Are the Product Dimensions for shipping purposes? I don't see it being displayed in product description. I'm currently running OpenCart with the FedEx module.
Thanks!
Not directly. The FedEx module has separate "average" dimensions at this time configurable in the FedEx config area.
A proper product-based-dimension system would take a bit of work to handle a proper box/weight/dimension calculation and we are trying to make a common class for packages that all shipping modules can share in the future.
As Jay mentioned, you can display them if needed by following this (if using 1.4.7 or 1.4.
:
REQ Module Dimensions and Weight on Product.
A proper product-based-dimension system would take a bit of work to handle a proper box/weight/dimension calculation and we are trying to make a common class for packages that all shipping modules can share in the future.
As Jay mentioned, you can display them if needed by following this (if using 1.4.7 or 1.4.
:REQ Module Dimensions and Weight on Product.
Thanks Qphoria. I need to make sure that my FedEx shipping charges to the customer are accurate. I don't want to short-charge the customer on shipping only to find out later that it actually costs more to ship the package. I understand that the FedEx module has a separate "average" dimensions configuration. But how would it know the weight and dimensions? Is there something that I would have to do at my FedEx account?
I'm launching my store in a couple days/next week, and would like to get everything almost perfect.
Thanks!
I'm launching my store in a couple days/next week, and would like to get everything almost perfect.
Thanks!
@codemunky, if I'm not mistaken, none of the modules (USPS, UPS, FedEx, RoyalMail, etc) actually uses product dimensions to determine shipping. They typically just use the combined weight of cart items to infer how many parcels are needed and for how much. This shouldn't be surprising since there isn't a place on the admin menu (yet) where you can define all your packaging containers (LxWxH). Without them, you can't expect the system to know how to package your items virtually. So to answer your question, yes, you're bound to over/under charge your customers sometimes but this is not a fault of the system as I'll explain in a moment.
Even if you could provide the system with packaging containers information, the system will still have a hard time figuring out how to pack your items into the containers optimally. What you have is called the "Bin Packing Problem" in computer science and finding an optimal solution is next to impossible (unless the problem size is extremely small like for a few items). This is due to the fact that the system will need to search through an exponential combination of packing arrangements to find an optimal solution. No computer on earth has that type of capacity in the foreseeable future.
Having said that, there are ways of finding an approximate solution that is not necessarily optimal but good enough. This is the driving force behind the Weight3D shipping extension I just created:
http://forum.opencart.com/viewtopic.php?f=119&t=28070
You can see the results by playing with the demo at:
http://www.solvingmaze.com/demo
Weight3D uses the dimension and weight of your products and packaging containers to determine shipping. You get much more realistic and accurate estimate than by using weight or volume alone. With Weight3D, you don't have to worry about under-charging or over-charging your customers. It will always try to package items into as few parcels as possible while keeping the cost down for customers.
Hope that clarifies things a bit.
-Davin
Even if you could provide the system with packaging containers information, the system will still have a hard time figuring out how to pack your items into the containers optimally. What you have is called the "Bin Packing Problem" in computer science and finding an optimal solution is next to impossible (unless the problem size is extremely small like for a few items). This is due to the fact that the system will need to search through an exponential combination of packing arrangements to find an optimal solution. No computer on earth has that type of capacity in the foreseeable future.
Having said that, there are ways of finding an approximate solution that is not necessarily optimal but good enough. This is the driving force behind the Weight3D shipping extension I just created:
http://forum.opencart.com/viewtopic.php?f=119&t=28070
You can see the results by playing with the demo at:
http://www.solvingmaze.com/demo
Weight3D uses the dimension and weight of your products and packaging containers to determine shipping. You get much more realistic and accurate estimate than by using weight or volume alone. With Weight3D, you don't have to worry about under-charging or over-charging your customers. It will always try to package items into as few parcels as possible while keeping the cost down for customers.
Hope that clarifies things a bit.
-Davin
@Qphoria, you mentioned that you're trying to make a common class for packages that all shipping modules can share in the future. By any chance, is that still on the road map? I'll be very interested in integrating my Weight3D or other future shipping extensions more tightly with the core class.
Of all the open source e-Commerce systems I have come across so far, OpenCart has been the easiest for me to integrate with. It''s almost like a marriage made in heaven.
-Davin
http://www.solvingmaze.com
Of all the open source e-Commerce systems I have come across so far, OpenCart has been the easiest for me to integrate with. It''s almost like a marriage made in heaven.
-Davin
http://www.solvingmaze.com
this is crazy, i never had this issue with OSCommerce.elmstreet wrote: ↑Fri Mar 04, 2011 3:38 am@codemunky, if I'm not mistaken, none of the modules (USPS, UPS, FedEx, RoyalMail, etc) actually uses product dimensions to determine shipping. They typically just use the combined weight of cart items to infer how many parcels are needed and for how much. This shouldn't be surprising since there isn't a place on the admin menu (yet) where you can define all your packaging containers (LxWxH). Without them, you can't expect the system to know how to package your items virtually. So to answer your question, yes, you're bound to over/under charge your customers sometimes but this is not a fault of the system as I'll explain in a moment.
Even if you could provide the system with packaging containers information, the system will still have a hard time figuring out how to pack your items into the containers optimally. What you have is called the "Bin Packing Problem" in computer science and finding an optimal solution is next to impossible (unless the problem size is extremely small like for a few items). This is due to the fact that the system will need to search through an exponential combination of packing arrangements to find an optimal solution. No computer on earth has that type of capacity in the foreseeable future.
Having said that, there are ways of finding an approximate solution that is not necessarily optimal but good enough. This is the driving force behind the Weight3D shipping extension I just created:
http://forum.opencart.com/viewtopic.php?f=119&t=28070
You can see the results by playing with the demo at:
http://www.solvingmaze.com/demo
Weight3D uses the dimension and weight of your products and packaging containers to determine shipping. You get much more realistic and accurate estimate than by using weight or volume alone. With Weight3D, you don't have to worry about under-charging or over-charging your customers. It will always try to package items into as few parcels as possible while keeping the cost down for customers.
Hope that clarifies things a bit.
-Davin
I ship tires, i calculated dimensional weight and ran an compared it with actual weight then used the greater of the two and converted tires sizes into lengths height an width. the sizes i set in the product on OSC was pretty much an exact quote on shipping .. it is retarted to have an option that allows us to set the dimension for each product an not allow shipping to use it
While it's not ideal, it's also not needed by many. Any half competent developer could take the dimensional data and put together a shipping method that uses it to calculate what you wantsupport@gottires.com wrote: ↑Sat Apr 30, 2022 2:41 amthis is crazy, i never had this issue with OSCommerce.
I ship tires, i calculated dimensional weight and ran an compared it with actual weight then used the greater of the two and converted tires sizes into lengths height an width. the sizes i set in the product on OSC was pretty much an exact quote on shipping .. it is retarted to have an option that allows us to set the dimension for each product an not allow shipping to use it
And by shipping method, especially with the use of a service.
Dedication and passion goes to those who are able to push and merge a project.
Regards,
Straightlight
Programmer / Opencart Tester
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