Shipping costs

[Bluesplayer]

Sure is a lot of work getting a shop up and running *phew*

I have a number of suppliers for products now and I have come to realise that shipping costs might be a problem as I don't hold stock myself. Each supplier charges different shipping costs. I take an order then pass it on to the supplier who then sends it to the customer. Here lies the problem: the shipping costs in my shop are calculated by weight but this doesn't work when an order is made up from different suppliers. 2 products belonging to different suppliers will have higher postal charges. I think I need something along the lines of Amazon who charge delivery from each supplier too unless the order is from stock. In time I will stock stuff but not at this present time. Is there a zone work around for this?

[Brent]

Not really. There is no way to differentiate between suppliers and products for shipping.
The only thing I can suggest is modify the weights on products from supplier A to reflect the true shipping charges and do the same thing with supplier B.
The only other thing some do is preauthorize the sale so you can add in shipping charges. You would have to research this with your payment processor. You then contact the customer with the true shipping charges for authorization to complete the transaction. Many companies do this, but I personally don't like it.

[Bluesplayer]

That is a shame.

Looks like the cart needs a little more coding. Perhaps for each order a check made as to who the manufacturer is and if more than one manufacturer is used additional cost added to the order. I could then list the suppliers by refering to them as manufacturers instead.

[Bluesplayer]

If I was to add an extra column in product called supplier that would get around the lack of supplier info. I could enter the data directly into the database for now. What I was thinking was a check being made on the supplier when an order is placed with each supplier activating another cart form with the totals being combined just like the display page below:

Shopping Cart Supplier Display

Would that be hard to code?

[Brent]

I'll look at it in the next few days. I am working on a shipping module anyway.

[Bluesplayer]

I'll look at it in the next few days. I am working on a shipping module anyway.

Brilliant.

If I can get this sorted it will be a load off .