I want to ship by weight to get an accurate shipping cost.

The software gives me an entry for each weight for each state, USPS has 8 zones and 70* weights on their chart. Do I now have to figure out which zone each state is in then enter 70 prices for 50** states? That can't be right, 3500 entries? Then if I want to offer Priority Mail I have to enter another 3500 numbers? When I go to my second store I have to do it all again!

Surely I am missing something here.

*Obviously I will try to combine some weight categories but I still need at least 10 weight categories which means 500 entries per shipping type per store - that means that I have to enter 4000 numbers for my four stores

** Some large states have parts of two USPS zones in them, there doesn't seem to be a way to handle that.

No, you do not have it wrong!!
Actually, CC has it wrong by not having including an easier way to do shipping, like a shipping API that automatically puts the shipping in for you based on the location it is going to. MOST other shopping cart softwares have this.
I for one, am putting free shipping on some of my items (larger, where I am able to add enough to cover shipping) and a set price for the smaller. The big problem with that is what do yu do when someone orders 3 or 4 items. Is it fair to charge a price 4 times as high, when in actuality it may only be twice as much? You could loose a lot of business that way.

No it is not WRONG Steven! It just doesn't have a feature that you would like to have in the software. While it is not perfect, you can still accomplish the task. Eventually we will include some of the shipping API's out there but we have to decide carefully which ones we may use. Remember we are a world wide company.

You still have to admit, for the price of the software and not having to pay any monthly fees, Shopping Cart Creator is a pretty good choice.

My 2 cents anyways.

I could not agree with you more Scott. But I am sure there are a lot of users out there that would agree that this is the greatest short fall of SCCP. I have been struggling with the shipping thing since I started and have yet to figure out a good system. As mentioned in the above post, to have to enter all the zones and costs per ounce or whatever (if you can even find this information as it pertains to your location), is a daunting task to say the least. I for one do not look forward to attempting it. A root canal would be better!! I am hoping that you guys come up with an upgrade to SCCP that includes a fix for the shipping nightmare before I even attempt this.

That being said, please do not misunderstand me, I think your software is ABOVE perfection. And I greatly appreciate the fact that you guys give free upgrades and the best support in the market. I honestly cannot say I have ever come across a software company that does that besides you.

Keep up the good work and get cracking on that upgrade!!

P.S. I just noticed this is my 300th post, do I get a boobie prize?

No boobie prize but here's a cookie.

That's a pretty small cookie! More like a crumb. Well, at least it is smiling.

I have about fifteen weight bands set up, which are then divided into three separate destinations. UK, Europe and Rest of World. That covers most scenarios and gives accurate and fair shipping charges. The weight based shipping is a HUGE improvement of what was in the software previously.

Whilst not using USPS (obviously), I'd be inclined to break those seventy weight bands into something more manageable like ten to twenty, then with eight zones that would bring it down to a more manageable 80 to 160 entries per store. What I do myself, is set up all my shipping and taxes in one non live store, which I then save as a template for other stores.

With all online trading, you have to appreciate that the customer is having the item sent to their door, which means they don't have to take their car out of the garage, travel on busy roads, struggle to park, endure queues in stores, or manhandle the item back home. Unless your freight costs are a massive rip off, customers are quite happy to pay for all that convenience.

I ship items worldwide and with some of the heavier products the freight charges can end up more than the item cost itself, but customers have no problem paying those charges if they want the item that you are selling.

"What I do myself, is set up all my shipping and taxes in one non live store, which I then save as a template for other stores."

Thanks Will, that is an excellent idea and I am very dissapointed that I didn't think of it.

Even then I still have a lot of numbers ot enter, not 80 or 160, because I have to enter them for each state not each zone (zones are unknown to SCCP)

Hey Bob, check out this thread I put up yesterday and tell me what you think of my solution for the shipping by weight. Is it the same as your way?

http://www.coffeecup.com/forums/shopping-cart-pro/shipping-is-this-feasible/

That's the conclusion I came to as well, I haven't done it because I simply don't have time. I'm still using a concocted non-weight scheme that is not flexible at all.

I think this will be my last store with SCCP. I want real shipping lookup and I want to keep some (non-financial) customer data.