Need help with calculated shipping rules

[mtnflyer44]

All kits are set up with calculated shipping cost determined by the destination.  I have looked at setting up tables but it is very complicated and will result in buyers with zip codes closer to my shipping point paying more than actual cost and those further away  paying less than actual cost.  We pass along shipping savings to our buyers.

We sell rc model airplanes and all of the kits are dimensional shipping charges.  I have all  of the weights and dimension entered into  my listings correctly.  My issue is that when a buyer purchases more than one kit the weights are doubled but the dimensions of the cartons are not increased to reflect the combined carton size.  The length and width do not increase when combined BUT the height needs to be doubled. Need a solution because when the units purchased increases my shipping costs increase.  I want to try the following and am not sure how to do it:  (1) allow combined payment  (2) do not combine the weight of the kits (3) charge full shipping cost for the first kit and only charge a flat rate for the second kit when  combined.

[berserkerplanet]

>>not sure how to do it: (1) allow combined payment (2) do not combine the weight of the kits (3) charge

>>full shipping cost for the first kit and only charge a flat rate for the second kit when combined.

Yes to (1) and no to (2). You will want to use a combined calculated rule of the "combine all item weights" variety. (We'll get to that in a minute)

The eBay calculators CAN NOT do the math and re-compute dimensional weight pricing by adding package sizes together. That is what is hanging you up here.

You can either charge for the 2 pkgs separately (with what are the correct calculated charges for the separate pkgs but overcharge the buyer when you put into one pkg), or you let the calculator add the weights together using the original pkg size, and use the larger of the combined weights or the dim weight of the largest pkg, which ends up being too low, totally wrong, and you eat it on the combined shipments.

So how to give a combined shipping discount when dim weight is involved? If your combined purchase pkgs don't exceed shipping service limits (like L+G > 84" or 108" or 130" and lengths and widths don't cross FedEx Smartpost or Ground length limits), you might be able to fake it with "faux weights" (a trick I came up with to get around a Smartpost bug a while back)

If all the kits are big enough that dim weight is larger than actual weight then USE THE DIM WEIGHT of the kit in the listing. That way, when the combined shipping rule adds the weights together, it will compute the calculated shipping charge on the sum of the 2 dimensional weights, and should come up with the correct amount.

DW1 = L1 * W1 * H1   &   DW2 = L2 * W2 * H2    For the combined box:   L3=L1=L2   W3=W1=W2   H3=H1+H2

  DW1+DW2 = L1 *W1 *H1  + L1 * W1 * H2  = (L1 * W1)(H1+H2) = (L3 * W3)(H3) = L3 * W3 * H3

Summing the dimensional weights is the same as computing the dim weight of the bigger box.

Note that that approach requires that your combined pkgs be under the various service limits. If offering multiple services like USPS PM and PS, and FedEx Ground/Home Delivery and Smartpost it gets very complicated and unworkable (Smartpost non-machinable 27" and 17" criteria, different Smartpost Dim Weight divisor, FedEx Additional Handling surcharge if length exceeds 48", USPS Dim weight divisors 194 until June then going to 166, etc)

For now, the eBay calculators are still using a USPS DWD=194, FedEx Ground = 166, FedEx Smartpost =250, and FedEx Express = 139

I see that your model airplane listings offer Parcel Select and FedEx Ground/Home Delivery. That will not work with this workaround because Parcel Select won't be using dim weight until 6/23/19 when that change kicks in. When it does you are in luck as the USPS and FedEx Ground/Home Delivery divisors will be the same 166 value, and your "faux" weights in the listings will work out correctly for both.

However at this point in time, Parcel Select is using neither balloon rates nor dim weight, and may be your best option for shipping those items - they ship strictly by weight, and a combined weight rule will take care of it if Parcel Select is the only option you offer on those listings with the actual weight in the listings.

If you choose to use FedEx Ground/Home Delivery as the sole option, you can use the faux weight in the listing, along with the combined weight rule, and the FedEx numbers should be correct.

So instead of entering the actual weight of the model kit in the listing use the Dim weight = Vol/166 (where vol is the volume of the box that model ships in)

You might even want to use a combined calculated shipping rule of the variety "combine all item weights and subtract an amount" if the combined box is actually smaller than the sum of the 2 individual boxes to make an adjustment (it wouldn't be exact, but might be close enough). Can also leverage a handling fee to nudge the numbers too.

There is no way to mix carriers and services as you have in your listings now using this trick (until 6/23/19 when the FedEx Ground, USPS Priority, and USPS Parcel Select DW divisors will be the same 166 value)

You can test these rules and changes by making the revisions, signing in with another eBay account, and adding multiple items to the cart (trivial to do using another browser or by using different cookie profiles in a single browser).

[berserkerplanet]

What are the packaged weight and dimensions of a typical kit?

I'm curious because it looks like the weight for one I looked at appears to be 8lbs based on the PS shipping cost which seems too high.

[mtnflyer44]

Here is a kit to check out:  GWS F15 white.

carton dim:  40 x 13 x 8

Wt:  7# 15 oz.

Have a customer in zip code 85123 wanting to purchase three kits combined.

If I set a calculated shipping rule:  combined weight, can I set a fixed rate for each addition kit - like $8.00 per each additional kit purchased.

I appreciate your response and am studying your comments.

[sam9876]

Yes.

[berserkerplanet]

>>If I set a calculated shipping rule: combined weight, can I set a fixed rate for each

>>addition kit - like $8.00 per each additional kit purchased.

A combined calculated shipping rule of the variety "combine all weights" along with a suboption on the next dialog page to "specify a handling cost for each additional item" will do what you want.

But you can't just combine weights here - you have a pretty bad dimensional weight problem with that 40x13x8 pkg and a worse issue with 3 kits combined in one box.

Combined calculated rules WILL NOT address the dimensional weight issue - they will simply combine the weights of the 3 items, and calculate postage based on the larger of that combined weight or the dimensional weight of the largest of the 3 pkgs.

If you are trying to fudge it with the $8 per item additional fee I don't think that will be enough for worst case.

The eBay FedEx Ground Home Delivery Dimensional  Weight (DW) of that pkg is 40x13x8/166 = 26lb

For a combined pkg with 3 kits the DW = 40x13x24/166 = 76lb

Adding the weights together doesn't even exceed the DW of the single pkg, much less account for a combined pkg that is going to ship at a 76lb DW.

(I'm going to use examples to zone 8 here for illustration since I'm more set up to do that and it demonstrates a  worst case scenario)

FedEx Home Delivery of the single 8lb pkg cross country to a Zone8 destination (CA→NJ) is $33.57

Parcel Select would be $29.69

FedEx Home Delivery of the combined 24lb pkg cross country to a Zone8 destination (CA→NJ) is $59.15

Parcel Select would be $196.61*

If we ignore dimensions to see what will happen if you just combine weights:

FedEx Home Delivery of the combined  24lb pkg cross country to a Zone8 destination (CA→NJ) is $31.60

Parcel Select would be $63.18

A buyer would be charged $30 under cost for FedEx and $130 under cost for the PS option. If you added in that $8 for each additional handling charge you'd still be $14 under cost for FedEx and $114 under for PS.

 right now during the period from the rate increase on 1/27/19 to when the delayed dim weight changes kick in on 6/23/19, Parcel Select (PS) no longer cares about 84"<L+G<108" balloon rates, and dimensional weight does not apply until June. 108"<L+G<130" is still PS oversize rates though. L+G of the single pkg is 82". L+G of the combined pkg is 114" and that is oversized for PS (that is bad - $196.61 to a zone 8 destination)

The scenario for your zone4 buyer in zip 85123 isn't as extreme, but same thing happens:

FedEx Home Delivery of the single 8lb pkg to a Zone4 destination (81230→85123) is $18.90

Parcel Select would be $11.06

FedEx Home Delivery of the combined 24lb pkg to a Zone4 destination (81230→85123) is $33.54

Parcel Select would be $103.05

If we ignore dimensions to see what will happen if you just combine weights:

FedEx Home Delivery of the combined 24lb pkg to a Zone4 destination (81230→85123) is $23.46

Parcel Select would be $25.28

A buyer would be charged $10 under cost for FedEx and $75 under cost for the PS option. If you added in an $8 for each additional item handling charge you'd be over $6 for FedEx but still $60 under for PS.

So for this specific sale, your "combine weights and add $5-8 handling fee" rule would work for FedEx Ground/Home Delivery, but PS is a problem (if you used that rule, left PS option in the listings, and buyer chose PS it wouldn't be pretty.)

UPS option probably works roughly about about the same as FedEx except for DW divisor and rates.

Not sure how often combined is an issue, or how you want to handle it. As I said, if you get rid of everything but FedEx Ground/Home Delivery, you can put the eBay FedEx dim weights in the listings instead of the actual weights, and with the "combine weights" combined shipping rule the calculated shipping numbers will be exactly right.

If you use fake weights, you can't leave UPS in as an option because it uses a 139 DW divisor (I think) which is not the same as the FedEx 166 divisor, and the "fake" weights would be wrong, and PS doesn't use dim weight (yet) so that would be terribly wrong.