If you have a single item with no options, adding the weight is simple if using the online button creator. When you are generating the item button code, there's a check box for the weight option and a text input box for how many pounds or kilograms The shipping cost is then calculated using the weights and amounts you have setup in your shipping method profile.
As the online button creator has it limitations, the above process is simple however, if you have a button that has various sizes for the same item, the weights are going to be different. And if you need to be more precise, like using ounces for example, then you need to get creative. Both scenarios are going to require you to manually code your item buttons and include some custom scripting to mange the math before sending the results to the PayPay Checkout Screens.
In many cases you need a combination of the shipping override variables and the weight variables. And depending on your requirements, sometimes a mini-cart is more useful. Mini-carts like 3rd party shopping carts use the "upload" method to pass the end results of the customer selections to the PayPal Checkout Screens. To give you an idea of how this is done, see this example:
http://ccaples.com/index.php/basic-scripts/examples-iii/mini-cart-sample
And to demonstrate how to work with various selections and options, see the example below. Note, the example uses a short script to manage the choices:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>Button Example Code</title>
<!-- START META TAG SECTION -->
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en">
<!-- END META TAG SECTION -->
<!-- Start of Script -->
<SCRIPT language=javascript>
function CalculateOrder(form)
{
if (form.os0.value == "Small")
{
form.amount.value = 4.00;
form.item_number.value = "1001-S";
form.weight.value = ".25";
}
if (form.os0.value == "Medium")
{
form.amount.value = 5.00;
form.item_number.value = "1001-M";
form.weight.value = ".75";
}
if (form.os0.value == "Large")
{
form.amount.value = 6.00;
form.item_number.value = "1001-L";
form.weight.value = ".85";
}
}
</SCRIPT>
<!-- End of Script -->
</head>
<body>
<!-- START SAMPLE CODE SECTION -->
<!-- PARAGRAPH 1 -->
Shipping & Delivery Examples
<br><br>
Add to Cart - how to use the Weight Variables in the Script.
<br><br>
Notes:<br>
In order to see shipping rates, you would setup your Profile Shipping Method based on weight.
<br><br><br>
<!-- START CONTENTS -->
<!-- START BUTTON EXAMPLES -->
Widget Candles
<br><br>
<!-- Start of Add to Cart Form -->
<!-- Note: target="_self" was replaced with the variable target="_self" -->
<!-- Note: shopping_url also added to code -->
<!-- These two changes allow better functionality with IE and Firefox -->
<form target="_self" action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post">
<!-- If using a Business or Company Logo Graphic, include the "cpp_header_image" variable in your View Cart code. -->
<input type="hidden" name="cpp_header_image" value="https://www.yourwebsite.com/logo.jpg">
<!-- -->
<input type="hidden" name="on0" value="Size">Select Candle Size:
<SELECT name="os0">
<OPTION value="Small" selected>Small Candle - $4.00 - Weight .25 lb</OPTION>
<OPTION value="Medium">Medium Candle - $5.00 - Weight .75 lb</OPTION>
<OPTION value="Large">Large Candle - $6.00 - Weight .85 lb</OPTION>
</SELECT>
<br><br>
<input type="hidden" name="on1" value="Scent">Select Scent:
<SELECT name="os1">
<OPTION value="Vanilla" selected>Vanilla</OPTION>
<OPTION value="Lavender">Lavender</OPTION>
<OPTION value="Apple Pie">Apple Pie</OPTION>
</SELECT>
<br><br>
<INPUT onclick=CalculateOrder(this.form) type="image" alt="Make payments with PayPal - it's fast, free and secure!"
src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_cart_LG.gif" border=0 name="submit">
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" height="1">
<input type="hidden" name="add" value="1">
<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_cart">
<!-- Replace "business" value with your PayPal Email Address or Account ID -->
<input type="hidden" name="business" value="your email address">
<input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="Widget Candle">
<input type="hidden" name="amount">
<input type="hidden" name="item_number">
<input type="hidden" name="no_shipping" value="2">
<input type="hidden" name="weight">
<input type="hidden" name="weight_unit" value="lbs">
<!-- Replace value with the web page you want the customer to return to -->
<input type="hidden" name="shopping_url" value="http://www.yourwebsite.com/Shipping_Delivery_09.html">
<!-- Replace value with the web page you want the customer to return to after a successful transaction -->
<input type="hidden" name="return" value="http://www.yourwebsite.com/ThankYou.html">
<!-- Replace value with the web page you want the customer to return to after item cancellation -->
<input type="hidden" name="cancel_return" value="http://www.yourwebsite.com/Cancel.html">
<input type="hidden" name="currency_code" value="USD">
<input type="hidden" name="lc" value="US">
<input type="hidden" name="button_subtype" value="products">
<input type="hidden" name="no_note" value="0">
<input type="hidden" name="cn" value="Add special instructions to the seller:">
<input type="hidden" name="bn" value="PP-ShopCartBF:btn_cart_LG.gif:NonHosted">
</FORM>
<!-- End of Form -->
<br>
<!-- Start of View Cart Button Code -->
<form target="_self" action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post">
<!-- If using a Business or Company Logo Graphic, include the "cpp_header_image" variable in your View Cart code. -->
<input type="hidden" name="cpp_header_image" value="https://www.yourwebsite.com/logo.jpg">
<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_cart">
<input type="hidden" name="display" value="1">
<!-- Replace "business" value with your PayPal Email Address or Account ID -->
<input type="hidden" name="business" value="your email address">
<!-- Replace value with the web page you want the customer to return to -->
<input type="hidden" name="shopping_url" value="http://www.yourwebsite.com/Shipping_Delivery_09.html">
<input type="image" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_viewcart_LG.gif" border="0" name="submit" alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!">
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" height="1">
</form>
<!-- End of View Cart Button Code -->
<!-- END BUTTON EXAMPLES -->
<!-- END SAMPLE CODE SECTION -->
<br><br><br><br>
<hr align="left" width="50%" noshade>
<br><br>
NOTES:
<br>
In order to test the code, you must replace the "business" value variable with your PayPal Email Address or Account ID.
</body>
</html>
Last, if all of seems a bit more than what want to do, there's always the option of using a 3rd party shopping cart or service. For example, this cart is easy to work with and saves quite a bit of time verses coding everything yourself:
http://www.e-junkie.com/
Here's another cart that nice:
http://www.coffeecup.com/shopping-cart-pro/
And there's "free" open source type carts such as Joomla: http://www.joomla.org/
