Cart not charging shipping unless customer is logged in!

[Bikerstuff]

You may not have to create an "account" but you do have to provide BILLING and SHIPPING information.. so despite the fact that you are not making them create a username with a password, they do in fact have to provide the following information for ANY online store selling PHYSICAL merchandise:

• Name
• Address (for shipping and credit card verification purposes)
• email address (to facilitate all sales related communications)

Now I cannot speak for stores outside the US, but for LEGIT USA based businesses, you still have to collect this minimal information if you are selling virtual products for TAX purposes..

My point?? Folks make a REALLY big deal about not making customers create an account. Truth is that with some mods to some of the checkout language, the addition of some mods to help make the process a little more transparent (like Minimum Customer Account Information, Order Steps and COWOA which bundles in Order Steps), the so-called "issues" associated with checking out with an account are pretty much non-issues.. IJS..

I think many of us do not want to make accounts because we do not want to be permanently linked to a store or any of our info on file at the store other than to place the order and be then be removed.
If we make accounts then we are in the store system for life!

How a store handles account info is often different than just placing an order. Hackers may get into the accounts area like they just did with EBAY a few months ago, but may have allot harder time getting into the order and billing part of the store!
If I have an account and the store is hacked for the accounts, they get my info! If that info is NOT there then hackers cannot get it.
We see even EBAY cannot be trusted to keep our accounts secure, why would I trust some tiny store I never heard of before just to place a 1 time only order?
I don't even have any idea what software a store may be using most the time.

If I do not have an account then a hacker can not log into the account.
If I do not have a password, then a hacker cannot crack the password!
If my e-mail is not in an account, a hacker cannot spam me if he hacks into the stores user accounts.
Hacker cannot get my address or phone number if it is not there!
Etc.. Etc..

I just went to a website I used to be a real active member of but not been there for YEARS, my user account is still there and still active and I logged in just fine. That is great I can still get into the forum after all these years, but there is NO personal info there I care about, just an e-mail address and it is my spam box junk address anyway.
I DO NOT want a store to keep an account open for 5-10 years like that with my personal info for a 1 time purchase when I may never go back to that store again!

Newegg is a bit different, and I like the fact that I can look up my orders from the day I made the account so many years ago and see what I bought when and even most the time find the details for discontinued items etc..
So it was good in this case that Newegg did not delete my user account after a few years of not buying anything. But that is the RARE exception of wanting an account.

[DivaVocals]

I think many of us do not want to make accounts because we do not want to be permanently linked to a store or any of our info on file at the store other than to place the order and be then be removed.
If we make accounts then we are in the store system for life!

You are truly not clear on how this works behind the scenes.. when you shop in an online store, the store creates a CUSTOMER RECORD for you. Whether it's a small Zen Cart store or a big box retailer.. They HAVE to collect your information for billing and order fulfillment.. and in the USA for TAX purposes.. So YES the store HAS to collect your billing data.. (name, address). Creating an account only adds a user name and login to this CUSTOMER RECORD so you can speed up the checkout process by not having to enter this information on your next visit..

You seem to be under the MISTAKEN impression that checking out as a guest means the store doesn't collect the data they need for fulfillment and billing.. Even PAYPAL and EBAY (since you brought them up) require BILLING and SHIPPING information to use these services.. Tell me if you have ever made a purchase with PayPal and DID NOT have to supply your billing and or shipping data.. Tell me when you made an online purchase with a credit card and did not have to supply BILLING information...

Go ahead.. think about it.. I'll wait..

Those are all good points.
But, even when you DON'T create an account, ALL YOUR INFORMATION is STILL in the order details, because it's needed for order fulfillment. So if the site gets hacked, then hackers can get ALL your information. The only thing they don't get is a hashed password because you didn't supply one.

Exactly!!!