posted on May 5, 2010 05:32:44 PM new
Is there anywhere that describes how shipping cost will be calculated base on the settings in the shipping profile for an item and the settings in the global order preferences? I can't seem to figure out the interactions in any way that makes any sense.
I had an item that was set up as calculated shipping and a buyer bought two and was charged two times what the shipping would be for one, rather than for what the total weight was. So I was told that my settings in preferences->orders was set to:
Apply shipping and discounts based on each individual item in a multiple-quantity listing being shipped separately.
OK, that seems to make sense, so I've changed it to:
Apply shipping and discounts based on all items in a multiple-quantity listing being shipped as a whole
But now I was test ordering an item with calculated shipping and when I go through checkout with two items, it seems to be charging shipping the same as it would for just one item. How do I get it to charge just based on the weight of the total number of items ordered? I thought that that is what calculated shipping was.
posted on May 5, 2010 06:00:46 PM new
I was just going through checkout as a test, so I did not complete the order. But by coincidence, someone just placed an order for two items and was only charged shipping for 1. The order number is 2001844240.
Sorry for the confusion. There is an additional option that you will need to choose in the preferences page. Please go to "Preferences" (at the top right of most pages in your account) --> select "Orders" from the drop-down box at the top of the page --> scroll down to the "Combined Shipping Discounts" section and select the "Weight-Based Discount" option. Please let us know should you continue to have trouble with this after making that change.
posted on May 5, 2010 06:37:01 PM new
First, you still have not answered my first question - Is this explained anywhere? I mean a total explanation of how these things interact. Because I am not just looking at this latest order problem, but on setting things up so that it works correctly for all my stuff, including fixed cost shipping items, where a problem was mentioned in another posting in this forum. So if I change the setting that you are suggesting now, how will that affect my other listings.
Second, how does my having "no discount" selected there result in my just having given a discount? That makes no sense at all. That section of the preferences should only apply to combining multiple DIFFERENT items. Obviously now I see that it doesn't, but that doesn't make any sense. If I set that as you suggest, will that make it so that if someone buys multiple different weight based items, they will be combined base don weight? I don't want to do that. I just want multiples of the same item to combine correctly based on the weight.
OK to reiterate: If I have an item that is set to calculated shipping and it weighs 8 lbs. And someone buys two of them or a hundred of them and gets charged shipping for 8 lbs. How would anyone expect that to happen because "no discount" was checked in an order preference setting? That is either a bug or it is a really poorly designed system which is just a bug of a higher order.
posted on May 5, 2010 06:51:07 PM new
I just changed to the weight based discount and tested by going through checkout and that didn't change anything. It is still charging shipping based on the weight of one item. I went as far as going to the paypal page before abandoning it, so it shows as an order: #2001844360.
Unfortunately, there is no total explanation of all possible interactions of the various shipping settings. However, there is some general information on how the discounts work starting on page 14 of the Preferences User Guide:
Please note that the shipping discount preference is a global preference -- across all of your items. The shipping discounts on the Orders Preferences page are for when the buyer is purchasing multiple items from your account for different items. The "Per Additional Item" field in the shipping profiles is if the buyer is purchasing multiples of the same item from you. Having "No discount" selected in the Orders Preferences page applies no discount for purchases of multiple different items. It does not affect the "Per Additional Item" field that is setup in the shipping profile for multiples of the same item.
While you can have multiples of different items combine based on weight, it is not possible to setup a shipping discount where only multiples of the same item are combined based on weight, unfortunately.
I do see that the shipping costs for your order "2001844360" were not calculated correctly (they should have been calculated based on the weight of three items, but were only charged based on the weight of one item). I have asked our engineers to take a look and we will let you know as soon as we hear back from them.
posted on May 6, 2010 10:19:44 AM new
You said: "Please note that the shipping discount preference is a global preference -- across all of your items. The shipping discounts on the Orders Preferences page are for when the buyer is purchasing multiple items from your account for different items."
But when I asked earlier about order 2001844240 where the buyer bought multiples of the same item and was charged shipping for just one, you said: There is an additional option that you will need to choose in the preferences page. Please go to "Preferences" (at the top right of most pages in your account) --> select "Orders" from the drop-down box at the top of the page --> scroll down to the "Combined Shipping Discounts" section and select the "Weight-Based Discount" option.
So which is it?
Also in another post ChristopherCS replied to adadababy, who was having a problem with fixed rate shipping that the shipping discounts on the order preferences page overrode the settings in the shipping profile of the item. I read the reply to mean that on a fixed price item with shipping of $4.25 for the first and $1.25 for each additional, setting the order preferences to Apply shipping and discounts based on all items in a multiple-quantity listing being shipped as a whole resulted in the shipping charge being $4.25 for any quantity of items, which is frankly stupid. So is that a bug or the design? If it is the latter, the documentation needs to reflect that. I don't think that anyone would read the documentation you pointed me to and conclude that a $4.25 + $1.25 fixed shipping item could result in shipping charges of $4.25 for any number of items purchased.
So that is why I asked initially about a comprehensive explanation of shipping. I am trying to set up a vendio store with a rational shipping configuration. I have only sold two items of multiple quantities so far and both had shipping calculated incorrectly. Between bugs and lack of comprehensive documentation, I am quite frustrated.
Please note that Chris' reply to the other user was in relation to changing over to fixed shipping and how to setup the discounts to be applied properly for fixed shipping.
In regards to the problem you are having with calculated shipping discounts applying to multiples of the same item, we are aware of the problem and have escalated it to our engineers so that they can take a look. We will let you know as soon as we hear back from the engineers on this. We are also happy to pass along your request for documentation that further explains how the shipping charges and discounts work.
I just wanted to update you on the additional help documentation. We are working on creating additional help documentation, including additional documentation on shipping discounts. Please note that it might take some time for this to be completed, but I wanted to let you know that we are working on it.
posted on June 23, 2010 04:57:40 PM new
Nathan, earlier in this thread, you said:
"I do see that the shipping costs for your order "2001844360" were not calculated correctly (they should have been calculated based on the weight of three items, but were only charged based on the weight of one item). I have asked our engineers to take a look and we will let you know as soon as we hear back from them."
Have you heard anything? I was testing some items and it seems that weight based calculations are not working.
I am testing out the shipping charge for my new store and it seems to have problem when ordering multiple quantity items. The shipping charge remains the same no matter I placed 1 or 100 order quantity for the same item.
I have the order preferences for domestic set to Weight-Based discount. Apply shipping and discounts based on each individual item in a multiple-quantity listing being ship as a while, and charge handling fee for a multiple-quantity listing as a while.
posted on February 17, 2011 03:14:05 PM new
Hi Nathan,
It was a test done on the web page but not an actual order placed by customer so I don't know where I can get the order number for you. The shipping cost was observed on the page after I pressed the Vendio checkout button. No matter how many quantity I input for the item, the costs for UPS ground were all the same (same for 1 and 100 QTY). I wish I can send you the screen shots so you can see exactly what I mean.
posted on February 17, 2011 03:19:51 PM new
Hello Jason,
If you do not have an order number, then please provide the following information:
1. What is the name of the item that you used?
2. If there were more than one different items, what are the names of the other items?
3. What quantities exactly did you add for each of the items?
4. What shipping address did you enter into checkout?
5. Did you complete the checkout process to the end? If not, was the correct shipping charge shown after continuing to the end of the process?
6. What was the dollar amount for shipping that was shown to you in the order?
posted on February 17, 2011 06:04:15 PM new
Hi Nathan,
1. If you go to my website you will see some featured products. Please use the Stainless Steel Tiffin for your test.
2. In this scenario, no other products will be included.
3. Enter QTY of 1 for this product, then press Checkout. Read out the shipping cost (UPS Ground $12.9). Then press Home button, revise the quantity in the shopping cart to 10. Press checkout button again and read out the shipping cost (UPS Ground $12.9).
4. I was using my company address as ship-to. Note that the ship-from address is not from my company.
5. I didn't complete the checkout process. The shipping charge was displayed at the Payment page.
6. The dollar amount for shipping was $12.9 for both QTY 1 and QTY 10.
posted on February 18, 2011 12:02:32 PM new
Hello,
Sorry for the confusion, there is unfortunately an issue with calculating the cost of additional items (from the same item) that our engineers are working to correct.
It will calculate properly with combining other items into an order, it's only an issue with more than one of the exact same item at this time.
