Calculate Shipping Based on Cost per Pound?

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   Hello,
I'm in the process testing ProductCart before I make my decision to purchase and have been testing various scenarios that I need to work in my online store. I sell dog food products where I charge my local customers who pick up a fee of $.10/lb purchased in lieu of regular shipping like UPS, FedEx, etc. Ideally, this fee should be a Custom Shipping Option but I don't see that as being possible from what I've tested. I'm not looking to charge a fee for a range of pounds but rather a per lb basis.

My current (cheap) shopping cart can accomodate that requirement but I don't see that ProductCart is able to perform this function for me.  Does anyone know if this is something I can set up in PC?

I would also be open to puttting a handling fee/surcharge by product which could accomodate this requirement but I don't see that ability, either. For example, if a product weighed 5 lbs and I charge $.10/lb then I would want to add the handling fee/surcharge of $.50 for that item.

Thank you. I think PC is a great product and would love it if it could do this for me as it looks like it can accomodate everything else I've thrown at it!

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StephanieC Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 27-January-2009 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote StephanieC Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Calculate Shipping Based on Cost per Pound? Posted: 27-January-2009 at 3:31pm
	Hello, I'm in the process testing ProductCart before I make my decision to purchase and have been testing various scenarios that I need to work in my online store. I sell dog food products where I charge my local customers who pick up a fee of $.10/lb purchased in lieu of regular shipping like UPS, FedEx, etc. Ideally, this fee should be a Custom Shipping Option but I don't see that as being possible from what I've tested. I'm not looking to charge a fee for a range of pounds but rather a per lb basis. My current (cheap) shopping cart can accomodate that requirement but I don't see that ProductCart is able to perform this function for me. Does anyone know if this is something I can set up in PC? I would also be open to puttting a handling fee/surcharge by product which could accomodate this requirement but I don't see that ability, either. For example, if a product weighed 5 lbs and I charge $.10/lb then I would want to add the handling fee/surcharge of $.50 for that item. Thank you. I think PC is a great product and would love it if it could do this for me as it looks like it can accomodate everything else I've thrown at it!

Hamish Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 12-October-2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 56	Post Options Post Reply Quote Hamish Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 27-January-2009 at 5:08pm
	Hi Stephanie, ProductCart does not support this scenario. It certainly would be possible with some custom coding. I believe the better option is to use the Custom shipping option "Flat rate based on order weight" - This is because shipping and handling costs are non-linear - shipping a very small package is cheap - as soon as it becomes a parcel it's more expensive, but the cost of shipping does not increase smoothly. Generally the bigger the parcel the less per lb and many shipping companies often work in weight bands. You can integrate the handling fee by just incuding the handling fee in the shipping costs amending the text associated with the shipping charge.
	Editing ProductCart Code? See WIKI Guidelines for Editing ProductCart's ASP Source Code

StephanieC Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 27-January-2009 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote StephanieC Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 27-January-2009 at 5:27pm
	Hello Hamish, Thank you for your response but I don't have to worry about any shipping costs for a carrier since these products are only for local customers who either pick up product from me or receive it via delivery from me. There is no formal shipping carrier used for this. I have a variety of customers who purchase anywhere from 10 lbs all the way up to 300+ lbs and I felt it was only fair to charge the same amount per lb. I have been surprised that I've only seen this cost per lb option in the cheap cart I use and in Volusion. I wish it was in PC but maybe my partner and I will just have to change how we handle this charge. Edited by StephanieC - 27-January-2009 at 5:29pm

Hamish Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 12-October-2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 56	Post Options Post Reply Quote Hamish Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 27-January-2009 at 6:30pm
	Hi Stephanie, I believe this would be a straight forward modification to support this - if done for just a single store. There are several very competent asp programmers who participate in the forums who would be capable of creating such a mod. If it will cause confusion to your customers to change then it's probably worth doing.
	Editing ProductCart Code? See WIKI Guidelines for Editing ProductCart's ASP Source Code

Matt Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 20-July-2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 73	Post Options Post Reply Quote Matt Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 27-January-2009 at 7:08pm
	I may have misunderstood, but it sounds like you can use flat rate. 0 -1 lb = $0.10 1 -2 lb = $0.20 etc... Now that would take a while, but would it work?

Hamish Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 12-October-2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 56	Post Options Post Reply Quote Hamish Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 27-January-2009 at 7:27pm
	Hi Matt, Although the DB would take the data the screen to enter the data only supports up to 10 ranges. I think the closest to what is required is the Incremental calculation based on order quantity (which would actually give more flexibility than requested) - but based on weight rather than count of items. The "unit" of weight could be definable via the panel in ozs or grams - so charging by the lb would mean entering 16oz in the unit.
	Editing ProductCart Code? See WIKI Guidelines for Editing ProductCart's ASP Source Code

StephanieC Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 27-January-2009 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote StephanieC Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02-April-2009 at 2:00pm
	I'm bumping up this post as I am now actively looking to move over to PC within the next month or so. Would it be pretty straightforward for me to set up a "shipping per lb." modification in PC myself (I don't have any ASP knowledge but happy to learn!) or should I look for a developer to create this modification for me? Thanks! I think PC is great with all of its features and am really looking forward to using this to replace our current hosted solution on King-Cart. Regards, Stephanie www.Products4Pets.com

Greg Dinger Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Certified ProductCart Developers Joined: 23-September-2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 238	Post Options Post Reply Quote Greg Dinger Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02-April-2009 at 2:39pm
	Short answer. Building a shipping interface is not a small task. You need to slip the new module into the admin so that such a new shipping method can be activated, and the rate updated as needed. Then you need to cause the checkout procses to recognize this as an active shipping method, calculate the rate correctly, and display that rate in the tabbed chipping choices display (in the checkout) for selection by the shopper. Do you have a prior programming background, or would this be your first programming language to learn?

StephanieC Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 27-January-2009 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote StephanieC Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02-April-2009 at 9:42pm
	Hi Greg, I've done some very minor programming in other languages but nothing that would probably be as involved as this mod. I have been able to learn how to make the changes I've needed by reading through existing code and working through trial and error via testing, etc. I would hazard a guess that based on your description, I think this would be out of my league to develop. Would you be interested in providing me with a quote on how much it might cost to develop a mod for my request? Thank you for your help. Regards, Stephanie

Greg Dinger Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Certified ProductCart Developers Joined: 23-September-2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 238	Post Options Post Reply Quote Greg Dinger Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02-April-2009 at 9:50pm
	Sure. Send an e-mail and let's see what can be done.