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Problems with shipping ahead & backorders

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mofi View Drop Down
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    Posted: 26-April-2007 at 6:43pm

Been using V3.03 for a little while now and I'm wondering if it's just me or if anyone else has problems with shipping partial orders?

Basically, what we do now is when an order comes in that has in stock and out of stock items in it we:

  1. Zero the price of the backordered items
  2. Batch process the in stock items
  3. Ship the in stock item(s)

However, let's say a month later the backordered items have become available. We then select the "partially shipped" order that we did above and:

  1. Zero the price of the SHIPPED items
  2. Batch process the fomerly backordered (now in stock) items 
  3. Ship the formerly backordered item(s)

It seems unecessary to me to have to zero the pricing out each time, one when the item is out of stock and then again when the item is back in stock. Are we missing something obivious (or unobivious)? How is everyone else handling this?

Thanks!

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fidjiti View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote fidjiti Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-April-2007 at 6:49pm
Good question. I'd like to know that as well, in case we need it in the future. Seems labor intensive.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ProductCart Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-April-2007 at 9:39pm

Why do you "zero" the prices? Could you provide more information on what you believe is missing from the system?

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mofi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-April-2007 at 10:45pm
Originally posted by earlyimp earlyimp wrote:

Why do you "zero" the prices? Could you provide more information on what you believe is missing from the system?

First, I should mention that we process credit card payments through PayFlow PRO using the "capture" method NOT the "sale" method. For those reading at home, that means we capture an authorization from PFP to charge the card for a specific amount that's valid for a specific amount of time. This is also sometimes referred to as a "preauth".

Moving on...we specifically use this method because with ProductCart, if you have items that are both in stock and backordered and the payment method is set to "sale", PC charges the customer for the entire order (i.e. both in stock AND out of stock) items.

Since we all know it's illegal to charge customers for items that are not physically able to ship at the time of billing, we use the "capture" method. Hence, we have to zero out the cost of the backordered items so we're not charging customers for things we can't send them.

As a result, when the item a customer backordered is in stock; we then have to zero out the price of the previously shipped items and re-enter the price of the backordered item and reset the order status to "pending" to be able to batch process the order and a.) get our money and b.) ship the customer their goods.

The problem (from our perspective) is that backordering/partial shipping wasn't fully developed before it was released as a feature in PC. I say this because:

1. Product Cart does not differentiate between in stock and out of stock items when capturing funds when using sale method (thereby charging the ENTIRE order total at the point of sale)

2. You cannot choose which items to charge/ship in mixed orders when using authorization method

Yes, PC allows you to ship partial orders; but it pre-supposes that you're either a.) breaking the law in charging the customer for them upfront or b.) don't want to be able to charge them later when you ship their order.

IMHO, what should happen is either one of the following (depending on how the store is configured):

1. If you're using the "sale" method (card charged at the time of the sale), then PC should be able to differentiate between in stock and backordered items and NOT charge the customer for the BO. Later, when the item is available and stock has been filled, that order should be filled and you should be alerted to the fact that those orders need to ship/be processed and then allow you to batch process.

2. If you're using the "capture" method (card charged after the sale), then PC should allow you to choose at the SKU level - BEFORE batch processing - which items will be charged/shipped and which items will be left on backorder.

Hopefully I've explained the problem correctly and accurately. If I have presented erroneous information I welcome Early Impact to correct me and I'll gladly apologize. I really enjoy ProductCart and think, for the price, it's a wonderful tool. However, this is one area that I think a little more planning might have been beneficial.

Ultimately, I hope I've missed something completely and this isn't really an issue; just operator error!

Thanks!



Edited by mofi - 27-April-2007 at 12:54am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rotokirby Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-April-2007 at 12:02am
Originally posted by mofi mofi wrote:


Since we all know it's illegal to charge customers for items that are not
physically able to ship at the time of billing, we use the "capture" method.



Actually, this isn't accurate. Some card companies require you to ship
within a specified timeframe (say 48 hours) but federal law is actually
much different. See the FTC guidelines for mailorder businesses:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/mailorder.shtm

In essence, you have to be able to fulfill the order in the timeframe you
specify on your site OR within 30 days if you don't specify a timeframe for
delivery. There are all kinds of guidelines and rules as to when and how
to notify customers if you can't fulfill their order, when and how you must
give refunds, etc.

Of course, full disclosure to your customers and constant communication
are always the best policy. If you have backorder items or pre-orders you
should clearly state on your site when you expect to be able to fulfill the
order and clearly disclose that they will be charged in full for the item at
the time the order is placed (if that is what you intend to do) and then
stay in contact with your customers if for any reason the situation
changes.

As an aside, I don't believe many payment gateways will even allow you to
post two charges under the same pre-auth, which, if I read your post
correctly, is what you're doing or planning to do. I pretty sure ours
doesn't and we use one of the major gateways. I'm not sure how or what
could be done in Product Cart to get around that.

Edited by rotokirby - 29-April-2007 at 12:04am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Confetti Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22-July-2007 at 5:33pm
Would be interested if anyone has a follow up on this.  Thanks
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote andi.magill Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-February-2008 at 9:29am
Hi
I am a newby to all this but have been building ecom sites for many years now using lots of different carts & engines - love product cart by the way.

The company I work for pointed out to me exactly the same problem. they are processing orders manually using an EPOS system (not a 3rd part merchant like world pay)  although their process is a little more primitive and consists of printing out an invoice and physically striking out items with a pen & re-adjusting the totals by hand.
Surely there must be a solution?

Can someone from EarlyImpact pls get involved as this is a major issue
 Or anybody else with any suggestions pls get in touch

All the best
andi

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ProductCart Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14-February-2008 at 9:24am

Hi Andi, could you elaborate? This is a long thread, where different points of view were discussed, so it's unclear to us what you see as a "major issue".

In ProductCart you can certainly authorize a transaction (assuming your payment gateway supports the "authorization only" method), process the order and ship it in the Control Panel, then capture the transaction when everything has shipped. Typically transactions can remain authorized (but not captured and therefore not settled) for many days (I believe it's 30 days with Authorize.Net, for example).

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote andi.magill Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25-March-2008 at 8:38am
Hi

We have come up against an issue were by we charge (with their consent) customer for multi-part order (although we charge for full order) we ship the part of the order we have in stock with items to follow - problem being is that when we print off the invoice there is nothing on the invoice to say that said item was not in stock and was to follow at a later date - is this possible? Same again - we should be able to specify if said item (to follow) has been charged for or not on the invoice.

We also use Actinic - it allows us to do just that on the invoice.

Have also just been told that the illegality issue over charging customers for items not in stock at time of order does not affect us - as it is only relevant to American law and not here in the UK - which would explain why Product Cart (being a US based product) does not allow for this automatically.

Any help much appreciated.

Andi



Edited by andi.magill - 25-March-2008 at 8:42am
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