I realize this subject is getting beat to death, but I have been doing and undoing my shipping setup since I started my website, and I think I may have finally worked something out and I wanted to run it across some of you people who have your sites up and running. This is manly for shipping with the USPS.
This is basically a step-by-step process for those that are still struggling. It is based on the "by the weight" setting in SCCP.
1. Go to http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm and download the price list for the type of shipping you plan on using. I am using the Parcel Post method. The price list will show how much it costs to send a package based on the weight and the zone it is being sent to.
2. Go to http://postcalc.usps.gov/ZoneCharts/Default.aspx and enter your zip code into the appropriate box and it will give you a page of all the zones in the US as they relate to you and your zip code. These zones are specific to your zip code. What you will see is a three digit zip code instead of the regual 5. What it really is is the first 3 numbers of all the zip codes in the US. Unfortuately, they do not tell you what State in the US these zips are for. SCCP requires that you enter the cost of shipping by State (if you chose that method). So you need to go to step 3.
3. Download the TXT file that I have attached. It is a list of all the States and the zip codes within that State. I only show the first 3 numbers of each zip code, as that is all you need.
Take the States, one at a time, and cross reference the zip codes with the zip codes shown on the chart you got in step 2 to come up with the zones to use for your shipping formula. Example: Alabama has zip codes 350.. thru 369.. Look on the Zone Chart for the numbers 350-369. The Corresponding number in the Zone column is the number you need for the next step. For my area this is zone 5 and 6. These numbers will be different for everyone, as we each are starting from a different zip code (home).
Each State has approximately 2 shipping zones. Some have only one, or three and good old Texas has four. On the TXT file (printed version) write down next to the three digit numbers of each State the zone numbers that correspond to these States so that you will now be able to apply this to the next step.
Now you need to take these zones and cross reference them with the price list you downloaded in step 1. With our example for Alabama, the zones where 5 and 6 so, for axample, if we have a 10 pound package it will cost $12.92 for zone 5 and $14.16 for zone 6. Keep in mind that these zones are based on MY zip code, not yours and this is based on the Parcel Post method. Since you can only enter one number (price) per weight category, you will have to average these two numbers. So our average for this 10 pound package to Alabama would be $13.54.
You have to do this for each and every weight division you have set per State. A lot of work but I don't see any other way, do you?
My question is to the "experts" out there. Is this a feasible method? Especially the averaging part.
Shipping, is this feasible?
Something else I am thinking of.
In your setup for your shipping, you have to set your weight ranges; 0-1, 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, etc. If you use the price list you downloaded from USPS, the Parcel Post list, this weight goes all the way up to 70 pounds. If you enter a weight range for EACH pound up to 70 that means that you will have to enter 3,500 different prices for shipping (70 weight ranges times 50 States). That is a lot of work!
My thought is to combine some weight ranges. I put: 0-1, 1-2, 2-3 all the way up to 15 pounds (single pound increments) Then after that I did it in 5 pound increments: 16-20, 21-25, 26-30 etc. until I reached 70 pounds. The only problem with this method is that since you are including 5 weight ranges this now is made up of 10 individual zone costs (remember, there are approximately 2 zones per State times 5 weight ranges) So you will now have to take an average over these 10 zone costs. This method reduces your entries to 1,300 instead of 3,500.
For you and me this will be good, but I wonder how fair this is to the customer. For example; if customer A orders something that weighs 16 pounds and customer B orders 20, customer A is going to get the short end of the stick because the average we figured is going to be more expensive than if we did not average. But customer B will make out because he will be paying less than if we had not averaged.
What is your take on this??
In your setup for your shipping, you have to set your weight ranges; 0-1, 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, etc. If you use the price list you downloaded from USPS, the Parcel Post list, this weight goes all the way up to 70 pounds. If you enter a weight range for EACH pound up to 70 that means that you will have to enter 3,500 different prices for shipping (70 weight ranges times 50 States). That is a lot of work!

My thought is to combine some weight ranges. I put: 0-1, 1-2, 2-3 all the way up to 15 pounds (single pound increments) Then after that I did it in 5 pound increments: 16-20, 21-25, 26-30 etc. until I reached 70 pounds. The only problem with this method is that since you are including 5 weight ranges this now is made up of 10 individual zone costs (remember, there are approximately 2 zones per State times 5 weight ranges) So you will now have to take an average over these 10 zone costs. This method reduces your entries to 1,300 instead of 3,500.
For you and me this will be good, but I wonder how fair this is to the customer. For example; if customer A orders something that weighs 16 pounds and customer B orders 20, customer A is going to get the short end of the stick because the average we figured is going to be more expensive than if we did not average. But customer B will make out because he will be paying less than if we had not averaged.
What is your take on this??
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