How does Authorize.net capture of payment work?

[notageek]

I found no tutorial on how to capture a payment authorized through Authorize.net in the Admin, Orders screen.

I am using Zen Cart 1.39h, and AIM for Authorize.net. I found the boxes at the bottom of the order editing screen, and issued a refund for a shipping overcharge. After shipping, I went to the same Admin screen in the next day or so and pressed the box to capture the payment. It seemed to operate, but when I checked for the transaction in Authorize.net, it was still "unsettled."

I waited for several days, and it remained unsettled in Authorize.net. So, I tried to capture from Authorize.net, but the transaction was declined.

So, my first question is: Does the "capture" box/button in the Admin, Orders area work, or does it not work?

I believe the refund email went out, when I used the refund function, but I do not see a copy of the refund email anywhere.

Authorize.net says I can void the transaction and start over, but I have a feeling it might have been captured by the Zen Cart, but I have no way to check that. Authorize.net does not see a capture.

This is a small transaction of about $7 so I will probably let it go, but I would like to know what might have happened, and what I should do differently next time.

Thanks if anyone has insight into this process. What is the best system for capturing a transaction?

Notageek

[RescoCCC]

but when I checked for the transaction in Authorize.net, it was still "unsettled."

What are your settings for transaction settlements in your authorize.net admin? Zen Cart doesn't "settle" transactions. Settle is the third step after authorize and capture and is performed by authorize.net.

I have mine set to authorize and capture at the same time. No hassles with the middle step of the three.

but I have a feeling it might have been captured by the Zen Cart

Doesn't matter. If it wasn't captured by authorize.net, the card wasn't charged.

[notageek]

Thanks for the reply. I had not thought about the difference between "capturing" and "settling" of transactions. I guess I thought "capture" meant the transaction would be then "settled" rather automatically.

The reason I do not do authorize and capture is that my supplier's products tend to go out of stock. A second reason is that sometimes for a small item that is in a category that is shipped by UPS, they ship USPS for a more reasonable shipping charge, so a refund of shipping charges is needed. Therefore, I have my payment AIM Authorize.net module set to authorize only.

I seem to lack understanding what is going on in the Zen Cart Admin for Payments, Orders.

If a product is completely out of stock, do I need to issue a refund from the cart, since the payment has not been captured?

If I go to Authorize.net and search for unsettled transactions, and press capture, then I can just enter the amount to capture and only that amount is "settled." So that would be the same as a refund.

I was thinking I could "refund" shipping overcharges, and then capture the correct amount, in the Zen Cart payment order admin. But I am now seeing that, if the payment has not been captured, no refund is needed.

I thought I would try the process from the Admin Payments Order screen, but it appears those Zen Cart procedures do not really do anything as far as Authorize.net capture and settling of unsettled transactions.

So, what is the purpose of "capturing" a transaction in Zen Cart only? Does it do anything at all? Is there somewhere in the Zen Cart that the capture is recorded, and is it just an accounting purpose that is achieved, with no connection to the act of capturing and settling a transaction in Authorize.net?

Does one need to do captures or refunds or voids both in Admin and from the Authorize.net website?

No doubt this has been explained somewhere, but so far I have been unable to find information on these questions.

Notageek

[DrByte]

Zen Cart does not keep track of outstanding balances owing from your customers. It is not an accounting package. It simply facilitates the purchase of products you sell.

If you've set your store into authorize-only mode, then Zen Cart asks the payment gateway to treat the transaction as an authorization only, and not as an immediate capture.
As with ANY kind of authorization-only transaction, you need to manually capture the final amount so that it can be queued for settling in the gateway's daily batch. That's just standard procedure with gateways.

Your approach of capturing an adjusted final amount is perfectly acceptable (vs a full capture followed by a refund separately ... which is fine too, but costs you an additional transaction fee, abeit only a very very tiny amount). And you can do that from the Authorize.net console directly, or you can do it from within Zen Cart if the option is presented to you. If you do it in Zen Cart, all that happens is this: Zen Cart tells Authorize.net to capture the amount you specify, and adds an Order Status Comment about the capture that you requested. It does not alter the purchase details or price in the Zen Cart order; it only adds a comment about what you requested of Authorize.net. You could accomplish the same result by using the Authorize.net console to capture the amount, and then go back to Zen Cart and add your own comment about having done the capture. It's the very same end result.