Royal Mail UK Shipping problems!

[a.r.rees]

Hi Guys,

 

I'm having a massive issue getting shipping costs right in the UK.

 

The way Royal mail works is it's done by size and weight, but there are different services which overlap.

 

If you look here you can see the Royal Mail size and weight pricing. http://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/RM_Our_Prices_OCt2013.pdf

 

My issue is I created all the different carriers as the different types of postage e.g. Letter, Large Letter, Small Parcels, Medium and the associated weights and costs.

 

However when I added 4 greeting cards to my basket which don't weigh much and are small in size they should easily fit in a large envelope and go by Royal Mail large letter, however Prestashop adds it up to small parcel so from 90p it then charges them £3 which is crazy. (All max weights and sizes are set in back office)

 

How does prestashop total up weights and sizes? I've added the size but I cannot work out how Prestashop even comes up with charging £3.

 

Currently I use prices but the issue with this is I either charge too little or too much which either puts people off or eats in to my profit.

 

Are there any modules out there to overcome this?

 

Will the new version of Prestashop 1.6 have more shipping options?

 

Has anyone else who uses Royal mail found a solution?

 

I would be very grateful for any assistance.

 

Cheers,

Andy

Edited January 30, 2014 by a.r.rees (see edit history)

[a.r.rees]

Is anyone able to help please?

 

Thanks,

Andy

[stottycabanas]

Hi Andy, the only options in standard Prestashop for calculating shipping costs are by price or by weight - product size is not used in the calcs. I think product dimensions are only used to filter out carriers according to the maximum they will carry.

From a very quick search, I couldn't find any modules that will support Royal Mail's charging structure, but there may be something out there. From the thread below, you will see that USPS/UPS structures do have a module - whether Presto-changeo are working on a Royal Mail module I'm not sure, but it would be most welcome and profitable for them (that's a hint, tomerg3!).

http://www.prestashop.com/forums/topic/300258-shipping-help-needed-for-a-newbie

Unless anyone else has any bright ideas, I think you're going to be in a situation of 'win some, lose some'.

Cheers, Dave

[a.r.rees]

Thanks for your help Dave!

 

I think for now I will just have to stay as is. It's a shame no one has made a module as I think must UK users would buy it as the postal system is complex.

 

I haven't actually looked at ups module made by Presto changeo, it would be good if they would make one for Royal Mail. I for would definitely buy it :-)

 

Cheers

Andy

[mexicoMATT]

Hi Andy,   I think I understand where you are coming from as I too use Royal Mail to ship lightweight items of varying sizes, and struggled to get my head round setting it up.

 

I ALSO WOULD PURCHASE A MODULE THAT TAKES SIZE & WEIGHT INTO CONSIDERATION - IT CAN'T BE THAT DIFFICULT.

To me it seems an easy equation that could be added to the current Prestashop module to take the size into consideration and for the shop owner to decide which has priority.

 

Any developers want to take up the challenge???  There's a definite revenue stream in the UK for this module.

 

How have you got on Andy?  I have managed to get it to add the correct postage for individual items, but my issue is now when I have combinations (listed onto a single product), as these have different sizes and the shipping calculator only takes the sizes of the main product item that the combinations are offered alongside.

 

Another issue I find is that in the checkout (1 page & 5 steps), if you have different products of different sizes it offers the lowest cost for items included as a shipping option even though that option is incorrect for other goods in the cart. I have found to stop this only use the 1 page checkout.

 

Andy, if I can help at all let me know,  as the current shipping can be configured to work for UK as long as you don't add extra combinations as I want to. You must though put sizes in for every product listed in the product category & add the sizes to each shipping method.

 

Cheers, Matt.

[mexicoMATT]

Quick update,  I managed to sort the multi-options coming up in checkout by selecting "Disable" in the box in each carrier config that says "Out of Range Behaviour".

 

I didn't disable as I was happy to cover postage beyond weight for a good sale.

 

Hope that may help someone else with similar issue.

[tomerg3]

We have just released a Royal Mail module for PrestaShop 1.4,1.5 and 1.6

 

More info at http://www.prestashop.com/forums/topic/345084-module-royal-mail-display-real-time-uk-royal-mail-rates-incl-a-product-page-shipping-preview/

[a.r.rees]

  On 7/23/2014 at 4:54 PM, tomerg3 said:

We have just released a Royal Mail module for PrestaShop 1.4,1.5 and 1.6

 

More info at http://www.prestashop.com/forums/topic/345084-module-royal-mail-display-real-time-uk-royal-mail-rates-incl-a-product-page-shipping-preview/

 

Thanks Tomerg3 i've been waiting a long time for a module and i've only just seen the post, i'm just trying out the demo now. Does it allow you to use envelopes and boxes? Some items I sell are cards so only need envelopes, but others are much bigger and require different size boxes.

 

THanks a million!

 

Cheers,  

Andy

[tomerg3]

Hi Andy,

 

Yes, the module can handle both.

 

We do have a demo for the module so you can give it a try...

[leofrog8]

Hi Andy - I've only just happened upon this post so it maybe too late if you've already purchased the module. Our site 123stamps.co.uk also has a mixture of items and when I was setting up the site I decided that it was far too much work to set up sizes and weights for every single one.  We have basically three postal charges - £1.50, £3.00 and £6.50 - these are based on category of product rather than individual.  and basically means that small items like ink pads go for £1.50 and larger go small parcel rate @ £3.00.  We have some high value items which we insist on carrier @ £6.50 regardless of size/weight.

 

Seems to work for us and without a lot of hassle!

 

Cheers

 

Bob