Shipping configuration

[zombiesbyte]

Hi

I'm open to suggestions on this issue including possible alternatives to plugins from the marketplace.

I've installed https://www.cubecart.com/extensions/shipping-methods/-all-in-one-shipping and setup the matrix to a point. Everything is great until I think about the difference between padded letter and parcel. It would be a lot easier if things were based on weight alone but Royal Mail (for example) have a large jump when you talk about letters vs parcels.

The shipping matrix works fine when I know the products will all ship pretty cheaply in a padded envelope which is within the letter specification. Unfortunately there are items that would be regarded as parcels or if many items of the envelope category were selected. The shipping matrix has no way of knowing as this is not a weight issue but a size issue.

Could anyone suggest a way to get around this? Perhaps it's a case of offering flat rate shipping for a price that covers every eventuality up to a certain weight class. Thinking about even that example causes some of the same issues as you may well order 2 items that bring you to the threshold which fit within the criteria but what if you ordered many smaller items that took you over the dimensions of the restrictions but you were still within the weight criteria (i.e. 15 items weighing a total of 2kg but the parcel size would be 150cm x 150cm x 150cm) Sending these as two/three parcels would incur double/tipple the shipping cost.

After talking with a few shipping/courier companies it seems they want me to get back to them after I'm shipping so many parcels a day/week before they will even talk to me. I'm due to launch in October and I just thought this would naturally resolve itself as I got closer to completing but so far there hasn't been a clear solution.

Any thoughts?

 

[bsmither]

bsandall has an interesting looking solution (https://forums.cubecart.com/topic/51597-shipping-nightmare/#comment-220279).

I started looking at it yesterday and will try to make some experiments soon.

 

[zombiesbyte]

Thanks for the link bsmither.

I'm not sure about what I'm reading. Seems this stuff is still in beta and although I wouldn't normally be bothered I think it makes it uncomfortable using unstable scripts on a live business website especially when money is involved.

I think I may need to have a think about perhaps just using either free shipping on selected items or restructure the shipping matrix or something. It's a shame I can't pin down the flat-rate shipping prices from a delivery company at this stage. Chicken and egg issue

I know there's other modules out there so perhaps one of them fits better or maybe I can change the code to compensate but I want to try and avoid more fiddling as all these changes need to be maintained in future updates.

 

EDIT: I wonder if this may provide the necessary adjustments https://www.cubecart.com/extensions/shipping-methods/per-category I'll try it and report back

Edited September 19, 2016 by zombiesbyte
See "EDIT"

[zombiesbyte]

Interestingly the category shipping kind of works. It's a shame you couldn't add multiples of these to a zone since I would have liked to offer First Class, Second Class and Next Day options for the basket but as it stands I think it is a good enough compromise to get around the various item weights. I don't think automation of these things is ever going to be perfect but the courier services don't help by complicating their prices based on mixture of weight and dimensions.

DPD have formulas based on dimensions (W x L x D) divided by 4,000 (5,000 for international) so long as the actual weight is within a certain Kg, they then complicate this by adding about a dozen options of posting an item out before certain times across certain days. Never mind, guess this is the way the world spins