Free Shipping Behavior

[Luke Galyan]

Thanks. I did not know it would work that way for downloads.

So moving on...... I do plan to offer free shipping on orders over a specified dollar amount. I assume this is where the Free Shipping Options comes in. Correct?

Thanks for taking to the time to make this clear. :)

[frank18]

My question is "why are you using Free Shipping Options freeoptions?" as it really makes no sense to use that unless you need it for something ...

Unless you have a purpose for Free Shipping Options freeoptions ... you should uninstall it and just use USPS and FREE SHIPPER! freeshipper ...

Yep, thanks Ajeh, that was the reason why I did ask for that in first place - makes no sense to use it in the op's case, just confuses the issue.

[frank18]

Thanks. I did not know it would work that way for downloads.

So moving on...... I do plan to offer free shipping on orders over a specified dollar amount. I assume this is where the Free Shipping Options comes in. Correct?

Thanks for taking to the time to make this clear. :)

You would set that in Admin > Modules > Order Total > Shipping

Example:

Order Shipping Cost
This module is installed
true

Sort Order
200

Allow Free Shipping
true

Free Shipping For Orders Over
$150.00

Provide Free Shipping For Orders Made
national

[Luke Galyan]

Thanks I will try it that way. Does seem a bit simpler.

So if the Modules>OrderTotal>Shipping settings can set orders over say 150$ to ship as free,
then what is the Modules>Shipping>Free Shipping Options> Total>= for?

If I set the Modules>OrderTotal>Shipping to ship free for orders over 150$
OR
If I set the Modules>Shipping>Free Shipping Options> Total>= to 150$
What is the difference? They do accomplish the same thing right?

Thanks you for letting me know a simpler way to set up what I need. I also seek an understanding of why I would choose one over the other?

Luke

[Ajeh]

Free Shipping controlled by the Modules ... Order Total ... Shipping ot_shipping uses its own method to control free shipping that is not any of the shipping modules and is based on the Total set in the settings and whether you set in the settings for:
National
International
Both

[Luke Galyan]

Yup I get that. So that covers what the settings you recommend are doing. I can easily set the settings that way and make this happen. And actually have now and it works. Thank you. With that, I can consider this thread now Partially answered.

I would like an understanding of WHY though. I am appreciative of people like you guys who can help others find and execute the correct settings for their store. Huge help! However if I do not understand WHY I am choosing one method over the other it leaves me feeling dependent on the forums each time I want to make a change. If I my store / business situation should change over time it would be nice to understand what the other method of free shipping can do for me. This makes me a little more capable of making the proper decisions later. And seeing it spelled out a bit in this thread may help others searching for the same thing.

Doesn't the Modules>Shipping>Free Shipping Options accomplish exactly the same thing if I set up the Total >= field accordingly?

If the answer is no, what is the difference then?
If the answer is yes, why would I choose one way of doing this over the other?

If the answer is too complicated and can not by explained easily don't worry about trying. I have my settings good to go now thanks to help from you guys. If however it can be broken down as to why I would use one method over the other I would love to hear about it.

Luke

[Ajeh]

If you had USPS and Free Shipping Options freeoptions installed and set the Total >= 150.00 then when the order is >= $150.00 then *both* USPS and Free Shipping Options freeoptions would show ...

If, instead, you use the Modules ... Order Total ... Shipping ot_shipping and set it to enable Free Shipping for 150.00 then *only* the Free Shipping will show and USPS will not show ...

Only, if for some reason, you want both USPS and Free Shipping Options freeoptions to show at the same time, then would you look for that method ...

[Luke Galyan]

Ok so the same is accomplished in the end. So the two reasons I would choose Modules>Shipping> Free Shipping Options would be
(1) if for some reason I want both USPS and Free Shipping to show for the customer. Which I personally can not think of any reason for this to be desired.
(2) if I wanted more options like total weight etc., the Modules>Shipping> Free Shipping Options would allow that.

I hope that I have that right?

With that said if someone were to want to base their free shipping off of say total weight of the order they would use the Free Shipping Options module. By doing that they will have the free option show along side the USPS option for the customer. Maybe some sort of admin option for the store owner could be introduced into future versions? A way to not show other shipping options to the customer if any free shipping options are available. By doing that maybe the concept of free shipping could all be moved to one single place in ZenCart instead of tow different places as it is now? Just a thought and maybe a bad thought since I am not the one with the overall knowledge of this.

Thanks for the help!...... and bearing with me. :)
Luke

[Ajeh]

Usually, the only reason someone uses both USPS and Free Options is if for some reason you wanted to offer Free Shipping on, for example, Orders with a Total >= 150.00 and wanted the customer to choose Free Shipping or have a choices of a different method of shipping via USPS which would cost them a shipping charge ...

Another reason might be you want to offer USPS and a Free Shipping Option when, for example, orders have a Weight <= 2 so that Orders of 2lbs or less offer a Free Shipping to the customer, but, still allows the USPS choices ...

[Luke Galyan]

Thank you.
Off to make a couple quick notes and on to other issues. :)
Luke