judyvega Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 I'm trying to figure out how to do the shipping costs on my site - do any of you do x number of pounds, say 0-2 = such amount, and then go up in increments from there? I'm going to have a paypal cart and since I'm not setting this thing up myself, this is what the guy is telling me may be the best way - I hate not having control of it, but I just don't know how to do it myself. Any advice on this would be SO MUCH appreciated! Once I have this figured out my site is ready to go finally. Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 That is what you have to do with the paypal cart (or use a %) so it's basically what I do. I kind of ran the numbers through the USPS site (changing pounds for new calculations) and kind of averaged it out per pound grouping. For example:0-2# = $5.00 S&H3-5# = $8.00 S&H Etc. That is just an example not my real numbers though. I'm working on switching to OsCommerce so I can have access to a real shipping calculator which bases S&H on weight.HTH - but probably not exactly what you are looking for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judyvega Posted June 15, 2007 Author Share Posted June 15, 2007 Thanks - I guess also what I'm wondering is, do you up your prices just a bit so that you won't have to eat any shipping costs? I have told this guy doing my site all along that I wanted real time shipping, but he has no idea how to do it (not sure why I'm even letting him do my site at this point). Thanks for any additional input, I appreciate it. Oh, and do customers complain about that method of figuring shipping? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 I haven't had anyone complain yet about shipping. My mom recently placed an order with me (she loves my orange clove candles) and said my shipping was too low. So customers might be willing to pay higher shipping than we might think. Of course that is coming from my mom!I'm curious about this guy you have doing your site though... if he's any good at web programming he could sign up at UPS. They have an API tool so programmers can put real time shipping on thier sites and supposedly they offer email help so it get's set up right. It's been a long time since I did any web programming so I can't take the time to add it to my site.You should suggest he look into ZenCart or OsCommerce free carts. Maybe he could set one of those up for you easily and they have the RTS calcs already embedded into the code using the API's from the USPS and UPS. Heck, if I can figure out OsCommerce, a web programmer shouldn't have any trouble.If you have some time Google either of those carts I just recommended and I believe both of thier sites have a demo cart you could look at and see if it is right for your needs.Kelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizbizzyb Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 I use http://www.auctioninc.com/I set the weight of my item in the coding in my buttons and it calculates real-time shipping.....my customers like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 I don't think the customer would complain if they didn't like your method of figuring shipping. As a customer, I either buy (if I feel the price to be reasonable) or don't buy (if I consider the price too high). But I don't contact the store to complain. So it's kind of tricky really, because there isn't a way to track shoppers who didn't buy anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 Mizbizzyb sounds like a great tool! I wonder if you can add in a handling fee as well? Anyway i'll check out the site because sounds like what I need but sounds too good to be true! Plus I'm a cheapo, don't like to spend money so hopefully it's free! Thanks for sharing the link!!Kelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wick'n'Wax Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 The exact same question I'm pondering over.I have OScommerce, someone helping me (via email) but he's so busy its like a week or two before I get a reply.From what I can make out, I set something like (tare?) at say 2lb and then input the exact weight of every item. Don't know what else to do after that though.I am still adding items, and product attributes at the mo, but after that I need to do the shipping, set up the payments stuff, and gawd knows what else lol.It's sooooooooo scary.A computer to me is a grey thing with a button on the front and you can chat on forums lmao Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judyvega Posted June 17, 2007 Author Share Posted June 17, 2007 I haven't had anyone complain yet about shipping. My mom recently placed an order with me (she loves my orange clove candles) and said my shipping was too low. So customers might be willing to pay higher shipping than we might think. Of course that is coming from my mom!I'm curious about this guy you have doing your site though... if he's any good at web programming he could sign up at UPS. They have an API tool so programmers can put real time shipping on thier sites and supposedly they offer email help so it get's set up right. It's been a long time since I did any web programming so I can't take the time to add it to my site.You should suggest he look into ZenCart or OsCommerce free carts. Maybe he could set one of those up for you easily and they have the RTS calcs already embedded into the code using the API's from the USPS and UPS. Heck, if I can figure out OsCommerce, a web programmer shouldn't have any trouble.If you have some time Google either of those carts I just recommended and I believe both of thier sites have a demo cart you could look at and see if it is right for your needs.KellyYeah, I'm curious about the guy doing my site, also. I am paying a FORTUNE for him to do it, and he's never set up a cart before (which he didn't tell me beforehand). He "tried" to set up zencart, but after about a MONTH told me it was way too complicated and he couldn't do it. I'm really frustrated w/him at the moment.Thanks, everyone, for the advice and links. I'll check the others out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinetreecandles Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 The exact same question I'm pondering over.I have OScommerce' date=' someone helping me (via email) but he's so busy its like a week or two before I get a reply.From what I can make out, I set something like (tare?) at say 2lb and then input the exact weight of every item. Don't know what else to do after that though.I am still adding items, and product attributes at the mo, but after that I need to do the shipping, set up the payments stuff, and gawd knows what else lol.It's sooooooooo scary.A computer to me is a grey thing with a button on the front and you can chat on forums lmao[/quote']My site is done using osCommerce. If you need help setting up shipping, send me a message or email and I will help you out.I use UPS and USPS. I even have a shipping estimator on the shopping cart page. Lots of things available for OSC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 ZenCart works exactly the same way OsCommerce works. It's not really all that complicated once you get in there, not to mention the helpful forums and documentation. This would not be too difficult for a web programmer, unless he's a lazy web programmer. How long has it taken him to get you a website together?ZenCart, OsCommerce, your web programmer has me frustrated. The one thing I will say about the two if I didn't already say it, is that they do seem to take a lot of time to get them set up the way you want them to look.Another down side to those, which turns me off to them, is the fact that if you can't afford the templates out there, or aren't good with coding, everyone's website kind of ends up looking similiar to the next guy using those applications.Oh well! Good luck with your web programmer!! Hope it all works out in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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