drop shipping module

[shane102]

Hi all,
I've been looking through the forums for a drop shipping module and as many of you are aware there isn't one.there is a purchase orders module but this simply wont do for those of us that drop ship(and I suspect there's alot of us that do)

I've read that the OScommerce cart does and have considered switching to it,but I didn't like any of the sample sites that I seen.(compared to zencart sites)

So I'd like to propose that all who are interested in a proper dropship module pledge to donate some money to the person(s) that create a fully functional module.

For example If I were to pledge $20 to the person(s) who would write the module and the same amount to the zencart project upon completion of it.Then if alot of other people did the same it wouldn't be long before there'd be enough to pay for a proper module to deal with dropshipping. This would help alot alot of us to streamline our business and make zencart one of the best shopping carts around.

Another suggestion is that the zencart team write said module and then charge $20 for the first 1000 downloads and $5 thereafter, this would give people a very important module and create a source of revenue for the zencart project.

There are many ways to do this, point is that zencart NEEDS a drop ship module. And if we act as a group on this we can have one at only a small individual cost.

Regards

shane 102

[fairestcape]

The challenge with drop-shipping is working out how to configure the thing when several drop-shippers are involved.

Say you have a zenshop.

You sell 200 products - all are drop-shipped

100 of these are shipped by drop-shipper "A"
75 of these are shipped by drop-shipper "B"
25 of these are shipped by drop-shipper "C"

A customer orders 3 products

1 from drop-shipper A
1 from drop-shipper B
1 from drop-shipper C

Somehow, the module needs to be able to split up the order according to the dropshipper, work out the relative shipping charges (3 different shippers), send the relative product order to the relative shipper, then sew up everything again so that the order is reflected as ONE item in the shopper's account.

(And probably a few more variables to sort out as well).


If you use just ONE drop shipper, it's a bit easier.

If you use just ONE drop shipper, and ALL your products are distributed by this ONE drop shipper, then the solution is remarkably simple...

... just add their e-mail address to the "Send Order Confirmation to..." e-mail list.

[kuroi]

Somebody must have done this. Given the number of times that I've been approached to do it, I have to assume that other developpers are being approached too, and it would be inconceivable that all the approaches come to nothing. So why isn't there a mod, and why do most of these approaches not result in code that could be used?

Fairestcape is right. These situations can be complicated. The main areas seem to be: how will shipping costs be calculated? who will process the payments? how will sales tax be calculated (i.e. based on the store's or the drop shipper's location). Even if these questions are answered, that often leads to more, and I've yet to receive an approach from somebody who can answer them all for their specific situation, let alone find a generic answers suitable for building into a mod.

Fairestcape is right again about the scope for simplifying these situations. I do have clients who use dropshippers. They just tend not to need special mods to do it. A typical approach would be to calculate shipping as normal, but treat it as a contribution to total shipping costs. If a customer buys several products, you're in the money, but may need to give up some of it in extra shipping expenses.

[shane102]

Hi there,

Fairestcape and Kuroi, you both are repeating things I've read on other threads (no offence intended) and I understand your points.

But a dropship module for zen cart with full functionality is possible.It would probably be bigger and more complicated to write than some of the other modules, maybe include modified versions of other modules in it(thinking shipping), regarding taxes, it could take note of which state/country your business address is and then apply taxes to customers in that state/country

I'm not a programmer, I can't write code, and I understand that as an open source project zencart modules are written by people in their spare time, and free of charge.

What I'm suggesting is that the people that want a dropship module each give a little money and then pay a programmer(s) to write a fully functional module that is suitable for use by all.

Another alternative is that a programmer write the module, and then charge some money to people that want to use it. (I read recently that zencart has had over a million downloads, if half of these downloads are used as websites and ten percent of the people running zencart sites wanted and were willing to pay a little money to get said module then it could be profitable to write.

Yet another alternative is that the zencart team commision a programmer(s), to write the module and then charge the first 10,000 people to download it a small fee, which would then go to pay the module writer(s) for their work.(if you offer enough one would accept such an arrangment, it's often done in business)
After which the download could be made free or remain for sale as a help to finance the running of the zencart project.

It's not my intention to step on anyones toes here but I've seen that people have been requesting the afore mentioned module for a long time, and I dont see why people don't group together and make it happen. It'll help alot of us run our business more smoothly and probably attract alot of people to use zencart.

Regards

shane102

[kuroi]

No offence taken and I hope you won't either.

I've also seen other threads where people talk about banding together to pay a developer to create a drop shipping module. Sometimes they get a developer interested for a while, yet it comes to nothing. There's a reason for that, well two really. There the ones that I touched upon in my post above.

Let me boil them down. Every request that I have ever had to do this has come from somebody who isn't yet using drop shipping, wants to, but can't explain how the mod should work. None of the clients I have who actually are using drop shipping see any need for a special mod to support it.

So the problem isn't how to get a developer to do the work. It's the much more fundamental problem of working out what the work is, and whether the need really exists.

Maybe if you could explain, in detail, the features that you would like to see from a drop ship mod, that would help to move it forward.

[shane102]

For me personally what would be important is the shipping calculations, the reason being that competition is tough with online retailing and not having shipping correctly calculated can kill your competitiveness or result in you making a loss.

the tax issue isn't a problem for me as I'm based in Norway and customers in Norway must order via email(havn't actually had any Norwegian customers)

and purchase orders to my suppliers isn't a problem

for me shipping is the problem

regarding what I've said in the posts above, it'd be very nice to have such a MOD and a fully functional one would attract alot more people if it were necessary to pay for it

[litepockets]

OK, while I am new to ZC, I'm not new to online retail and dropshipping. I have a possible solution for some dropshippers while we anxiously await a mod.

If it is possible to know how much an item will cost to ship, IE. if your vendor charges a flat rate for national shipping, simply include it in the retail price and offer free shipping for that item. I know I know, there will be some of you that say "I can't have a competitive price if I include the shipping charge". Wrong. I have had great success with this method. As online commerce increases at an astonishing rate, so does the shoppers research. Trust me if company A sells an item for $50 and charges $10 for shipping on it and my site charges $59 and free shipping, they're going to go with me. The consumer looks at price + shipping, not just price.

For those items you don't know the shipping price for, use a table pricing method so that while it won't be 100% accurate you set yourself up to "win some and lose some". You'll break close to even in the end, and a good company won't care if they lose a little bit on shipping if they truly care about serving their customers.

[fairestcape]

The topic has been discussed for years... and despite the expressed "need" for a drop-ship module, none yet exists, and the people that have the technical skill to attempt this have not done so, because it is - in effect - a futile thing to attempt.

The reason is simple. It is just NOT POSSIBLE to write a generic module for a feature that is virtually exclusive to an individual user. It will only ever be practical for those who want such a module, to commission a specialist programmer to write one that is SPECIFIC to their unique needs.

Maybe one can express this mathematically... The degree of difficulty is incrementally exponential relative to the number of drop-shippers in the world...

1 drop-shipper = 1squared (1x1 degree of difficulty = 1)
2 drop-shippers = 2cubed (2x2x2 degree of difficulty = 8 times greater than 1)
3 drop-shippers = 3quad (3x3x3x3 degree of difficulty = 81 times greater than 1)

By the time you try to cater for the variables of 20 different drop-shippers, there will be more options to factor in than there are stars in the universe!

[fotofx]

I am actually working on one now for a customer. They only use one drop shipper, so shipping will be calculated from shippers origin. The order has to be uploaded to the drop shipper after payment is confirmed. Email of the order will not be accepted. Does anyone have a "map" of the checkout-payment process. I need to ensure checkout success and then call my module. Trying to figure out where to put it that will allow multiple payment types and only execute on success.

Any thoughts?

Steve

[fairestcape]

I'm sure that neither you, nor your shipper, will want to ship goods until payment has been made (and verified).

So informing your shipper should happen only AFTER you are certain the customer's money is in your bank.

If you use "offline" payment systems (check/moneyorder, cod, zencart c-card module), then there is no point in setting up a module that works "automatically" from checkout_success.

If you exclusively use an online c-card payment gateway then the process is easier, because the payment is taken FROM the customer, paid over to YOUR bank account, BEFORE the checkout_success page is invoked.

The order confirmation e-mail is initiated when checkout_success is called, so if you are using a gateway only, this e-mail is created AFTER money has been deposited into your account.

If you are using offline payment processing, then a catch-all module that works automatically off checkout_success seems pointless.