ozpost shipping module

[RodG]

I was wondering if there is a way to offer large letters only. Basically to remove small letters as an option.

Sorry, no. There is no option or method to do this.

I have small thin LCD screens as a product and even though they could fit in a small letter, I don't want them packaged in a small letter as I'm afraid they will get damaged in transit. If I were to offer large letters only it would give me room to add some protective packaging,

What I would suggest is that you modify one of the dimensions (width or length) so that they *appear* a little too large for a small letter.
IOW, make the length 241mm OR the width 131mm and that'll force them into one of the 3 large letter sizes instead.

Cheers
Rod

[robbie269]

Hi Rod

Could you please explain the "Use Core Weight" and "Restrain Dimensions" options to me.

The reason I want to know is that I post these crystal cubes that are quite heavy for their size. The postage works out OK until someone orders more that 17 of them and then it reverts to customer pickup only. To fix this recently I chose "yes" to the core weight and restrain dimension options. This seemed OK and put the postage across multiple parcels as I hoped.

However, when someone ordered a bracelet that should only be a letter it made it a parcel and tried to charge $16.00!

I have since reverted back to choosing "no" to both options as the majority of the time it calculated correctly.

What is the solution for the cubes when ordered in bulk?

[somedood]

Is anyone else having problems with this module right now? It appears to have gone down from our side.

[Mike_Dean]

Is anyone else having problems with this module right now? It appears to have gone down from our side.

Its working here, and were on V2.08 (if that helps)

[RodG]

Could you please explain the "Use Core Weight" and "Restrain Dimensions" options to me.

I can try :-)

Under 'normal conditions', the zencart core code calculates the number of parcels needed, and their weights, based on the settings in the shipping/packing configuration. It then makes this information avalaible to the shipping module(s). This isn't/wasn't really suitable for my needs, where the total weight and volume was more important than this simple parcel splitting, so up until recently, the ozpost ignored the zencart supplied values and calculated its own (the main difference being with the tare weights, which many found troublesome anyway).

The "Use Core Weight" setting is giving back the abilty to use the zencart supplied values, which also includes the creation of multiple parcels based on weight. The ozpost method assumes a single parcel only, regardless of weight.

The "Restrain Dimensions" option will limit the dimensions of any given parcel being quoted so that it will never fail a quote due to its size alone, for example, the max length item that australia post will accept is 105cm - so if the ozpost module calculates the parcel as being (say) 120cm long (which would normally fail to produce a quote), it will instead provide a quote for an item only 105cm long ... IOW, it'll be quoted based on weight alone.

This is very useful if you know that your products aren't subject to the cubing rules.

The reason I want to know is that I post these crystal cubes that are quite heavy for their size. The postage works out OK until someone orders more that 17 of them and then it reverts to customer pickup only.

This will almost certainly be a result of 'apparent oversize' due to the cubes being stacked into a single column, and yes, setting the 'restrain dimensions' will alleviate this problem for you. This is exactly the situation that this option was created to for).

To fix this recently I chose "yes" to the core weight and restrain dimension options. This seemed OK and put the postage across multiple parcels as I hoped.

However, when someone ordered a bracelet that should only be a letter it made it a parcel and tried to charge $16.00!

I can only guess that like most other Australian merchants, you haven't set/configured the *zencart* tare weights yet, and by default, this is set to a value of '3' (whether this is 3kg or 3gms is dependent on the 'Kgs/gms' setting in the ozpost module). Just to confuse matters, it'll probably appear as '3lbs' in some places (unless you've modified your language files).

Anyway, my guess is that this is why the bracelet appeared so heavy.

Another possible, but related reason could be that this is also where the 'max weight' settings are, if this is set at something like '20', and you have ozpost using 'gms', and the bracelet is weighted at 100gms, then the quote will be for 5, probably 6 parcels, each weighing a little under your 20gm maximum.

I have since reverted back to choosing "no" to both options as the majority of the time it calculated correctly.
What is the solution for the cubes when ordered in bulk?

Ideally, if you are doing a lot of bulk sales, then the best method by far is to 'prepackage' the items and use the weights/dimensions for the bulk 'product' as this will give you the greatest accuracy and allow more products into any given cart.

However, if you aren't quite ready for bulk sales, and considering what you are selling, I would suggest that setting the 'restrain dimensions' to 'yes' and the 'use core weights' to 'no' will produce accurate results for all situations... the only time you'll come unstuck is if you do actually sell enough stones/jewelry in a single order that it'll be too large for most carriers to handle, but in that case, I suspect postage costs won't be an issue anyway :-)

Cheers
Rod

[anthonyscott]

Is anyone else having problems with this module right now? It appears to have gone down from our side.

Hi
I am experiencing problems with the ozpost module that started yesterday some time. When in the checkout dialog the shipping page does not load and instead just displays a blank page. I've disabled ozpost and instead am using with flat rate postage and the shipping page now loads. I am using ozpost.php,v 1.0.2 and have been using this for 12 months without this problem. The site is hosted on bluehost. Does anyone have any ideas.

Anthony

[robbie269]

Hi Rod

Yes, setting the Restrain Dimensions to yes has helped. Plus I adjusted the tare weight bits in shipping/packaging to 10:0. (10%). I have set the maximum package weight I will ship to 20kgs, is this correct?
It still gets to about 35 of the cubes (it only got to 17 before) and then gives me no postage calculation. I can live with this. If anyone orders that many in bulk they probably deserve free shipping! And bracelets etc seem to be calculating OK.

Thanks

Robyn

[RodG]

I adjusted the tare weight bits in shipping/packaging to 10:0. (10%). I have set the maximum package weight I will ship to 20kgs, is this correct?

It isn't *incorrect* - but keep in mind that these settings are only used if the 'use core weight' setting is 'yes'. If this is set to 'no' then these settings are ignored.

It still gets to about 35 of the cubes (it only got to 17 before) and then gives me no postage calculation.

If you enable the 'debug' option when testing/experimenting you'll probably be able to identfy why 35 is the new limit. If it is weight related, then using the settings that you have specified above, with the 'use core weights' set to 'on' will probably overcome this barrier. Keep in mind that with this configuration; if you have an item in the cart weighing 22kgs, the software will assume you can cut it in half and quote for 2x11kg parcels.

Cheers
Rod

[jettrue]

I understand not everything can be free, but I do not agree with the way this move to fee service was done.

To just make the service "not work" anymore, causing the site to display a blank page, is in very poor form.

This happened to a customer's site, I will tell her why it has happened, and if she chooses to pay, that is her prerogative, but I do not like the idea of supporting these kinds of practices.

Perhaps it's because of zen cart's limitations, but this "Fee service" is not even explained in the download page here on zen cart!

I can understand if a newer and better fee based service was developed, and then support for the older free one was discontinued, but to just cut people off with no explanation really sucks. I don't think I've seen anything like it before.

I think it's ironic that your site tagline is "You never know what you will find". In light of these changes, that really becomes quite a negative statement. Great, what will happen next?

[RodG]

but I do not agree with the way this move to fee service was done.
<snip>
I don't think I've seen anything like it before.

Sorry, I don't appear to have any records of your email address, and didn't know that either you, or your customer were even using an obsolete version of the module. If I had this knowledge I would have personally sent you emails detailing the changes.

I had also assumed that a merchant and/or developer would be checking in and/or subscribed to the support forums for the module(s) being used on a regular basis (at least monthly) to stay on top of security issues, etc.

I now know this assumption is wrong, but unless you and/or your client keeps up with things, the failure of a shipping module sooner or later is going to be the least of your concerns.

Cheers
Rod