Shipping Calculation Problems

[ThriftyMerchant]

I have been struggling with the options with the Paypal shopping cart and shopping buttons, and I cannot find a way to solve the following problems:

1.  There are only 5 ranges for shipping amounts, based on weight, number of items, or dollar amount.  The problem is that the size, weight, and value of my items varies widely, and five ranges are not enough.  I could probably make 20 ranges work fairly well. 

2.  If I override those options and set per-item charges for shipping, I notice that the shopping cart allows the customer to change the quantities and only pay for the shipping of one item.  Just for grins, I ordered 100 items with $11 shipping, and still only had to pay $11 for $2700 in merchandise that weighed over 250 lbs.

I'm not skilled enough to write code to make this work...seems to me this should not require the merchant to do this simple calculation.  Is this just a case of "you get what you pay for?"  I've been trying to get the Paypal shopping cart to meet my needs for several days, and I'm up to the wall with no function I can live with.

I'd be so grateful for any suggestions, or at least validification that this is just the way it is so I can stop trying to figure it out and go buy another cart.  (Any suggestions for one that works well and is cheap?)

[snowshoe]

You do get what you pay for.  It's that simple.  Payments Standard is free along with your account, you only pay for processing the transaction.  With your account shipping calculations, you only get 5 ranges and unfortunately, it's not a one size fit's all solution.

Your options are either to create a custom mini-cart whereas all the calculations are done first on your web page or site, then the results are uploaded to PayPal or use a 3rd party shopping cart that has the features you need.  Basically a 3rd party functions the same as mini-cart, the logic is done your your site first, then the end results are uploaded to PayPal.

[ThriftyMerchant]

I was planning to upgrade to the Paypal Advanced for $5 per month, and would even consider the Pro at $30/month, but I need it to work better than this.  Honestly, having discovered this little glitch of being able to order unlimited amounts with one shipping fee...I can't see how this works for anybody. 😞

Thank you for your input.  Greatly appreciated.

[snowshoe]

Even if you upgrade to Advanced or Pro, unless required by a 3rd party cart or you're going to build or have custom programming done, it won't be worth it.

With Pro, your customers never leave your web site to check out. Many folks with custom sites use Pro.

Believe it or not, the standard shipping does work for many.  There's also the use of the shipping override variables, these are used for exceptions and can be included in scripts for unique scenarios.   We've used these variables for years, works great for us.

[ThriftyMerchant]

Thank you so much for your help.

I have spent the rest of the day figuring out how to add [shipping2=$xx.xx] so that at least items can't be ordered insanely with no shipping consideration.

Do you have a reference I could look at that might give me some ideas for copy/paste with maybe minor adjustments that even I could figure out, to put into that spot at the bottom of "Step3: advanced features" on my button editing?

I'm so lost, so overwhelmed, and so need this to work.  I wish I could afford to just pay somebody who knows how to do this stuff. 

Ever grateful for what you can offer me. 🙂

[snowshoe]

Here's a few tips:

You can override the shipping charges on a button by including the following variables:  "shipping" and/or, "shipping2".   Note, the shipping variables are related to the item it is associated with, not the entire shopping cart.   The "shipping" variable is the cost of shipping the first item.   The "shipping2" variable is the cost you would charge for additional numbers of the same item.   Let's say you charge $1.00 to ship the first item, but you might give a price break for the anything beyond the first item.   So, for purchasing more of the item you would charge $.50 per item (2 through x). 

For example: 

For non-hosted item button code, you can override the Profile Shipping Table calculations by adding the following lines to your extisting button code: 

<input type="hidden" name="shipping" value="1.00"> 
<input type="hidden" name="shipping2" value=".50"> 


If using the Online Button Creator: 

For "hosted" or "encrypted" item button code you need to modify button code using the "Advanced Variables" in Step 3.   Note the text box near the bottom of the page.  There you can insert extra variables.   For example, to insert the "shipping" and "shipping2" override variables just enter: 

shipping=1.00 
shipping2=.50 

There's no HTML extras, just the name of the variable, an equal sign and the value. 


How to check to see if you have the shipping override enabled. 

Note, you have to have at least one shipping method setup for the shipping override variables to be recognized.   If you don't have at least one shipping method setup, you must set one up first.   Additionally, when using the override variables, you will not see the Estimate Shipping and Tax box on the PayPal Checkout Screen. 

* Log in to your PayPal Account. 
* Select Profile. 
* Select My Selling Tools. 
* Under Shipping my Item, you will see Shipping preferences and Shipping Calculations. 
* Click on Update next to Shipping Calculations. 
* On the next page, look for "Override Shipping Methods Per Transaction".   It should be "ON". 
* If not, you need to Edit your settings. 
* Look for "Use the shipping fee in the transaction instead of my calculator's settings:" 
* Select "Yes". 
* Save changes. 


Notes concerning the use of the "handling_cart" variable and the "handling" variable.   The "handling_cart" variable is used with Add to Cart Item Buttons and unlike "shipping" and "shipping2" it's value applies to the entire shopping cart.   The value will only be applied one time.   You can include the "handling_cart" variable with multiple item buttons but, it will only be applied by the first button thats selected.   All other selections will be ignored for that shopping session.   Should you use different values for this variable, depending on which one is applied first, the Shipping amount displayed may be different than expected. 

The "handling" variable is used with Buy Now Item Buttons.   With either variable, "handling_cart" or "handling", the value will be included with the Shipping amount on the PayPal Screens and not displayed as a separate line item.

[ThriftyMerchant]

That is GOLDEN!

Okay!  I'm half way there!  I've read just enough to understand what you said!

I have the shipping override variables set in the encrypted button creator, and it's working to charge less for each additional item than the first.

I can see how employing the handling variables would allow for a little extra charge to the whole order for just one small item, and not keep ramping up the shipping for each small item on an order, in case all they order is small items, that will work.  YEAH!!!

Ok, one more question.  I would like to be able to charge reasonably accurate shipping to all 50 states USPS zones 1-8, maybe breaking them down into zones 1-3,4-5,6-8 or something like that.  Is there some way to use that variables box to program for that?  It seems like we have a choice between one flat price to ship an item, or have everything shipped by weight (with dang too few boxes for the ranges) or item count.  And then, there's Canada. 

*Sigh* I suppose I'm asking too much.  For a free cart, how far I've been able to get is really quite good.  If my business takes off and makes money, I'd be happy to employ a cart that costs up to a hundred dollars a month and works better.

🙂

Thanks for the help thus far.  I'm making seriously useful progress, at long last! 🙂

[snowshoe]

Yep, you're asking a bit too much for a free cart.

What you have in mind would take quite a bit of custom coding.  There are carts out there that have the features you would like to have and most likely would cost less than having a custom cart built.

[ThriftyMerchant]

Thank you...I'm not up to custom coding.

Can you or someone please recommend a purchased cart that will work best for me, based on my goals, when I'm ready to switch over?  I need it to be really simple, but powerful enough to allow me to code for product going at least to Canada, and to set different zone rates for shipping, item by item.  They all claim to be "easy" but I've been down that road with website builders.

I was working with GoDaddy's website builder, which frustrated me to no end, and I finally gave up and accidentally stumbled onto Weebly, which seems to have a much easier interface, and I prefer it in spite of some minor limitations due to it's ease of use.  (Just to give you some sense of my capability).

Thank you so much for all of your help. 🙂

[snowshoe]

You can search thru some of the carts listed here:

https://www.paypal-marketing.com/emarketing/partner/directory/directory.page;jsessionid=BE3436438EB8...

These guys have a nice cart, suggest downloading the free trial version and play.  If you purchase it first and don't like it, theres no refunds.

http://www.coffeecup.com/shopping-cart-pro/

This site also has some good things:

http://www.e-junkie.com/