UPS/USPS and Freight Carrier Issue

[Tim M]

I'm using Zen Cart 1.3.8a with the UPS and USPS shipping modules.

We only ship to the US and Canada and most items ship via UPS/USPS. Those modules are installed and working correctly.

We also carry several large items that require a freight carrier for delivery - so UPS/USPS are not possible. The freight carrier charges a fixed rate for the various items. For example, one table costs $139 to ship while another costs $179.

Currently, I have the free shipping module on and these special items are set for free shipping. I am using attributes for the shipping costs. This seems to work and does not mess up the shipping calculation for UPS/USPS with a combined cart.

Is there a better way of doing this instead of using attributes?

[Ajeh]

That is the quickest way to do it ...

You could custom code the shipping modules to check for the specific products with the extra charges ...

But first, what "should" happen if I have a mixed cart?

What "should" happen if I have just these extra charge Products?

Do you want UPS and USPS to add on the $139/$179 to that charge and show with each shipping method?

Do you currently offer any of your products as Free Shipping using the Always Free Shipping that are NOT these products with the $139/$179 shipping charge?

[Tim M]

We do not have any products that would have free shipping so using the free shipping trick does not cause any problems for us.

If the cart only has a special shippment product, the UPS/USPS options are not shown. I've edited some of the code to show that the freight is included in the price of the cart and does not say free shipping.

On a mixed cart, the UPS/USPS costs do not include the items that have the LTL freight. It correctly calculates shipping on just the products that would go out UPS/USPS.

Like I said, it seems to be working. I was just not sure if this was the "best" way to do it.

[Ajeh]

Let me rephrase my question ...

"In an ideal world where all things worked smoothly" ... would you like the customer to see something like:

A Product Charge of $199.00 ($139 being shipping)
Then in shipping see:
United Parcel Service (Next Day Air) $23.68

Or, would you prefer to see:

A Product Charge of $60.00
Then in shipping see:
United Parcel Service (Next Day Air) $162.68

There are a lot of ways to manage this issue ... what is the "idea" method if you could have it any way "you" want it that you think would appeal best to "your" customers?

[Tim M]

In an ideal world...

I would like the product to show $60.

For the shipping, I would like to see:

LTL Freight $139.00
UPS $ 23.68
Total Shipping: $162.68

I think Ceon's Adv'd Shipping mod might do this, but I'm not going to purchase a mod that I do not know will solve the issue any better than what I'm doing now.

Thanks for the feedback Linda.

Tim

Let me rephrase my question ...

"In an ideal world where all things worked smoothly" ... would you like the customer to see something like:

A Product Charge of $199.00 ($139 being shipping)
Then in shipping see:
United Parcel Service (Next Day Air) $23.68

Or, would you prefer to see:

A Product Charge of $60.00
Then in shipping see:
United Parcel Service (Next Day Air) $162.68

There are a lot of ways to manage this issue ... what is the "idea" method if you could have it any way "you" want it that you think would appeal best to "your" customers?

[Ajeh]

You would be looking at custom coding regardless ...

One thought would be that you could build an Order Totals module to add the shipping for Products that use the Freight shipping ... the Always Free Shipping flag you are using can help here, but you will need something else to determin $139 or $179 per Product that is Freight shipping ...

I have not used Ceon's Adv'd Shipping mod so you'd have to contact him to see if that can do anything that you are attempting here ...