Card Details without buying to pay invoice (over the phone)

[jobst]

Is there any way to pay an amount that is not through the checkout or pay a arbitrary value through the checkout?

 

Explanation: If someone calls in and wants to pay something (unrelated to the shop) and gives me the credit card details, can I "somehow" do this through a script using the MIGS stuff that is provided by oscommerce?

 

thanks

Jobst

[MrPhil]

Two things to consider:

 

1. If you're using a payment gateway and merchant account, make sure that the bank is happy with the kinds of things you're going to be accepting payment for. They base their fees and rates on what they feel the risk level is, and won't be happy if you start allowing charges on other things (that might be higher risk). If you're using a third party payment system (e.g., PayPal), at least read the agreement.

 

2. You'll need a paper trail documenting what was charged to whom for what. If this is a customer with an established account, perhaps you could create a dummy product of some sort that you could sign on (as the customer) and put it in the cart and go through the normal checkout/payment.

 

This sounds like the opposite of what people try to do all the time (get a credit card number at checkout and manually enter it into an existing bricks-and-mortar store payment system). That's a big no-no. Anyway, I don't know of any way to bypass all the catalog/cart/checkout stuff and go straight to payment -- I'd say it's rather risky. If it's someone who doesn't have an account, and they're handing over their credit card information to you, you'll have to be fully PCI-DSS compliant in your handling of credit card information.

 

The cleanest method may be to temporarily add a "product" for the transaction, made visible only to this particular customer (existing account), and let them put it in their cart and go through the normal checkout and payment. Of course, this would involve a fair amount of coding, and may be too inconvenient for them. But, the alternative is to get your bank or their credit card company really pissed off at you...

[jobst]

Not the thing I had in mind ;-)

I rang my bank and on my account panel there is a way to pay using visa card number I specify directly ... so i someone rings me on the phone and wants top pay an invoice (not online shop related) I can do that ... so I have no need for some code anymore ...

 

I found, however, an existing module from Ian Young "class ps_migs" that does what I want.

 

Jobst

[♥mdtaylorlrim]

A product called 'Layaway Payment' or 'Payment on account' or whatever you want, with base price of $50 and Options to increase it to $00, $150, $200, etc...

 

Maybe there is a contribution that accomplishes the same thing, but I have never found it.. So I use the above combined with individual product shipping methods to charge no shipping costs.

 

 

I do have to make special 'products' for the initial and final payments.

[burt]

I see no reason why it would not be possible to have an input box at the shopping_cart page which enables the shopper to insert any amount - think of like a "donation". They can then go through your checkout and pay as normal.

 

Note that this would require some hardcore coding changes but would definitely be possible.

 

To charge no shipping on such a system, you'd set the shipping to "virtual" ;)