Box weight for USPS live rates - suggestion for programmers

[4erika]

Shipping 1st class is limited to 13oz. If the product weight is under 13oz, the customer has the option to choose 1st class shipping. The problem lies in the product weight being too close to 13oz and when the order is packed into a box (which weighs over 3oz), I now have to pay to upgrade their shipping to priority. I know that the previous response to this question, several years ago, was that the product weight should include the weight of the packaging, but that only works if you pack one item per box. I sell stencils and other tiny items, so someone could order 300 items and still have it go 1st class. So I can't add the box weight to each one of those items or the shipping charge would come up as $800 for a package that should cost $4 to ship.

I know we can add a handling charge to each order, which I do, but with the nature of my products and customers, I cannot make that so high that it covers the cost of priority shipping. What would be ideal for me, is the ability to systematically add 4 ounces to the overall weight of each order, so that the 1st class shipping option disappears when the product weight plus box weight is not going to allow for 1st class shipping.

If anyone has found a work-around for this, I'd appreciate any tips. Thanks

[koryb1]

Thank you for posting this. I am also really struggling with the best approach to shipping calculations. I experience the exact issue you have with the First Class Mail cutoff, but have the same problems with other shipping options too.

Like almost everyone, our customers sometimes order 1 of an item and at other times order 10 of them. So factoring in the box weight into each specific item doesn't seem to be a viable approach. Compounding this, we ship out in all sizes of packaging, from envelopes that weigh just .2 ounces all the way up to 20 x 20 x 12 boxes that weigh over 2 pounds for just the box itself. I know ShopSite offers some functionality as far as assigning specific packaging to each item, but that doesn't seem to match up to what usually happens as the box size will change depending on how many items (and their size) are in a given order.

Also adding to the challenge is that UPS/FedEx use dimensional weight versus USPS that uses actual weight.

I would love to learn how other ShopSite users are handling this. We try to keep the shipping cost to the customer as low as possible, but don't have it working right as we end up paying more than we're charging. Even worse are the USPS instances when USPS tries to collect more from the customer at delivery. Very embarrassing.

This is my #1 challenge right now and if anyone can share some tips I would be most appreciative!

Thanks in advance,

Kory