METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING SHIPPING VIA A THIRD PARTY PAYMENT SERVICE

1 . A method at a web server hosted by a third-party payment service, the method comprising:

receiving from a client computer operated by a sender party shipping information for a package;

generating a shipping label associated with the package in response to the receipt of the shipping information; and

sending the shipping label to the client computer such that the shipping label can be printed out at the client computer.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating of the shipping label includes:

sending the shipping information received from the client computer to an on-line interface provided by a shipping vendor; and

receiving shipment data from the on-line interface, the generation of the shipping label being based on the shipment data received from the online interface.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein at least one of the shipping information and the shipment data is sent as an extensible markup language (XML) document, and wherein the on-line interface comprises an XML application program interface (API).

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the shipping information includes send to address information.

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the shipping information includes send from address information.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the send to address information pertains to an address registered with at least one of the shipping vendor and the third-party payment service.

7 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising providing shipping payment for the package from the third-party payment service to the shipping vendor.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the shipping payment is deducted from a third-party payment service account held by the sender party.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the shipping payment is provided via a card network.

10 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the shipping payment is provided via a virtual debit card.

11 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising interacting with an online facility hosted by the shipping vendor to facilitate shipment of the package.

12 . A system hosted by a third-party payment service, comprising:

a memory to store shipping information; and

at least one processor operatively coupled to the memory, the at least one processor configured to:

receive from a client computer operated by a sender party shipping information for a package;

generate a shipping label associated with the package in response to receipt of the shipping information; and

send the shipping label to the client computer such that the shipping label can be printed out at the client computer.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform a proxy operation to enable the sender party to obtain a shipping account with a shipping vendor.

14 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

store a tracking number corresponding to the shipment that is received from a shipping vendor;

automatically navigate, via a proxy operation, to a different web server hosted by the shipping vendor;

provide a tracking number to the different web server; and

direct the different web server to send a tracking summary page generated in response to entry of the tracking number at the client computer.

15 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive the shipping information from the client computer after a transaction payment for an item associated with the package is paid from a buyer party to the sender party.

16 . The system d of claim 12 , wherein shipment of the package is arranged as if the sender party is directly accessing on-line facilities hosted by a shipping vendor.

17 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

receive, at a web server hosted by a third-party payment service, from a client computer operated by a sender party shipping information for a package;

generate a shipping label associated with the package in response to receipt of the shipping information; and

send the shipping label to the client computer such that the shipping label can be printed out at the client computer.

18 . The medium of claim 17 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to provide a user-interface enabling the sender party to view tracking information related to shipment of the package via the third-party payment service.

19 . The medium of claim 17 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to:

tabulate shipment purchases for each user over a predetermined period; and

prevent a user from requesting further shipments if the tabulated purchases over the predetermined period exceed a predetermined purchase limit.

20 . The medium of claim 17 , wherein the shipping information is received from the client computer after a transaction payment for an item associated with the package is paid from a buyer party to the sender party.