selects the radio button for a shipping method that is configured to allow the 3rd party billing, the following section will appear prompting the customer to provide their shipper account number:

View of the 3rd Party Billing Account Number appearing in the receipt:

Back End Order Entry

Merchants using the Back End Order Entry system will need to enter the customers 3rd Party Shippers Account Numbers. The following demonstrates an order being entered and the fields associated to the 3rd Party Billing.

A view of the 3rd Party Billing Acct# field on the Back End Order Entry.

After entering a shipper account number and recalculating the shipping, the method cost will be $0.00.

UltraCart Documentation

Allow 3rd Party Billing