CD vs MP3 - changing postage options

Hi - can anyone help with this?

I have managed to use attributes to set up a choice of either MP3 download or CD format for audios for sale on my site with price differences showing fine for the different versions.
However I want the digital version to be P&P free but the CD to follow normal shipping rules and I can't seem to find a way to do this - can anyone help explain if this is actually possible and if so how?
As the attributes are linked to the same product and shipping rules are set in the main product description I wonder if I might have to set the CD and MP3 up as completely separate products? I am hoping not!

Many thanks for your wisdom in advance :-)
I am using Version 1.3.7

I don't know of a way to do exactly what you want. There is a "free shipping" button but it is set by product, not attribute. You could add a discount to the MP3 option to reflect the price that will be charged for shipping, or you could set the product to "free shipping" and then add a shipping amount to the price for the CD attribute, but both approaches would be rather clumsy.

With all the music being sold online, we can hope that the new version will include an option to set free shipping by attribute.

Thanks for your suggestions Sylvia

To sell a Product that has either a Download, such as an MP3, or a Physical snail mail component, such as a CD, you can set up the Product as usual ...

On the Product, be sure to have set:
Product Price: (lowest price or 0 if using Priced by Attribute)

Always Free Shipping: No, Normal Shipping Rules

Product is Virtual: No, Shipping Address Required

Product Weight: 0

Then, setup your Option Name, such as:
Option Name: Media Format
Option Type: Radiobutton or Dropdown

Next, add your Option Value:
Option Value Name: Download MP3
Sort Order: 10

Option Value Name: CD
Sort Order: 20

Option Value Name: Select Media Preference
Sort Order: 0

Then, add the Attributes:
Option Name: Media Format
Option Value: Download MP3
Prefix: + (or blank if using Priced by Attributes)
Price: 3.99 (or 0 if not using Priced by Attribute and this is the $3.99)
Option Weight: 0
Sort Order: 10
Add appropriate filename, max days and max download attempts

Option Name: Media Format
Option Value: CD
Prefix: + (or blank if using Priced by Attributes)
Price: 4.00 (or actual Price if using Priced by Attribute, such as 7.99)
Option Weight: 2
Sort Order: 20

Option Name: Media Format
Option Value: Select Media Preference
Sort Order: 0
Default: YES
Display Only: YES

The extra Attribute for the Select Media Preference is used to force the customer to make the proper choice of what media type they want the Product to be in.

NOTE: you can update all sort orders from the defaults with the Update Sort Order after you have added all of the Attributes ...

Now the Product will trigger shipping when the CD is ordered and skip shipping when the Download is ordered ... and force the customer to correctly pick either the CD or the Download ...

Hi Ajeh
Many thanks for giving such a detailed reply and making it easy for a beginner to understand :-)

Having gone through the process, I think I fell down because my shipping is set to 'zones' - I am guessing it has to be set to work on 'weight' for this to work properly?

I will explore this aspect now - then all I have to do is sort out why .zip files download great but then can't be opened as they are 'corrupt' and I might be ready to start making sales! lol

I don't suppose you have any wisdom on that issue do you? :-)

Thanks again - learning how to 'force' a choice is very useful elsewhere for me too - cheers!

Try reloading the Zip files and test a small one then go larger ...

The CD gets the weight ... when weight is there you should see your shipping, if you use a weight based shipping module ...

When only Downloads are in the cart, you should never see on checkout the checkout_shipping page ...

If you do not use weight for shipping, make sure you do not have set in the Shipping/Packaging that 0 weight means Free Shipping ...

Option Weight: 0

Linda, what if he has a tare weight and/or handling charge set? Wouldn't they be added even if the shipping weight is zero?

The Download is triggered by the filename so there is no shipping ... the CD gets the weight plus the Tare ...

Hi Linda - just to let you know I got the postage options to work correclty for CD and MP3 options, thanks to your great detailed advice - much apprectiated :-) :clap:

I have not had any luck with the zip files being corrupt though, I have tried re uploading, tested smaller zips, and zipping on the server - however all still produce the same message - whilst the zip seems to download fine and properties are showing the right size, the message when trying to unzip is file is invalid or corrupt.
When I try to use the extraction wizard it says there are no files to extract...

I'd appreciate any further ideas you have on this issue :-)

Many thanks

Debbie

What settings do you have in the Configuration ... Attribute Settings ...

Hurray!
A quick update.... Many thanks to Jaycode for a posting in another thread, suggesting a cure for the corrupt downloads issue by changing the 'pub' folder permissions to 777 - this cured my problem too :-) :clap:
Now lets hope for some customers to try it out too :-)

Thanks for the update that your corrupted downloads were the result of the permissions on the directory for /pub ... :smile: