Shipping costs issue

Hi, I'm setting up my own shopping site. Some issues have come to me, one of 'em is the shipping costs. How do I program the costs for a product for the whole globe? I mean, like those big names, do I have to find out the cost for that product at a specific weight, volume, or something like this and put them in the database and do it with program? Or are there other approaches to doing that? Thanks.

If ,say,you are shipping within the UK only,it is relatively easy as "most" courier firms (i have spoken with) have far broader weight bands ....eg,up to 5kg @ 5.50 ex vat ; over 5kg @ 7.50 ex vat.

The situation gets more complex when you want to ship to other countries outside,say,the UK,as all courier firms charge shipping costs on basis of net weight and geog. destination.

From point of view of an online retailer (myself incl. ),you want a customer to have a straightforward shopping experience - ie,not have to resort to some of the pretty awful methods i've seen some use (eg,along the lines of 'email us and we'll get back to you with shipping costs').This increases the possibility of losing the sale as buyer is not prepared to wait and wants the bigger picture NOW.

So,what you really want ,that is if you are sending to countries outside UK is to have shipping costs already calculated on the basis of net weight (ie, incl. estimated amount for packaging) on basis of geog. destination and create an algorithm table. You would also have to weigh your products ,so that when customer places in basket,it will tally up the weight of goods,then prior to customer going to checkout,add a buffer zone weight for packing (eg 100g) and then work out on algorithm table which weight band that falls into.

Global courier firms offer (often wildly differing) charges based on kilo thresholds.Eg,3kg>4kg ;4kg>5kg.Anything over this threshold (even a minute amt) you will get charged the next,higher band...this is why it's important to have a buffer zone weight cost for packaging,as otherwise you will charge customer less and will yourself get lumbered with higher shipping costs when it comes to paying courier.

My advice would be to contact diff global courier firms and get their charges.Create your own excel sheet listing their charges per kilo incl. vat where applicable (*remember VAT charged only for EU destinations) and go through it kilo by kilo.This will give you a clear breakown as to who offers the most competitively costed service by destination/weight.
It's mundane and monotonous work,but worthwhile.

Good luck!

BingoStarr
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If you partner with a big shipping company they have databases they share with you. Among these are UPS and FedEx. No doubt this is fed into the sites' own databases to which you refer.

I think you need to check what is best, meaning compare service, price, speed etc. You can take service from more then 1 firm for shipping. Make a clear TOS on that as well. Let people choose from, Air, Speed, or boat shipping.

Hey,
I think OScommerce has some sort of shipping calculator embedded into the script. If you find a website hosting company with cPanel in it, then it is very helpful.

I have many clients who use the script to sell products online.. it collects the money, calculates the shipping, the whole deal for you. Not to mention its free for the seller....

goodluck in the business!