ozpost shipping module

RodG:

What about the Banking modules? Also Free, but you do need a suitable bank account to make use of them - All(?) banks have charges.

The ozpost shipping module is no different... it is Free, but you now need to subscribe to the service in order to use it.

Cheers
Rod

I'm not against paying fees, or a user pays scheme, but I think the argument that PayPal et all charge a fee, and comparing Ozpost to those is a bit left field.

What Ozpost does is offer Australia Post rates real time, but I can log into Australia Posts web site and get quotes real time too, and they don't charge me a fee for accessing their web site, same with FastTrack and TNT (though I need a TNT account, which does not cost to set up)

So I can see peoples disdain for potentially being charged a fee for a service, which in fact is actually free to all and sundry, and as you have stated multiple times, we are not going to be paying for the module, we are going to be paying for the privilege of accessing the server and getting real time quotes)

I think if the fees were charged as a service fee, eg paying for assistance, people might view that as a more acceptable way of requiring a user pays. Eg a $50 one off fee entitles the user of the Mod to receive email support from you, thus you are then remunerated for your time. So if you are comfortable going it your own, then so be it, else you pay for support, just like some people pay others already for maintaining their stores and solving issues.

As some have said their usage of OzPost is not that great so it seems a one flat fee (unless negotiated between Rod and the shop owner) regardless of how much "server time" of OzPost you actually utilize is not that fair and equitable.

Totally agree with ttfan and mike_dean.

For a great module, I would pay a voluntary donation, or a reasonable once-off flat fee, or exercise the option to subscribe to a paid support program. However deliberately breaking people's existing solutions if they don't pay is unconscionable.

Asking for remuneration for current and future work is reasonable and fair, but taking back old code that was freely given and now relied upon by clients is a power play that is not in the spirit of open source development.

A reasonable approach is to offer existing users the option to continue running their legacy code with no upgrades or support, which is a popular strategy in the commercial software space. It would reduce your support workload to only paying clients while honouring the hard work and deliverables you have so successfully and generously contributed to the zencart project in the past.

I do hope you reconsider.

Good luck to you
Reuben

Hi Rod

I am getting the following session errors coming into my cache. Only when I use the shipping estimator.

[26-Jul-2010 03:12:07] PHP Warning: session_start() [<a href='function.session-start'>function.session-start</a>]: Node no longer exists in /home/ani48156/public_html/store/includes/functions/sessions.php on line 110

[26-Jul-2010 03:12:16] PHP Warning: session_start() [<a href='function.session-start'>function.session-start</a>]: Node no longer exists in /home/ani48156/public_html/store/includes/functions/sessions.php on line 110
[26-Jul-2010 03:12:16] PHP Warning: session_write_close() [<a href='function.session-write-close'>function.session-write-close</a>]: Node no longer exists in /home/ani48156/public_html/store/includes/functions/functions_general.php on line 46

[26-Jul-2010 03:12:16] PHP Warning: session_start() [<a href='function.session-start'>function.session-start</a>]: Node no longer exists in /home/ani48156/public_html/store/includes/functions/sessions.php on line 110
[26-Jul-2010 03:12:16] PHP Warning: session_write_close() [<a href='function.session-write-close'>function.session-write-close</a>]: Node no longer exists in /home/ani48156/public_html/store/includes/application_bottom.php on line 16

I am using the latest versions of Zencart and Ozpost. PHP version is 5.2.11. My template is based on Cherry_zen.

Any ideas?

Robyn
thehorsestall.com.au

reuben:

Totally agree with ttfan and mike_dean.

For a great module, I would pay a voluntary donation, or a reasonable once-off flat ... deliberately breaking people's existing solutions if they don't pay is unconscionable.

I do hope you reconsider.

Couldn't agree more. At this stage, my fledgling stores (2) can't afford the renewable fees. It will be a great shame to lose access to this brilliant contribution.

Regards,
Bryson.

robbie269:

I am using the latest versions of Zencart and Ozpost. PHP version is 5.2.11. My template is based on Cherry_zen.

Any ideas?

Robyn
thehorsestall.com.au

The latest version of ozpost is 2.0.8 Is that what you are using?
When did this issue first appear?

Cheers
Rod

Hi Ron

Yes I am using 2.0.8. It started when I updated to version 2.0.7. However the problem is I changed the template to Cherry_zen about the same time??

Rob

Mike_Dean:

I'm not against paying fees, or a user pays scheme, but I think the argument that PayPal et all charge a fee, and comparing Ozpost to those is a bit left field.

I am offering a service. I am not forcing anyone to use it.

Mike_Dean:

What Ozpost does is offer Australia Post rates real time, but I can log into Australia Posts web site and get quotes real time too,

Yes you can.

Mike_Dean:

and they don't charge me a fee for accessing their web site, same with FastTrack and TNT (though I need a TNT account, which does not cost to set up)

AP, FastWay and TNT make their $$$ out of offering a delivery service. Thier quotation servers are a 'freeby extra' and those costs are absorbed by the delivery charges.

ozpost doesn't offer a delivery service, so it cannot recouperate any costs in the same manner.

Mike_Dean:

So I can see peoples disdain for potentially being charged a fee for a service, which in fact is actually free to all and sundry,

The information provided may very well come from free sources, and no one is stopping you, or anyone else from accessing those servers, but do those free severs provide the same information in the same way that is actually useful to you? If so, then use them, with my blessing.

Have you ever heard of "IceTV"? No? Look them up. The basis of thier operations is to provide TV program listings that are freely available from all of the different networks... like the ozpost module it also offers a little more than this, but ultimately they are charging for freely available information, and are quite successful at it. If you take a look around you the internet is actually 'littered' with sites that charge for information that is freely available.

Mike_Dean:

and as you have stated multiple times, we are not going to be paying for the module, we are going to be paying for the privilege of accessing the server and getting real time quotes)

Hmm, that is real time quotes, from multiple carriers, with the results being nicely ordered and categorised according to weight, size and destination.

Australia posts' own servers don't provide this. Their server expects you to decide whether you are posting a letter or a parcel, it expects you to decide whether to quote for local or overseas, it requires you to determine whether a satchel is suitable or not, and if so, what sized satchel. In short, the servers are designed for totally different purposes.

The Australia Post server has been designed to provide a single quote based on a specific method.
.
The ozpost server has been designed specifically for use with ecommerce stores and will produce a range quotes and methods that are valid for any given shopping cart.

If the implication is that the ozpost server is nothing more than a 'relay agent' to the Australia Post server and that I'm trying to 'cash in' on their data then you clearly have little or no concept about the code behind the server.

Mike_Dean:

I think if the fees were charged as a service fee, eg paying for assistance,

Using your arguement, why would people want to pay for assistance when they get it here for free?

Mike_Dean:

people might view that as a more acceptable way of requiring a user pays.

Some might, others will do nothing but critisize and complain that "it isn't in the spirit of open source" anyway.

Mike_Dean:

Eg a $50 one off fee entitles the user of the Mod to receive email support from you, thus you are then remunerated for your time.

They get free email support from me already - Have done for the last 3 years. Less than a handful of people have ever even done as much as buy me a coffeee.

.... and then there are the insults and name calling that I am often subjected to because I can't/don't always give the answers that people want.

Mike_Dean:

So if you are comfortable going it your own, then so be it, else you pay for support, just like some people pay others already for maintaining their stores and solving issues.

The fee I charge is access to the server, a server that I need to maintain and solve any issues with. How is this any different than charging to maintain someone elses server (store)?

Are you trying to say that I don't also have a right to charge people to maintain the ozpost servers that they are using?

That increase in postage rates a few weeks ago, did that data 'magically' appear in the database? No, silly me had to manually input the data (That's ok, I had nothing else planned for that weekend anyway).

Mike_Dean:

As some have said their usage of OzPost is not that great so

So, are you proposing a 'pay per quote' would be a better system? That way, busy stores will be paying a lot, the not so busy stores paying very little?
This was considered, but the small discussion group unaniously agreed that a monthly fee would be more practical.

Mike_Dean:

it seems a one flat fee (unless negotiated between Rod and the shop owner) regardless of how much "server time" of OzPost you actually utilize is not that fair and equitable.

Some people use the ICEtv guide a LOT less than I would. I still have to pay the same fee.

Mike, what you (and others) need to realise is that, like it or not, it takes me a lot of time and effort to maintain the code and user support of this module. I have managed to do this for the last three years because I've not been obligated to "work"... Instead, I have been a fulltime student (which is about a half time workload). Needless to say, 4 years study with no work has eaten most of any savings I had, so, sometime in the next few months I'm going to have to:

A) Get a fulltime job - Which means NO MORE SUPPORT. NO MORE DEVELOPMENT and NO MORE MAINTENANCE. Ozpost, will literally 'die'. - End of discussion.

B) Get a part time job, and prop up the difference with ozpost subscriptions. To do this, and make it worthwhile (and acceptable to centerlink, who would prefer I worked fulltime, or lose all benefits) I need to produce the equivlilent of 15hrs paid work per week. To achieve this I need a 'conversion rate' of around 10% (I'm actually counting on only 2%, but I'm HOPING for more ), and if I can't achieve this target I'll be back to option "A" again. However, in this instance, I should still be able to find time to continue to support the few that have supported me.

In summary, the next few months are going to be critical in regards to whether there will even be an 'ozpost' shipping module at all by the end of the year. "Early supporters" will get continued support (or full a refund), but the project itself will be dropped as a lost cause ... I'll move on to other projects instead.

Cheers
Rod

Hi Rod again

I have found out what caused the session errors in the cache. I had deleted the: ." Dims: ".$_SESSION['slength']."x".$_SESSION['swidth']."x".$_SESSION['sheight']." Boxes: ".$_SESSION['boxes']out of the tpl_modules_shipping_estimator.php. I did not want the dimensions and boxes to be displayed when it estimates the Postage. I have put it back how it was now but still want to get rid of them somehow. Is there a neater way of removing the dimensions and boxes?

Rob

ttfan:

So you have the AU users of Zencart at your mercy...

I wish.

ttfan:

changing over to other cart-software is a major project for anyone, so they're pretty forced to start paying for your service...

Changing over cart software isn't the solution. Other carts do not and will not have the same functionally that 'ozpost' provides in regards to shipping options.

ttfan:

One of the main attractions to Zencart for me was the fact that it was OS and free.

So what has changed? Zencart is still OS and free. (I don't follow what you are getting at).

ttfan:

So I must admit I'm surprised to find that a module that is so integral and essential to the software (for AU users) is in fact not free.

The ozpost module is just another addon. It is no more integral or essential for zencart AU users than any other module.

I don't have anyone at my 'mercy' - In fact I consider it to be the exact opposite - It is the users of the ozpost module that has ME at THEIR mercy.

I'd like to continue to support and improve on the module, but I have other needs and responsibilties that will be competing for my time and attention. If I don't/can't get enough support to make this viable project, then the project will need to be dropped .. So, I am at YOUR mercy (collectively).

You can choose whether you wish to use the module or not. I have no choice in regards to how future development will go, it is entirely in your hands.

Rod

No it is still doing it. Stopped for a while though.

reuben:

For a great module, I would pay a voluntary donation,

Yeah, that's what they all say...

In four years I've had four donations. Where was yours?

reuben:

or a reasonable once-off flat fee,

A flat fee was a consideration, but I am looking/hoping for long term viabilty for everyone concerned. A once of fee doesn't work when it comes to software - That's why there are upgrade fees for almost all software made available in this manner.

Then there is the question of what is 'reasonable'. Many people think that paying Microsoft a few hundred$$$ every few years for a new version of Windows as being 'reasonable' (personally I prefer the free Linux O/S's).

Other people would think nothing of paying over $1000 for the latest version of PhotoShop (or $500 for an upgrade) - Whoever priced that thought it was 'reasonable'. (I prefer to use The Gimp).

reuben:

However deliberately breaking people's existing solutions if they don't pay is unconscionable.

For the last few weeks we have been receving a free copy of the daily newspaper. With the last issue recieved was a card that stated that if we wanted to continue to recieve them we would have to PAY.
Unconscionable!

reuben:

Asking for remuneration for current and future work is reasonable and fair, but taking back old code that was freely given and now relied upon by clients is a power play that is not in the spirit of open source development.

Call me Scrooge.

reuben:

A reasonable approach is to offer existing users the option to continue running their legacy code with no upgrades or support, which is a popular strategy in the commercial software space. It would reduce your support workload to only paying clients while honouring the hard work and deliverables you have so successfully and generously contributed to the zencart project in the past.

Another reasonable approach is to state that I simply cannot continue support under the existing conditions. I either get the support I need or the project will fade into oblivion.

reuben:

I do hope you reconsider.

There is nothing for me to reconsider.... it is 'crunch' time. (or close to it).

I cannot continue the project without TIME, and come October I will effectively lose whatever 'free' time I have available, unless of course I can make the module produce enough of an ongoing income so that it becomes 'paid' time.

So, where are you going to stand in this regard now? Are you going to be like the (expected) 98% of users that will be saying "So long, and thanks for all the fish", or do you plan to make a "voluntary donation" to help keep the service running a little while longer? (For each $5 or $10 you donate I will add an extra month to your server access). :-)

Cheers
Rod

robbie269:

Hi Rod again

Hi, sotty about the delay in getting back to you.

robbie269:

I have found out what caused the session errors in the cache. I had deleted the: ." Dims: ".$_SESSION['slength']."x".$_SESSION['swidth']."x".$_SESSION['sheight']." Boxes: ".$_SESSION['boxes']out of the tpl_modules_shipping_estimator.php.

That shouldn't cause the errors that you were getting.

robbie269:

I did not want the dimensions and boxes to be displayed when it estimates the Postage. I have put it back how it was now but still want to get rid of them somehow. Is there a neater way of removing the dimensions and boxes?

Rob

Just deleing the code as you had done should be ok, but the 'neater' way of doing it is via the same setting/option that allows the product weight to be displayed/not displayed.

There is however more to the error that you were getting, and it was something I was sure I'd fixed in V2.0.8 (I guess I need to take another look).

Anyway, the problem that produces the "Node no longer exists" error is (was) caused by a bit of unused/experimental code that was accidently left in the 2.0.6 and 2.0.7 releases. It only seems to affect some versions of PHP, and it is related to the XML data - or specifically, my attempt to store/retrieve XML data as a SESSION variable.

The 'cure' is to remove the two lines of code relating to this. One line is located in the main ozpost.php file, and the other is located in the tpl_modules_shipping_estimator.php file.

Look for code that reads

$_SESSION[ozpostXML] = $xmlQuotes (ozpost.php)

and

$xmlQuotes = $_SESSION[ozpostXML] (tpl_modules_shipping_estimator.php file).

Just delete these lines.

Cheers
Rod

It's an interesting discussion. I don't think that this - what amounts to a subscription - fee is all that expensive (approx. the same cost as IceTV or less over 36 months), but of course it adds to the shipping cost overhead. For some it might not be ultimately worthwhile if sales are very low per month, but there are non zencart alternatives where the shipping costs can be manually added. I did this for years. I'm thinking low sale merchants could also work out some kind of range of shipping item buttons or something if they can't live with the static post charges.

But has anyone else noticed that sales have slipped since the latest round of Australia Post increases hit?

It's getting to the point where customers look at the cost price of the item and see the shipping cost ever creeping towards it (I haven't had the courage to increase the purchase price in ten years), and I guess it depends on the kind of customer you attract, but mine have little money (students). So in my case they just fileshare instead of buying the books...but that's another story.

What I am getting at is trying to keep the shipping costs artificially down in order to maintain/increase sales.

But the ozpost shipping costs are naturally exactly what the shippers charge.

I am thinking that it might be better for me to absorb some of the increases.

So I wonder in the distant future if Rod could consider a way to tinker percentage-wise with the shipping estimates displayed (yeah, I know I could give discount coupons, but that's messy).

Something like, a choice of percentage to apply between the estimate given by the source and the amount displayed, and shown to the nearest 50c.

I am sure Rod you have enough on your plate at the moment, but somewhere down the track?

Incidentally, those Fastway Courier charges always look a bit on the low side to me (obviously, that's not an issue with me), so I'm wondering exactly where they come from.

ttfan:

I have no problem being charged for software, especially since it seems quite comprehensive, but since I only use a few of the options, $9.95pm seems a little steep for a low volume shop.

At $3 per cup coffee or similar beverage it seems to me that you could easily cover the cost of supporting your websites shipping costs by drinking one less cup per week!

Truly, your argument that an additional expense of less than $10 pm is a serious impediment to your website's viability, is laughable. And if it does threaten your business why are you bothering anyway?

Frankly, the free ride is coming to an end - and everything on the internet will eventually be monetised. That goes for the products and services that many of us have been taking for granted as a god given right - so called open source software and services, like zen-cart and Rod's goodly product.

Why is it so? Because in spite of making it easier than ever for people to donate for a service, not enough are doing so. Simple as that. A guy like Rod ( and I know a few) simply have to earn enough from their efforts to make it worthwhile, yet it seems to me that the people who are bleating about having to pay for this effort aren't calculating the true value of the service to their business compared to the effort that goes into creating and maintaining it.

So now even a reasonable cost is attracting whingers. Bad luck. Write your own code. Discover how hard it is, even without dealing with complaints about its missing features or performance.

For me I'd rather Rod did the heavy lifting for me, so I happily paid up - and drink a little less coffee (briefly).

tpeck:

So I wonder in the distant future if Rod could consider a way to tinker percentage-wise with the shipping estimates displayed

Instead of the fixed price 'handling fees' ? Or in addition to?

tpeck:

I am sure Rod you have enough on your plate at the moment, but somewhere down the track?

I can't see why not.

tpeck:

Incidentally, those Fastway Courier charges always look a bit on the low side to me (obviously, that's not an issue with me), so I'm wondering exactly where they come from.

http://www.fastway.com.au/1PriceServiceCalc.html

Cheers
Rod

For the reasons I gave earlier, I don't charge handling fees...

Instead of the fixed price 'handling fees' ? Or in addition to?

...in addition to. A way to automatically - and in ratio - tweak the displayed shipping charges to suit whatever cost a shopowner is willing to absorb (or add-on - 110%? - if that was his commercial decision).

Back to the paid multi-quote ozpost discussion, another plus is that it gives customers other shipping options, some of which are lower than Austpost. Can't be bad for a max of - what? - $2.50 a week! I think lucidlee makes some very good points.

tpeck:

For the reasons I gave earlier, I don't charge handling fees...

Why not charge packaging fees instead? :D

Seriously, depending on what you are selling, and how you package, this can have a serious impact on your bottom line.
$0.80-$1.00 for a padded bag may not seem like much (to you or your customers), but if you do 100 sales per month that's almost $25 per week you've had to somewhat needlessly absorb.

Handling fees have always been a contentious issue, for both merchants and customers.. Most customers don't mind paying a small handling fee, and from the merchants point of view, if it took you just 60 seconds to pack and post an item - That's over 1.5hours over the course of a month (assuming 100 sales). In reality, expect 3-5mins per item... Hmm, up to 10hours per month just to pack. Nothing to be sneezed at.

tpeck:

...in addition to. A way to automatically - and in ratio - tweak the displayed shipping charges to suit whatever cost a shopowner is willing to absorb (or add-on - 110%? - if that was his commercial decision).

Sorry, but you've kinda lost me. Can you give an example of you you think this should work? (I was thinking, take the actual shipping cost, add a percentage, then round to nearest 50c).

If I read you correctly, there could be a scenario whereby a merchant could "add on" -110% thus making a $10 shipping quote into a "Free shipping plus $1.00 discount. Please clarify.

Cheers
Rod

Of course, I understand the costs of handling, packaging are real.

But with shipping costs approaching 25% of the total cost in some cases, I am toying with the idea of absorbing some of the shipping cost. A sale is a sale.

Ozpost, however, displays - as it should - the total shipper's charges.

So, for the sake of demonstration, if the actual shipping cost was, say, $10.00, I would like to have a field option of Shipping cost percentage discount. I enter "90%" and the shipping estimator displays: $9.00.

Somewhere I tell customers "Now with 10% shipping discount!".

If I entered "110%" I wouldn't be running that ad, of course!

Maybe it's a dumb idea, but what do others think?

tpeck:

But with shipping costs approaching 25% of the total cost in some cases, I am toying with the idea of absorbing some of the shipping cost. A sale is a sale.

You really are treading 'dangerous' grounds here.. I know that a sale is a sale, but there really does come a time where the sale isn't worth the time or effort it costs to make.

I am well aware of what you are saying about the shipping costs... if you look in our store you'll find a number of items that we sell for a mere $1.00, but the shipping on them is between $5-$10. If we tried to absorb the shipping costs on these we would end up having to pay people to take them off of our hands. Clearly you are not quite in this position yet, but it is something to keep in mind.

tpeck:

Ozpost, however, displays - as it should - the total shipper's charges.
So, for the sake of demonstration, if the actual shipping cost was, say, $10.00, I would like to have a field option of Shipping cost percentage discount. I enter "90%" and the shipping estimator displays: $9.00.

So the final equation will be:

(actual_shipping_cost + P&H) - x% ?
or
(actual_shipping_cost - x%) + P&H

Yes, I know you don't charge P&H, but if I implemented this I still need to add it to the equation, even if the value is zero.

tpeck:

Somewhere I tell customers "Now with 10% shipping discount!".

As "Joe Customer" I would read this as being "10% off of your normal shipping rates, which the cynic in me would assume that you already added AT LEAST 10% to the ACTUAL shipping rates.

I know that this isn't your plan or intention, but if people don't know the 'actual' cost, then any discount is pretty meaninless.

I consider this a bit like a store that advertises products "at 50% off" - Yeah, right, what they REALLY mean is that the 'normal' prices are usually double that of the competition - That, or we are simply being screwed by the 'normal' prices anyway.

tpeck:

If I entered "110%" I wouldn't be running that ad, of course!

No, but I suspect you MAY be tempted to offer 'Free Shipping' in order to attract a sale - Not that there is anything wrong with that, BUT, doing so will also give your customers a false impression about the actual value of your products - If you can afford to cover the shipping (or even a part of the shipping), then surely you must be making at least that much profit on the item itself. (Of course, the reality is that you are barely breaking even) but your customers won't know (or care) about that.

tpeck:

Maybe it's a dumb idea

Until just now I didn't think it was such a dumb idea (it will be relatively easy and painless to implement, which is why I've been pushing you for more specific details)... However, now that I've done my 'devils advocate' by looking at it from a customers perspective I don't really see how it could possibly be good for a merchant.

If you STILL think it is a good idea I'll certainly respect your opinion, and yes, at some stage I could add such a function for you (or at least provide you with the line or two of code that it will take to implement)

tpeck:

but what do others think?

Good question.... If anyone else is interested in this please speak up now.. if enough people are interested I'll implement it in the core code, otherwise, as I said, I'll just probably create/release a piece of code that can be pasted in for those that need it. (The idea being that if it isn't in demand then it could be detrimental to add it as another configuration setting/option.

Cheers
Rod

RodG:

Have you ever heard of "IceTV"?

Cheers
Rod

I'm fully aware of what IceTV is, and also fully aware that there are other free services that offer the very same information that IceTV indeed charges you for.

RodG:

If the implication is that the ozpost server is nothing more than a 'relay agent' to the Australia Post server and that I'm trying to 'cash in' on their data then you clearly have little or no concept about the code behind the server.

Not sure where I have ever given any impression that I understood it merely as a relay agent or gateway to external information..

I know too well what you have done in order to provide this service, as you would know too well the assistance you have provided me, AND my constant show of appreciation. No, not in the monetary sense, but have you ever suggested it in your signature ?

As I also CLEARLY stated in my last response, I have no objection to paying a fee of sorts, I was merely expressing what I'm sure a lot of others have muttered to their keyboards and not bothered to press the keys.!

RodG:

.... and then there are the insults and name calling that I am often subjected to because I can't/don't always give the answers that people want.

Lets call a spade a spade here Rod, your pretty good at handing out the insults tooo.. some I have felt were totally justified, but others.. well..

RodG:

Are you trying to say that I don't also have a right to charge people to maintain the ozpost servers that they are using?

Your trying to read too much between the lines of what I and or others are saying... I for one would not for a minute have drawn a parallel to your support of the servers..

RodG:

That increase in postage rates a few weeks ago, did that data 'magically' appear in the database? No, silly me had to manually input the data (That's ok, I had nothing else planned for that weekend anyway).

That's the price you/we pay for providing a service.

And as a suggestion, it is these 'behind the scenes' services that are provided that need to be highlighted when setting the rates.
People want to know exactly what they are getting for their money. People don't part with money on my store unless they know exactly what they are getting, and I, like a lot of people are the same.

RodG:

Mike, what you (and others) need to realise is that, like it or not, it takes me a lot of time and effort to maintain the code and user support of this module. I have managed to do this for the last three years because I've not been obligated to "work"... Instead, I have been a fulltime student (which is about a half time workload). Needless to say, 4 years study with no work has eaten most of any savings I had, so, sometime in the next few months I'm going to have to:

A) Get a fulltime job - Which means NO MORE SUPPORT. NO MORE DEVELOPMENT and NO MORE MAINTENANCE. Ozpost, will literally 'die'. - End of discussion.

B) Get a part time job, and prop up the difference with ozpost subscriptions. To do this, and make it worthwhile (and acceptable to centerlink, who would prefer I worked fulltime, or lose all benefits) I need to produce the equivlilent of 15hrs paid work per week. To achieve this I need a 'conversion rate' of around 10% (I'm actually counting on only 2%, but I'm HOPING for more ), and if I can't achieve this target I'll be back to option "A" again. However, in this instance, I should still be able to find time to continue to support the few that have supported me.

In summary, the next few months are going to be critical in regards to whether there will even be an 'ozpost' shipping module at all by the end of the year. "Early supporters" will get continued support (or full a refund), but the project itself will be dropped as a lost cause ... I'll move on to other projects instead.

Cheers
Rod

Rod, I (and perhaps others) fully appreciate your position and do not for a minute take it for granted as my god given right to have this service for free. The fact that it has been until now is neither here nor there.

Again I will state that I have not objection to a fee of sorts, or your need to impose one.

But you also need to realize that some of us are in the exact same position as you in regards to financial situations.

I would love my store to be my source of income, to be able to sit back and watch the orders roll in, but alas, despite a lot of effort and long long nights, its not the case, and I have a Full time day job in order to provide for my family.

So yes, any additional fee, regardless of the amount, is going to cause those with little turnover to question it, where as those with larger stores or larger turnovers, probably would not blink an eye..

Lastly.. I will ante up.. (It was never an issue) as I need the service, but I do feel better for my at least expression my piece..

Thanks,
Mike