I Need a shipping solution....

OK, I spent hours setting up nearly 80 shipping rules for this client and we still have issues, Nicolas, I need a working solution please! HELP, I'm being driven nuts!! LOL

OK, so the client sells 2 main products, greeting cards and posters.

Greeting cards weigh next to nothing around 25grams on average.

Posters vary in weight from 20g to 100g.

Posters need to be shipped in a tube, these tubes weigh 163g.

Cards, depending on the qty get shipped in a padded envelope or a small box.

Currently, I have the cards weighed in grams, and the posters in KG to separate the shipping rules.

All works perfectly, until you mix products in the cart.

Lets take an example scenario.

2 posters, weighing say 120g (120kg) the freight cost to the USA is $10.50.

Now if they add in say 5 greeting cards, which cannot go into a tube for starters, but really need to be shipped in a package of their own, is probably another shipping cost of maybe $7.50.

There is no way to put cards into a tube, there is no option for the client to start folding posters to go with cards into a large envelope. They JUST have to be separately shipped.

The system is of course calculating the weight based on the massively heavier posters of course, but now she is out of pocket for the postage of the greeting cards.

We also take into account like you have suggested before, the weights of the tubes, and that works fine.

Do you have some sort of shipping solution that can somehow be a happy medium so on the chance that someone buys the two different types of products, she is not always being left out of pocket on freight.

I did tell her when I had finished setting up all the rules for freight, that this would happen, but now that she has tested it herself, she is not happy at all.

HELP!! Put me out of my misery. LOL

Hi Nicolas

Could you please describe, based on the scenario I have above, how this new system would work for my case? We also need to make allowances for the extra USA security charges once we go over a certain weight.

I just need more info to go back to the client and tell her a solution is coming and she has to wait etc.

Appreciate it!!

Hi Nicolas, sounds interesting.

As I mentioned, with our setup, cards and posters just cannot be shipped in the one package, one in an envelope / box and posters in tubes. Of course, each of those incurs their own shipping charges at the post office.

I'll give an actual example and let me know if it will work like this please.

(We also have to keep in mind, we need to allow 170grams for the average mailing tube somehow)

Say a customer orders 3 cards (weight 60 grams + 40grams for a padded envelope = 100grams total) plus 1 poster (Poster weighs say 120grams + 170 grams for the tube = total weight 290grams)

Lets say it is going to the USA.

The cards would incur an actual shipping charge of approx $10.50
The Poster would incur a postage charge of approx $17.25

Can the new system do something like that? Calculate 2 shipping costs? Or somehow come up with a total that is the two combined costs?

Just to make life harder, if we ship anything into the USA over 500G, there is an extra fee of $10 that needs to be added...

Make my day LOL

Hi Nicolas, thanks for explaining that in more detail. Sadly I think that would not work for my scenario.

If I set freight for a poster at 17.50, I can actually fit up to 3 average posters in a tube for the same shipping cost/weight range, so the shipping cost would be 3 times what it needed to be if 3 posters were added. Similarly with cards, 1 card will probably still cost the full amount of up to 4 or 5 based on weight.

One possible "Solution" in my scenario, that would work (But does not exist) is to assign shipping rates to product categories. The system can then total shipping costs for products in each category, giving a category based shipping total, which it then combines for a grand total and I would actually end up with a true shipping cost.

How does that sound? Possible? Worth exploring?

Was just reading this topic with interest.

The client being out of pocket is always a bad thing !

Would it maybe be a option that if more than one categories was picked that the cart could send a 'give me a quote for total packaging' or something could be emailed? ie the transaction would not be completed, the shop owner could then work out (or have a chart of their own) the shipping, add it into hikashop invoice and send it to the customer with the normal link to pay if it is acceptable?

Just a thought, a little code would be needed I suspect but it may be a good compromise ?

Hi, thanks, I have to wrap my head around what you just suggested, not sure how you "detect" that products from the two categories are in the cart?

So, in theory...

If they only ordered products from 1 or the other category, the freight rules in place would kick in.

if they ordered from both somehow the system can detect that and another freight "plugin" would kick in?

Do you like the idea of assigning freight to product categories? I hope it makes it into coming updates, I am sure I wouyld not be the only one to use such a system

Cheers

Hi Nicolas

I sent you a message about getting a quote for some dev work, did you get that ok?

Cheers

Tha is how I sent it on Monday my time. I have a copy of it here.

Hi,

I assume that there isn't yet a solution for this, right?

I have the same difficulty to set packing weight. My case is very similar. The products (photos) are available in different print sizes (10x15, 20x30,... and so on).
For each size there is a different packing methods (smaller photos in envelopes of respective size, bigger photos in tubes). Each packing metod can ship 1 photo or several photos in the same packing.

For example:

20x30 envelope with protection = 65g
20x30 photo = 5g

1 order of 1 20x30 photo: 65g + 5g = 70g (lower shipping rate, under 100g)

1 order of 10 20x30 photos: 65g + (10 x 5g) = 115g (higher shipping rate, above 100g)

The shipping rates are already all set with weight ranges for products, but how do I add the packing weight how I explained above.

Greetings,
Mainzer

Hi Jerome,

Please can you explain better how to do that ("add 65g for each x photos"), and if I can do that for every packing method?. I have already a custom shipping plugin but for portuguese post shipping rates:

I'm not seeing how to do that and if it is even possible, like I said we have several packing methods depending of the size of the photo AND each packing method I can send 1 photo OR up to 30 photos.
How can hikashop detect the right one if shipping method is not related to product variant?

It would be great if in each product variant I could add packing weight and Item limit for each packing.

regards,
Mainzer