Post by krazed1 » Wed Jun 29, 2022 1:30 am

Bare with me Im not sure if this is the right spot or should be General Info for a question.
Im lost on some of the setup for USPS and getting the correct shipping prices depending on what customers order.
See if I can explain this good.

I have some products that will fit in a Small Flat Rate box - if it fits it ships stuff. Weight doesnt matter and I could fit it into a small box.
Some product though measures out at 13'' long and I ship in Medium flat rate boxes.
I cant set my shipping at just Priority because a small item comes up overpriced for shipping. But if I set it to Medium Flat Rate then the 13'' long part comes up priced right and the small item comes up over priced.

In woocommerce that I was using I could set flat rate shipping costs by items if needed. This helped when it was items that needed the 13'' shipping.

If I click Small Flat rate and Medium flat rate then both options show up even for the 13'' and we know customers will pick the cheaper price. A couple years ago it didnt matter, I took the hit for customer service. Times have changed and my customer base is strong that its not something I can take hits on anymore. Shipping has risen in price and a 4-6$ hit isnt feasible these days.

Ive tried setting the L*W*H in individual products hoping that would trigger the USPS Module to upsize shipping by Priority boxes. Nope doesnt change it.
Ive tried adding weight to the 13'' items and Zero weight for the small items and it does increase shipping. But depending on location the price varies. It should be Medium Flat Rate price for the 13'' but can vary upwards of 5-8$ depending on domestic location.

Is there a Module/Add on I can use to set a flat rate price for individual items like Woocommerce? Or is there a setting Im not doing with the built in module to recognize and change priority boxes needed by size of product?

Hope this makes sense - shipping is a loss that keeps increasing. And right now its the last thing I need to finish my switch back to opencart. I went to woocommerce a year ago due to bug problems with a prior version but havent been happy since. Id really like to swap back if I can figure this out.

Thank you for the help.

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Post by Johnathan » Wed Jun 29, 2022 2:19 am

The built-in USPS shipping method does not factor dimensions into its rate request at all. It only sends the cart weight.

If you need something that can factor in dimensions and figure out whether flat rate boxes would work, I have an extension called [USPS Pro that can do that. It has a 3-dimensional packing algorithm that can help determine how many items would fit in a box, and send multiple boxes in the rate request if necessary. The extension also lets you adjust the item weights/dimensions, or the resulting cost given by USPS.

Feel free to take a look at the screenshots and demo site, and if you're interested let me know at www.getclearthinking.com/contact if you have any questions.

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Post by krazed1 » Wed Jun 29, 2022 2:46 am

I did download, purchase and install that one too. To be honest it was a little over my head but helped.
I didnt quite understand the setup on it but wasnt gonna bail right away.

I steered away when it came to the box sizes since I use the free USPS boxes and dont purchase different packaging. I knew I could just enter the priority flat rate sizes.
But youre saying if I enter dimensions for my products it would recognize how many small pieces can fit in say a small flat rate? Then if the customer adds a 13' part it would upsize to the next box. Like move everything up into the medium flat rate and quiry USPS for the pricing on that size?
But will it or can it be set to Priority flat rate for those sizes? Thats a concern from what I have tried.

If I just set the software usps module to Priority and not Flat Rates then the domestic shipping is stupid high because its using box size.
Ill play more with your software tonight and reach out with questions or troubles.

Thank you

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Post by Johnathan » Wed Jun 29, 2022 3:47 am

Yes, I have some logic in the extension so it will disable any flat rate boxes if the calculated dimensions of the package exceeds the box size. You shouldn't need to enter any box sizes in the extension for this, it will automatically do it.

If you have any issues with it, or something seems like it shouldn't fit but it's saying it will, then please contact me here for support:

www.getclearthinking.com/contact

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