Link your own shipping company account and read its prices in the preview

Purpose#

If you have your own account with an external shipping company, you can link it to the platform and ship at your own rates. This guide covers the linking steps and how the company's prices appear in the Parcel summary card, including what is deducted and what is held from your balance.

Who can use it#

• Independent platform merchants only. A merchant who belongs to a delivery company does not see My shipping company accounts; if they open the page, the panel sends them back to the dashboard with a message saying the feature is for platform merchants only.
• A plan that includes "Connect your own account with shipping companies" when you save the account (whenever the platform has merchant plans). The page opens without it, but saving is refused with a plan message: "Feature «Connect your own account with shipping companies» is not included in your current plan — upgrade your plan from the subscription page." or, if you have no active merchant plan subscription at all, "You do not have an active merchant plan subscription — subscribe to use «Connect your own account with shipping companies»."
• The page lists only active shipping companies the super admin allowed private accounts with. If there are none you see "No shipping companies currently allow linking a private account."

What you need#

Your account details with the company itself: Client ID and Client Secret for LFL Express, or an API Key for Sham Express (it starts with pk_live_, as the platform's own message says). Type them into the fields only; do not copy them anywhere else or share them.

Steps to link an account#

1. Open My shipping company accounts

   In the side menu, under Integration. The page My accounts with shipping companies opens with a card per company, marked Not connected or Connected.

2. Enter the account details

   Fill in the fields the company asks for. Every field is required and what you type is masked. If a Webhook secret field appears it is optional and is used to update your parcel statuses as soon as they change (see "Common mistakes").

3. Press Connect account

   The platform checks the details with the company before saving them. On success you see "Your account is connected with (company name)" and the badge becomes Connected. On failure you see "Could not verify account details: ..." and nothing is saved.

4. Choose your own account when creating a parcel

   In New parcel pick the Delivery company (shipping companies are listed with " — shipping company"), then tick Shipping via my own account with this company. This option appears only if you have linked your account with that company. If the company does not accept the platform's account, the option comes ticked and cannot be unticked.

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1. Choose the pickup place
2. Choose the delivery company
3. Enter the recipient's name and phone
4. Set the cash-on-delivery amount
5. Your invoice number, to recognise the parcel later

How the company's prices appear in the preview#

The price is calculated on the server by asking the company itself, with the same calculation used when you save, without saving or deducting anything. The Parcel summary card refreshes after you change the company, pickup location, weight, governorate, Who pays the shipping fee?, the own-account option or the address. A Sham Express price for a given destination and currency is kept for 10 minutes, so it may stay unchanged during that time.

The note box under the summary lists, line by line: the company's own note if any (such as "Destination at Sham: ..."); then "Via your own account at (company): You settle the fee with them directly, and we hold its value from your balance as a guarantee until delivery." or "Via the platform account at (company)."; then who pays the fee. A warning, "Attention: the COD amount is less than the costs — you will lose money on this parcel.", closes the box when your net is negative.

Through your own account, the held amount returns to your shipping balance on delivery and is deducted for good in the platform's favour if delivery fails. The company bills you for the fee directly.

Expected result#

• The badge becomes Connected, the button becomes Refresh data, and a Disconnect button appears.
• The own-account checkbox appears for that company in New parcel, and the preview uses your account's price.

Common mistakes#

• "Could not verify account details": check the values and re-enter them in full. The company's own text follows the message, such as "Sham Express key is invalid or suspended" when the key is refused.
• The option is missing in New parcel: your account is not linked with the chosen company, or the company is not active.
• The preview cannot price the parcel: the company's message is shown, such as "Sham Express requires the recipient governorate — select it on the parcel." or "(company) accepts COD in: ... only — change the COD amount currency."
• LFL statuses do not update: LFL offers no status lookup, so statuses arrive through the webhook alone. The platform tries to register the link in your LFL account automatically; if that fails, register it in the LFL panel and put the "secret" in the field. For other companies the page notes that statuses update every half hour until you add the secret.

Limits and permissions#

• Saving is limited to 10 attempts per minute.
• Details are stored encrypted and are not shown after saving; the field shows "•••••• (saved — enter it again to update)", and you retype them to update.
• Disconnect removes the link at once after you confirm "Disconnect?". Do not do it while parcels sent through the account are unfinished: following their status and cancelling them use the same account.
• The platform fee comes from a rule the super admin sets for each company, and may be zero.