USPS Shipping Challenges w/ Backordered Items

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Hi All, 
Finally launched our PC store front!  We're into the launch 2 days now and am having some shipping challenges for backordered items.  

Currently, we ship USPS priority mail exclusively.  A main reason I decided to use EI PC software is becuase of the back order distinction.  I want to sell products I don't currently stock, but have access to, and make the distinction to my customers that those "back-ordered" items (truly more of a "special-order" situation) will not ship w/in the 24 hour time frame that our stocked items do.  So, I'm thinking... Cool, everything looks good up to this point with PC's inventory system and "oversized" product distinction that will automatically calculate 2 shipments for the order.

But for some reason, the customer is not being charged for 2 packages when they place an order for 2 products, one in-stock, the other back-ordered, despite the back-ordered product being indicated as an oversized item.  By the way, most of our items are under 1 lb--ranging anywhere from 4 ounces to 13 ounces.  In the above scenerio, both items are around 4 ounces in weight.

Why is this?  Does the "overstock" distinction not work for USPS?  All I want is for PC to charge a second 1 lb base rate for the backordered item.  Is there a way out of this.  I'm thinking that I could set the weight of the backordered item to 1 lb--and then it would charge the customer for that second package... but then I worry that a customer may get over charged for shipping down the road when they add a few more items to their order.  This won't work because I may lose sales when our shipping charges are grossly bloated compared to my competitors.

I would rather not dink around with charges after the fact--for simplicities sake for both my business and for the customer.  So I would like to avoid this at all costs.

Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas?

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tjbones Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 18-October-2010 Location: Seattle Status: Offline Points: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote tjbones Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: USPS Shipping Challenges w/ Backordered Items Posted: 03-September-2011 at 1:27am
	Hi All, Finally launched our PC store front! We're into the launch 2 days now and am having some shipping challenges for backordered items. Currently, we ship USPS priority mail exclusively. A main reason I decided to use EI PC software is becuase of the back order distinction. I want to sell products I don't currently stock, but have access to, and make the distinction to my customers that those "back-ordered" items (truly more of a "special-order" situation) will not ship w/in the 24 hour time frame that our stocked items do. So, I'm thinking... Cool, everything looks good up to this point with PC's inventory system and "oversized" product distinction that will automatically calculate 2 shipments for the order. But for some reason, the customer is not being charged for 2 packages when they place an order for 2 products, one in-stock, the other back-ordered, despite the back-ordered product being indicated as an oversized item. By the way, most of our items are under 1 lb--ranging anywhere from 4 ounces to 13 ounces. In the above scenerio, both items are around 4 ounces in weight. Why is this? Does the "overstock" distinction not work for USPS? All I want is for PC to charge a second 1 lb base rate for the backordered item. Is there a way out of this. I'm thinking that I could set the weight of the backordered item to 1 lb--and then it would charge the customer for that second package... but then I worry that a customer may get over charged for shipping down the road when they add a few more items to their order. This won't work because I may lose sales when our shipping charges are grossly bloated compared to my competitors. I would rather not dink around with charges after the fact--for simplicities sake for both my business and for the customer. So I would like to avoid this at all costs. Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas?
	tjbones