Custom pricing application

[Joseph]

My shopsite needs to allow the customer to select the dimensions of the
product he is ordering, and do the price computation outside of
shopsite...and then tell shopsite how much to charge for the item.

The Order API happens too late in the process, with no opprotunity to
influence the pricing.

The Shipping API isn't quite right either.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in Advance!

Joseph

[Jim]

Joseph,

If you have ShopSite 7 Pro you can use the variable price product option
to allow the shopper to enter the price, name, sku.
you can see a description on the help page at
http://www.shopsite.com/help/7.0/en-US/ ... .info.html


Jim


Joseph wrote:

My shopsite needs to allow the customer to select the dimensions of the
product he is ordering, and do the price computation outside of
shopsite...and then tell shopsite how much to charge for the item.

The Order API happens too late in the process, with no opprotunity to
influence the pricing.

The Shipping API isn't quite right either.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in Advance!

Joseph

[loren_d_c]

Also, if your price calculations are not too complex, you could set up
your options as Order Options pull-down menu's (configured in Products
-> Edit Product Info) and use the Order Options Pricing to change the
price of the item in the shopping cart based on the pull-down selection
the shopper makes, see:
http://www.shopsite.com/help/7.0/en-US/ ... icing.html

Note that Order Options Pricing is only in ShopSite v7 Manager and v7
Pro, and only in Pro (not Manager) in older versions.

-Loren



Jim wrote:

Joseph,

If you have ShopSite 7 Pro you can use the variable price product option
to allow the shopper to enter the price, name, sku.
you can see a description on the help page at
http://www.shopsite.com/help/7.0/en-US/ ... .info.html


Jim


Joseph wrote:

My shopsite needs to allow the customer to select the dimensions of the
product he is ordering, and do the price computation outside of
shopsite...and then tell shopsite how much to charge for the item.

The Order API happens too late in the process, with no opprotunity to
influence the pricing.

The Shipping API isn't quite right either.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in Advance!

Joseph

[Joseph]

Thanks for replying, gentlemen.

Unfortunately, in this case it is not appropriate for the customer to enter
the price, and the calculations *are* quite complex.

In fact, we started by using the Order Options Pricing, but the calculations
have one more factor of complexity than this option allows for. We have
price breaks on width as well as length, and the scale isn't uniform.

The only solution that I see is some way for ShopSite to call an external
application we write, providing SKU and dimensions, and then recieving the
correct price.

You guys know of any such hooks or possiblities?

Thanks!

Joseph

"Loren" <loren_d_c@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:c7bru8$lhj$1@support.shopsite.com...

Also, if your price calculations are not too complex, you could set up
your options as Order Options pull-down menu's (configured in Products
-> Edit Product Info) and use the Order Options Pricing to change the
price of the item in the shopping cart based on the pull-down selection
the shopper makes, see:
http://www.shopsite.com/help/7.0/en-US/ ... icing.html

Note that Order Options Pricing is only in ShopSite v7 Manager and v7
Pro, and only in Pro (not Manager) in older versions.

-Loren



Jim wrote:
Joseph,

If you have ShopSite 7 Pro you can use the variable price product option
to allow the shopper to enter the price, name, sku.
you can see a description on the help page at
http://www.shopsite.com/help/7.0/en-US/ ... .info.html


Jim


Joseph wrote:

My shopsite needs to allow the customer to select the dimensions of the
product he is ordering, and do the price computation outside of
shopsite...and then tell shopsite how much to charge for the item.

The Order API happens too late in the process, with no opprotunity to
influence the pricing.

The Shipping API isn't quite right either.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in Advance!

Joseph

[loren_d_c]

Joseph,

With the Variable Price feature Jim mentioned is in v7 Pro, you do not
necessarily have to leave it up to the shopper to enter the price, you
could create an application that generates the field and value that
indicates the price in a hidden form field rather than a text form field.

-Loren


Joseph wrote:

Thanks for replying, gentlemen.

Unfortunately, in this case it is not appropriate for the customer to enter
the price, and the calculations *are* quite complex.

In fact, we started by using the Order Options Pricing, but the calculations
have one more factor of complexity than this option allows for. We have
price breaks on width as well as length, and the scale isn't uniform.

The only solution that I see is some way for ShopSite to call an external
application we write, providing SKU and dimensions, and then recieving the
correct price.

You guys know of any such hooks or possiblities?

Thanks!

Joseph

"Loren" <loren_d_c@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:c7bru8$lhj$1@support.shopsite.com...

Also, if your price calculations are not too complex, you could set up
your options as Order Options pull-down menu's (configured in Products
-> Edit Product Info) and use the Order Options Pricing to change the
price of the item in the shopping cart based on the pull-down selection
the shopper makes, see:
http://www.shopsite.com/help/7.0/en-US/ ... icing.html

Note that Order Options Pricing is only in ShopSite v7 Manager and v7
Pro, and only in Pro (not Manager) in older versions.

-Loren



Jim wrote:

Joseph,

If you have ShopSite 7 Pro you can use the variable price product option
to allow the shopper to enter the price, name, sku.
you can see a description on the help page at
http://www.shopsite.com/help/7.0/en-US/ ... .info.html


Jim


Joseph wrote:


My shopsite needs to allow the customer to select the dimensions of the
product he is ordering, and do the price computation outside of
shopsite...and then tell shopsite how much to charge for the item.

The Order API happens too late in the process, with no opprotunity to
influence the pricing.

The Shipping API isn't quite right either.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in Advance!

Joseph

[Joseph]

Jim and Loren;

Thanks...I'm currently investigating this as a solution.

Apparantly, I would use a custom template, and use the [-- Call --] template
tag to populate the variable price field? For comparison, are there any
other techniques I could use? Finally, any way to make the variable price
field something other than a text field (so the customer couldn't alter it).

Joseph

"Loren" <loren_d_c@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:c7dkpp$rj$1@support.shopsite.com...

Joseph,

With the Variable Price feature Jim mentioned is in v7 Pro, you do not
necessarily have to leave it up to the shopper to enter the price, you
could create an application that generates the field and value that
indicates the price in a hidden form field rather than a text form field.

-Loren


Joseph wrote:
Thanks for replying, gentlemen.

Unfortunately, in this case it is not appropriate for the customer to
enter
the price, and the calculations *are* quite complex.

In fact, we started by using the Order Options Pricing, but the
calculations
have one more factor of complexity than this option allows for. We have
price breaks on width as well as length, and the scale isn't uniform.

The only solution that I see is some way for ShopSite to call an
external
application we write, providing SKU and dimensions, and then recieving
the
correct price.

You guys know of any such hooks or possiblities?

Thanks!

Joseph

"Loren" <loren_d_c@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:c7bru8$lhj$1@support.shopsite.com...

Also, if your price calculations are not too complex, you could set up
your options as Order Options pull-down menu's (configured in Products
-> Edit Product Info) and use the Order Options Pricing to change the
price of the item in the shopping cart based on the pull-down selection
the shopper makes, see:
http://www.shopsite.com/help/7.0/en-US/ ... icing.html

Note that Order Options Pricing is only in ShopSite v7 Manager and v7
Pro, and only in Pro (not Manager) in older versions.

-Loren



Jim wrote:

Joseph,

If you have ShopSite 7 Pro you can use the variable price product
option
to allow the shopper to enter the price, name, sku.
you can see a description on the help page at
http://www.shopsite.com/help/7.0/en-US/ ... .info.html


Jim


Joseph wrote:


My shopsite needs to allow the customer to select the dimensions of
the
product he is ordering, and do the price computation outside of
shopsite...and then tell shopsite how much to charge for the item.

The Order API happens too late in the process, with no opprotunity to
influence the pricing.

The Shipping API isn't quite right either.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in Advance!

Joseph

[Jim]

The [--CALL--] tag is only executed at generate time so you couldn't use
it to call a program that takes input from the user and then does
something with it. You would probaby need javascript or php to do the
calculations. As Loren mentioned use a hidden field instead of a text
field for the Price.

Jim

Joseph wrote:

Jim and Loren;

Thanks...I'm currently investigating this as a solution.

Apparantly, I would use a custom template, and use the [-- Call --] template
tag to populate the variable price field? For comparison, are there any
other techniques I could use? Finally, any way to make the variable price
field something other than a text field (so the customer couldn't alter it).

Joseph

"Loren" <loren_d_c@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:c7dkpp$rj$1@support.shopsite.com...

Joseph,

With the Variable Price feature Jim mentioned is in v7 Pro, you do not
necessarily have to leave it up to the shopper to enter the price, you
could create an application that generates the field and value that
indicates the price in a hidden form field rather than a text form field.

-Loren


Joseph wrote:

Thanks for replying, gentlemen.

Unfortunately, in this case it is not appropriate for the customer to

enter

the price, and the calculations *are* quite complex.

In fact, we started by using the Order Options Pricing, but the

calculations

have one more factor of complexity than this option allows for. We have
price breaks on width as well as length, and the scale isn't uniform.

The only solution that I see is some way for ShopSite to call an

external

application we write, providing SKU and dimensions, and then recieving

the

correct price.

You guys know of any such hooks or possiblities?

Thanks!

Joseph

"Loren" <loren_d_c@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:c7bru8$lhj$1@support.shopsite.com...


Also, if your price calculations are not too complex, you could set up
your options as Order Options pull-down menu's (configured in Products
-> Edit Product Info) and use the Order Options Pricing to change the
price of the item in the shopping cart based on the pull-down selection
the shopper makes, see:
http://www.shopsite.com/help/7.0/en-US/ ... icing.html

Note that Order Options Pricing is only in ShopSite v7 Manager and v7
Pro, and only in Pro (not Manager) in older versions.

-Loren



Jim wrote:


Joseph,

If you have ShopSite 7 Pro you can use the variable price product

option

to allow the shopper to enter the price, name, sku.
you can see a description on the help page at
http://www.shopsite.com/help/7.0/en-US/ ... .info.html


Jim


Joseph wrote:



My shopsite needs to allow the customer to select the dimensions of

the

product he is ordering, and do the price computation outside of
shopsite...and then tell shopsite how much to charge for the item.

The Order API happens too late in the process, with no opprotunity to
influence the pricing.

The Shipping API isn't quite right either.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in Advance!

Joseph

[Joseph]

Hmmm...

We really want to stay away from any client-side calculations if at all
possible. Wouldn't it then be possible for an industrious person to 'name
their own price'?

What I'd really like to see is an API provided which would allow a program
to make a pricing adjustment, and provide the information back to ShopSite,
whenever the shopping cart is recalculated/populated. It seems that you
would have done much of the backend work necessary when you implemented
variable pricing, and the OrderAPI provides a great roadmap to the
implementation.

Would ShopSite be available for hire to provide such a Cart API for us, as a
provider?

Joseph


"Jim" <jstavast@xmission.com> wrote in message
news:c7dquk$17l$1@support.shopsite.com...

The [--CALL--] tag is only executed at generate time so you couldn't use
it to call a program that takes input from the user and then does
something with it. You would probaby need javascript or php to do the
calculations. As Loren mentioned use a hidden field instead of a text
field for the Price.

Jim

Joseph wrote:

Jim and Loren;

Thanks...I'm currently investigating this as a solution.

Apparantly, I would use a custom template, and use the [-- Call --]
template
tag to populate the variable price field? For comparison, are there any
other techniques I could use? Finally, any way to make the variable
price
field something other than a text field (so the customer couldn't alter
it).

Joseph

"Loren" <loren_d_c@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:c7dkpp$rj$1@support.shopsite.com...

Joseph,

With the Variable Price feature Jim mentioned is in v7 Pro, you do not
necessarily have to leave it up to the shopper to enter the price, you
could create an application that generates the field and value that
indicates the price in a hidden form field rather than a text form
field.

-Loren


Joseph wrote:

Thanks for replying, gentlemen.

Unfortunately, in this case it is not appropriate for the customer to

enter

the price, and the calculations *are* quite complex.

In fact, we started by using the Order Options Pricing, but the

calculations

have one more factor of complexity than this option allows for. We
have
price breaks on width as well as length, and the scale isn't uniform.

The only solution that I see is some way for ShopSite to call an

external

application we write, providing SKU and dimensions, and then recieving

the

correct price.

You guys know of any such hooks or possiblities?

Thanks!

Joseph

"Loren" <loren_d_c@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:c7bru8$lhj$1@support.shopsite.com...


Also, if your price calculations are not too complex, you could set up
your options as Order Options pull-down menu's (configured in Products
-> Edit Product Info) and use the Order Options Pricing to change the
price of the item in the shopping cart based on the pull-down
selection
the shopper makes, see:

http://www.shopsite.com/help/7.0/en-US/ ... icing.html

Note that Order Options Pricing is only in ShopSite v7 Manager and v7
Pro, and only in Pro (not Manager) in older versions.

-Loren



Jim wrote:


Joseph,

If you have ShopSite 7 Pro you can use the variable price product

option

to allow the shopper to enter the price, name, sku.
you can see a description on the help page at
http://www.shopsite.com/help/7.0/en-US/ ... .info.html


Jim


Joseph wrote:



My shopsite needs to allow the customer to select the dimensions of

the

product he is ordering, and do the price computation outside of
shopsite...and then tell shopsite how much to charge for the item.

The Order API happens too late in the process, with no opprotunity
to
influence the pricing.

The Shipping API isn't quite right either.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in Advance!

Joseph

[Rob]

What I'd really like to see is an API provided which would allow a program
to make a pricing adjustment, and provide the information back to
ShopSite,
whenever the shopping cart is recalculated/populated. It seems that you
would have done much of the backend work necessary when you implemented
variable pricing, and the OrderAPI provides a great roadmap to the
implementation.

You could do this with a server side script such as perl or php. In your
catalog page, you can use a variable price/sku product, and have the "Add to
Cart" button send this data along with ordering options to a server side
script. This script then processes the data, and comes up with the
appropriate price/sku, and then adds this to the cart using hidden tags.
This way the client cannot manipulate the process.

The variable price/sku addition in ShopSite 7 opens up a wide range of
possibilities for its use with server side applications. It acts almost like
a shopping cart API.

Hope this helps.

Rob

[Joseph]

Thanks, Rob...That certainly does help.

I'm going to see if I can't make this work as you, and Loren and Jim, have
suggested.

Joseph

"Rob" <rob@mangiafico.net> wrote in message
news:c7e80a$2ef$1@support.shopsite.com...

What I'd really like to see is an API provided which would allow a
program
to make a pricing adjustment, and provide the information back to
ShopSite,
whenever the shopping cart is recalculated/populated. It seems that you
would have done much of the backend work necessary when you implemented
variable pricing, and the OrderAPI provides a great roadmap to the
implementation.

You could do this with a server side script such as perl or php. In your
catalog page, you can use a variable price/sku product, and have the "Add
to
Cart" button send this data along with ordering options to a server side
script. This script then processes the data, and comes up with the
appropriate price/sku, and then adds this to the cart using hidden tags.
This way the client cannot manipulate the process.

The variable price/sku addition in ShopSite 7 opens up a wide range of
possibilities for its use with server side applications. It acts almost
like
a shopping cart API.

Hope this helps.

Rob

[Eddie Caplan]

All, I may need to do something similar:

I want to automatically apply a Discount based on the total dollar size
of the order. BUT this only applies for SOME customers. I understand
I can set up a Discount Schedule, but can't see how to do that for only
specific customers.

Should I use Rob's suggestion?:

You could do this with a server side script such as perl or php. In your
catalog page, you can use a variable price/sku product, and have the "Add to
Cart" button send this data along with ordering options to a server side
script. This script then processes the data, and comes up with the
appropriate price/sku, and then adds this to the cart using hidden tags.
This way the client cannot manipulate the process.

Rob, I'm still confused by what you are suggesting. Exactly how would
a server side script add "this to the cart using hidden tags."

Thanks mucho,
Eddie

[Rob]

You could do this with a server side script such as perl or php. In your
catalog page, you can use a variable price/sku product, and have the
"Add to
Cart" button send this data along with ordering options to a server side
script. This script then processes the data, and comes up with the
appropriate price/sku, and then adds this to the cart using hidden tags.
This way the client cannot manipulate the process.

Rob, I'm still confused by what you are suggesting. Exactly how would
a server side script add "this to the cart using hidden tags."

You could either use a POST redirect method, or use a simple URL such as:
http://www.your_domain.com/cgi-bin/orde ... price=3.50

with a Location: URL
call via a script. php example:
header("Location: $url");

Rob

[loren_d_c]

If the itemnum is 3, I believe the price variable name will need to be
3:price, not 1:price.

-Loren


Rob wrote:

You could do this with a server side script such as perl or php. In your
catalog page, you can use a variable price/sku product, and have the

"Add to

Cart" button send this data along with ordering options to a server side
script. This script then processes the data, and comes up with the
appropriate price/sku, and then adds this to the cart using hidden tags.
This way the client cannot manipulate the process.

Rob, I'm still confused by what you are suggesting. Exactly how would
a server side script add "this to the cart using hidden tags."


You could either use a POST redirect method, or use a simple URL such as:
http://www.your_domain.com/cgi-bin/orde ... price=3.50

with a Location: URL
call via a script. php example:
header("Location: $url");

Rob

[Joseph]

One final question regarding this...

How does this prevent the customer from monkeying with the price?

It would be nice if we could MD5 it, and provide ShopSite with a key.
Regardless, are there any security features in place that we could use here?

I know this is using Variable Pricing in ways it wasn't necessarily meant to
be used...but that's what this newsgroup is for

Thanks!

Joseph

"Rob" <rob@mangiafico.net> wrote in message
news:c7f1as$4b1$1@support.shopsite.com...

You could do this with a server side script such as perl or php. In
your
catalog page, you can use a variable price/sku product, and have the
"Add to
Cart" button send this data along with ordering options to a server
side
script. This script then processes the data, and comes up with the
appropriate price/sku, and then adds this to the cart using hidden
tags.
This way the client cannot manipulate the process.

Rob, I'm still confused by what you are suggesting. Exactly how would
a server side script add "this to the cart using hidden tags."

You could either use a POST redirect method, or use a simple URL such as:

http://www.your_domain.com/cgi-bin/orde ... price=3.50

with a Location: URL
call via a script. php example:
header("Location: $url");

Rob

[Rob]

How does this prevent the customer from monkeying with the price?

It would be nice if we could MD5 it, and provide ShopSite with a key.
Regardless, are there any security features in place that we could use
here?

I know this is using Variable Pricing in ways it wasn't necessarily meant
to
be used...but that's what this newsgroup is for

No MD5 that I'm aware of, but if you use the internal itemnum, it would be
much more difficult for someone to guess this number and then manipulate it,
and pass the correct syntax, as the Location: method actually changes the
URL displayed once the customer sees the cart, so the itemnum and associated
data is not seen in the displayed URL.

Rob