Quantity- and Location-Based Domestic and International Shipping with Bulk Discounts

[solmn]

Hello.

I'm hoping that there's a clever way to combine rules, discounts, and possibly variations to accomplish what we need, but I can't figure it out.



We want to sell our product in the following locations:

1. U.S.

2. Canada/Mexico

3. Outside North America



We want to offer up to five tiers of bulk discounts based on quantity purchased, not based on weight, dimensions, or price.



We want different shipping fees based on the location AND the product(s) AND the quantity.



We ship only via U.S.P.S. (standard and various flavors of Priority mail).



Ideally, the same quantity of a product would cost the same amount in any location, but the shipping fees would differ.



Currently, we’ve combined product price and shipping fees in three separate stores (one for each location). We don’t like this kludge because:

1. It makes our list of e-Junkie products HUGE.

2. Updating our store pages takes three times as long.

3. Our customers sometimes shop in one store, change their location in the shopping cart, and don’t get charged the correct amount.



Currently, here is our product+shipping pricing structure for just ONE product:

U.S.

Quantity 1-9: Pay $3.50 each, which includes shipping.

Quantity: 10-19: Pay $2.25 each, which includes shipping.

Quantity: 20-29: Pay $1.95 each, which includes shipping.

Quantity: 50 or more: Pay $1.90 each, which includes shipping.



Canada/Mexico

Quantity 1-9: Pay $5.50 each, which includes shipping.

Quantity: 10-19: Pay $3.85 each, which includes shipping.

Quantity: 20-29: Pay $3.35 each, which includes shipping.

Quantity: 50 or more: Pay $3.15 each, which includes shipping.



Outside North America

Quantity 1-9: Pay $6.00 each, which includes shipping.

Quantity: 10-19: Pay $4.05 each, which includes shipping.

Quantity: 20-29: Pay $3.53 each, which includes shipping.

Quantity: 50 or more: Pay $3.48 each, which includes shipping.



Temporarily, you can see a good example of our issues in our work-in-progress U.S. store: http://46c.1ac.myftpupload.com/cla-store-united-states/#leafletpack



Please tell me there is a better way to do all this in e-Junkie.

I eagerly await your response.

[E-junkie_Guru]

I think your best approach would be to separate item prices from shipping fees, then use Packaging Cost and Weight settings to define rate tiers for US vs. Canada vs. Int'l shipping. The key here is that, rather than entering literal weights, we're going to fudge the Weight figures to game the shipping calculator with custom "Rate per weight unit" shipping rules.



The Package Cost would be the US shipping rate per unit, then the Package Weight would equal the difference between the Canada fee minus the US fee, then you can multiply that difference by some factor for Int'l shipping. You can define as many different Package Types as you need (up to the max. 9 types we support) to specify different rate tiers for differing products. Then in the settings of each product, under Shipping & Buyer's Address, you'd select the Package Type where you'd defined the per-unit shipping rate tier you want applied for that product.



Go to Seller Admin > Shipping Calculation and set up the following:

Shipping Origin: select United States and enter your ZIP code;

Limit Shipping Destinations: if you will only ship to certain countries, tick this box and select them in the list that will appear;

Define Packaging - choose a Package Type for each rate tier you want to define and enter the following accordingly:

• Cost = US flat rate per item;
  
• Weight = Difference of Canada flat rate minus US flat rate per item;
  

Leave all other settings blank or 0.00;

Click Apply to save changes.

Then, scroll down to the Your Shipping Rules menu, select and Delete any Rules you may have saved there. Then in the New Shipping Rule section, add the following rules:



Rule for Domestic shipping:

Calculation Method: Rate per weight unit;

Shipping Amount: 0.00; [this excludes any Weight figures from shipping calculation]

Destination Country: United States;

Click Add Rule.

Next rule for Canada:

Calculation Method: Rate per weight unit;

Shipping Amount: 1.00; [this adds the Package Weight to the Cost to calculate shipping to Canada]

Destination Country: Canada;

Click Add Rule.

Next rule for International:

Calculation Method: Rate per weight unit;

Shipping Amount: [enter a multiplier for the Package Weight that should be added to the Cost to calculate Int'l shipping -- e.g., enter 1.50 if the difference will be 50% more than for Canada]

Destination Country: All Countries (this covers the rest of your Shipping Destination countries that don't have a Rule of their own);

Click Add Rule.

Click Back to Admin, then edit each product to select the relevant Package Type, and make sure their Weight = 0 and Capacity = 1.

[solmn]

E-junkieGuru, thank you very much for the prompt and thorough solution above. I really appreciate it.

I have some questions:



1. Does each Package Type represent a different destination?



2. If so, what is to prevent our customers from ordering something and changing the destination on the Your Shopping Cart page?



3. It appears that this solution affects ALL products in our store. Is that correct?



4. We believe the price differential between US and Canada shipping is much less for very lightweight products (around 1 oz) than other products. Are we mistaken?



5. It appears that this solution is based on fixed formulas (differences and multiplication factors). Is that correct?

[E-junkie_Monster]

Hi, here are the answers to your questions:



1 - Package Types are not tied to any specific location, and in Tyson's example they are being used to arbitrarily represent a range of shipping costs. For example you could set a Regular Box to cost $5.00 and weigh 3 ounces. Then, when combined with the later shipping rules that ARE tied to specific locations a product which ships in the Regular Box, the product would cost $5 shipping within the US and $8 in Canada:



US: (5.00 for the box plus 0 x 3 for the weight)

Canada( 5.00 for the box plus 1 x 3 for the weight)



A higher international rate could be 1.5 dollars per weight unit which would result in a $9.50 shipping rate outside of the US or Canada. (5 + 1.5 x 3)



These rates would only apply to items designated to ship in the Regular Box, which means you could set other rates for other items using one of the eight different remaining package types and get different results when those items are ordered.



2 - Buyers will either be unable to change their address from what was entered in the cart at checkout OR, in the case of PayPal, their shipping rates will be recalculated based on what they enter at checkout so that they always get the right rate based on your E-junkie shipping settings.



3 - Shipping Rules are account wide, so those calculations will apply on every product in your account. But those calculations are being based on the weight values of your various packaging types, which can be different for each product.



4 - We don't have any special knowledge about what your shipping costs will be in any given situation, we can only offer advice on how to implement the costs you want to apply.



5 - Yes, Tyson's example does using the same formula for each order, although the variables will change depending on the buyer's location and the package type assigned to their items. Basically the shipping cost in this example will always be (Package Cost + (Shipping Calculation by Location x Package Weight))

[solmn]

Thank you very much. I really appreciate your help. Our Finance Committee will have to decide on product prices and domestic and international S&H. I will apply what you've written once this is settled.