USPS domestic flat rate box I see it for international

[raffuj]

I've got this almost licked.

I took usps.php and hacked it up to make a new shipping module that take into account the flat rate box volumes. I also added a product_volume field in the products table and made sure it got added up in the cart. This module only quotes flat rate options. I use it in tandem with the original usps module.

Since I have a shipping volume per product, I can figure out which box it/they can go in and submit the quote accordingly.

It's not ready for prime time. I'll try and find a spare weekend when I can clean it up and post it.

[R1Lover]

I've got this almost licked.

I took usps.php and hacked it up to make a new shipping module that take into account the flat rate box volumes. I also added a product_volume field in the products table and made sure it got added up in the cart. This module only quotes flat rate options. I use it in tandem with the original usps module.

Since I have a shipping volume per product, I can figure out which box it/they can go in and submit the quote accordingly.

It's not ready for prime time. I'll try and find a spare weekend when I can clean it up and post it.

Thanks for the work, that would be awesome.

[raffuj]

It's going to take a little while. I've hacked up my 1.3.7 installation quite a bit and I need to decide how best to rip it out. It's not easy -- ZC's shipping architecture isn't set up to handle this kind of thing.

Some things you might consider in the meantime...

The usps.php module is using the old 'Rate' calculator, not the 'RateV3' that is documented on the usps webtools site. The container strings are different and are not compatible. The return schema has also been changed so if you do modify the rate request and it's accepted by by usps, zen won't properly display what it gets back.

Since yours is a single product deal, you could hard code the product id in the shipping module and duplicate the regular priority request so that it also fetches a flat rate one. All you would really need to do is change the '$request->container' and the $request->service when you see that product in the order.

[swamyg1]

It's going to take a little while. I've hacked up my 1.3.7 installation quite a bit and I need to decide how best to rip it out. It's not easy -- ZC's shipping architecture isn't set up to handle this kind of thing.

Some things you might consider in the meantime...

The usps.php module is using the old 'Rate' calculator, not the 'RateV3' that is documented on the usps webtools site. The container strings are different and are not compatible. The return schema has also been changed so if you do modify the rate request and it's accepted by by usps, zen won't properly display what it gets back.

Since yours is a single product deal, you could hard code the product id in the shipping module and duplicate the regular priority request so that it also fetches a flat rate one. All you would really need to do is change the '$request->container' and the $request->service when you see that product in the order.

This thread is from mid last year, any progress yet? Is there anything you might be able to post that would help us?

[stuffdone]

DId you ever figure this out? I have ONE item in my store that I want to be able to ship Priority Flat Rate Envelope, but doesn't look like its going to be a option.

If you have just the one use an attribute to add the shipping cost. and set the shipping weight to zero.

[stuffdone]

This would be a good add-on that would not require any USPS server because the shipping cost for flat rate is fixed at a known amount.

It would not work with the API because there is currently no way to transmit dimensions to know which box a particular item would fit in and no way to judge when it would not fit in any available flat rate box regardless of weight. Also if you ship over seas the weight limits are much lower.

A work around could be to set up a flat rate attribute and apply it to specific products based on the size box needed. Set shipping weight to zero.

Zen has some specific limitations on shipping calculations that are hard to work around.

I use a drop shipper and I don't ship but I still need to charge for shipping even though I can't control the method the shipper may use. With no means to match physical dimensions to a flat rate box you are stuck with regular postage rates based on weight which in almost all cases will over charge customers for items you send flat rate.

If you add an attribute to account for flat rate there is no way to turn off additional shipping calculations on a per-item bases so it does not calculate for those items.

An ideal add-on or feature for future releases would be to assign individual products to a specific flat rate box and bypass other shipping calculations.

Hint


Also limiting flexibility, a per unit or per item shipping added at check out has no way to adjust for product weight. A 1 pound bag of feathers costs as much to ship as a 80 pound bag of lead.

Zen needs more work on shipping options so specific items can have their own shipping cost that are not affected by automatic calculations. This could be an over-ride to meet specific needs such as flat rate boxes or to apply a per-item rate based on that particular item's weight.