3rd Party Shipping

"3rd Party Shipping" means that your customer pays the freight cost directly to the shipper - not to your store.  If this doesn't make sense, this mod may not be for you.

Minimum Requirements
• PHP 7.1+
• LiteCart 2.2.0+

Overview
Do your customers want to use their own shipper account because they get a discount on freight from a certain freight company?  This mod lets your customers enter their shipper account number for their preferred shipper, then you bill the freight to their number instead of using your own shipper account.  It also allows them to choose the shipping method they want to use: Ground, 2nd Day Air, Overnight, etc.  Using this mod will expand your customer base as potential customers may get better shipping costs than you might charge.

Other Features
• Data is saved to the database and is shown on the orders detail page in the admin.
• An optional handling fee and zone restriction can also be specified for each shipper.

Global
This mod can be used anywhere in the world.  Just enter the most popular freight companies for the areas you serve and you're good to go!  Then if a customer has their own shipper account with one of those companies, all they need to do is enter their shipper number.

Simple To Use
You do not need to create shipper accounts to use this mod.  Simply populate 1, 2, or all 3 freight company fields in the admin panel and the customer can then choose their preferred shipper.  Then, when you ship the order, use the customer's shipper number instead of yours.

Easy To Setup
Just copy the files to your server.  Once you click "Save", the mod will automatically create the necessary db fields for you.  You won't have to run any code!

Account Number Verification
Partial account number verification is built in.  It will check the length and format of the entered numbers for both UPS and FedEx only, and show an error if someone enters their number incorrectly.  However, it cannot verify if the number is legitimate.

Example Scenario
Say a potential customer, XYZ Widgets, wants to place a large order on your site, and your cart is charging $100.00 to ship it.  At checkout, they say "That shipping cost is way too expensive.  We could pay much less if we could use our own FedEx account."  They're just about to leave and buy from some other site when they notice that you offer 3rd Party Shipping.

So they choose 3rd Party Billing, enter their FedEx number, and choose Ground, 2nd Dar Air, Overnight, etc.  (This information will be stored in `lc_orders` and it's also printed on the merchant email.)  Now your cart will show $0.00 for shipping and they decide to stay and complete the order.

Now when you ship their order, you'll ship it via FedEx using their shipper number - not yours.  You don't pay the shipping and then charge the customer, the customer will pay the shipping cost directly to the shipper.

This way, you get the order and the customer is happy because they paid less than they would have if you hadn't offered 3rd Party Shipping.

Version Compatibility
Tested and working with LiteCart versions 2.2.0 and higher. It will NOT work on 2.1.6 or earlier.  If your store is running a version below 2.2.0, we highly recommend updating.  It introduced many more features and fixes than it's sequential numbering would lead you to believe.  Two thumbs up!

If this still doesn't make sense, please do not buy this mod.  It's not for you.