Manual Shipping Cost for oscommerce 2.3.4

[wendyv]

Hi!

Can anyone tell me if i can use http://addons.oscommerce.com/info/5797 in Oscommerce 2.3.4?
I need to be able to change the shipping cost because there are a lot of products which can be send in an enveloppe instead of a box :).

 

Thanks!

 

[MrPhil]

May I presume that you're showing the maximum shipping cost in the invoice, and if you can ship it more cheaply, you'll apply a reduction and refund the difference? I see two problems with this (regardless of whether you can get the add-on to work):

1. Many sales are made or broken on shipping costs. You may be CYA by showing the maximum shipping cost, but you may end up losing sales when customers are disappointed by the total including shipping (don't forget sales tax if your state taxes shipping and handling fees!). Showing a lower, but still realistic shipping fee could help here.
2. Handling a refund costs you time and possibly bank fees (to charge back a credit card transaction), even it you simply slip a check into the envelope. Is it worth it?

I would suggest looking at your actual (or expected) shipments, and setting a fee somewhere between box and envelope, at your actual average cost. You can always tweak it up or down if the box/envelope ratio changes. Also look into whether product weight splits can help with box versus envelope choice, and whether you will be consolidating multiple products into a box rather than individually in envelopes. If you have an existing business where you can get some hard data, that's great; otherwise you'll have to estimate (and adjust as you get real data). Good luck!

[♥kymation]

You can use MVS (see below) to set up a group of products for each shipping type, then charge the exact cost of shipping when the customer orders. No manual adjustments needed.

 

Regards

Jim