USPS v UPS / FEDEX

[nrodney]

"The plan is to use USPS Priority Mail boxes that it looks like are already shown in MIVA. Do I need to configure boxes with the size of these or is that already 'known'?"

All permissible box dimensions that would qualify for each USPS method are included automatically when the software sends the shipping information to the server. If you have boxes set up that cause the package to exceed the limits of the methods deemed by USPS then those methods would not be available at checkout.


"You give a choice between weight and quantity shipping but I need weight (for UPS) and volume (for USPS). How can I do this? Does 'quantity' calculate based on the quantity of products usaing given dimensions entered?"

Both shipping modules are weight based by default. However, if you use the Boxes feature in Miva you can only select 1 option as a limiter: Weight, Quantity and Pack by Cubic Volume. Pack by Quantity simply adds a quantity restriction on the amount of items the box can hold, whereas Pack by Weight adds a restriction on the total weight the box can hold. In both cases the software looks for the first box available that can hold the largest item in the order and then checks to see if that box is also eligible based on quantity or weight restrictions that may be placed on the box.


"We have many items in many sizes. We were hoping that we could enter weights and cubic volume dimensions for each. Then, have shown UPS or Fedex rates based on weight and distance (as now) and also USPS Flat Rate Priority Mail boxes - given a possible mix of several items which would fit the volume of the Flat Rate box."

All the live rate shipping modules require product weight. If you set the Box Packing feature to the default "Always Use the Fallback Package Dimensions" and keep those dimensions at 0x0x0 then the rate will be calculated by weight and distance from the source zip code. If you use product dimensions, then you will also need to set up boxes to accommodate the various dimensions and set the Box Packing feature to something other than the default mentioned above.


"If I choose "Product Always Ships in Separate Packaging" wouldn't it use a separate box for each item even if more might fit? We have 3 pound items that will ship in a USPS envelope for $7.35 and 5X3 pounds in a box at $14.35. Would the software show 5 envelopes at $7.35 = $36.75?"

Yes, if you select "Product Always Ships in Separate Packaging" it would ignore your boxes and always put a single product in to its own box based on the Product Dimensions, even if more might technically fit in the actual box you are using. So if you had 2 or more of that product in your order it would create a box for each one of the products.

If the weight/qty restrictions do not fit your business needs, then I would recommend trying the Pack by Cubic Volume feature, which can does the following (from our reference guide):

https://docs.miva.com/reference-guide/pack-by-weight

Dimensional Weight and Pack by Cubic Volume
Before 2005, most carriers charged by package weight. If you shipped a large but light weight package, your shipping cost was low, but the package size reduced the number of packages the vehicle could transport. This was great for shippers, but not so great for the carrier. Carriers wanted to charge more for large, light weight packages, and the method they came up with is called "Dimensional Weight". USPS sometimes calls this "Shape Based Postage Pricing".

Dimensional weight lets the carrier charge a minimum rate based on the size of the box. The carrier looks at the volume of a box and says: for a package this size, we want to charge you for 18 pounds of weight. If the box weighs less than 18 pounds, you still pay for an 18 pound box. If the box weighs more than 18 pounds, you pay a standard weight calculation rate. The carrier does all this with a magic number called the "dimensional factor". This number can vary depending on:

The carrier
Whether the shipment is domestic or international
The type of shipping service
The carrier takes the dimensions of the box and divides it by their "dimensional factor". For example, FedEx domestic shipping uses a dimensional factor of 166 cubic inches/pound.

If you use FedEx to domestic ship a box that is 10" x 10" x 10", the dimensional weight is: (10 x 10 x 10) / 166 = 6.02 pounds

The 6.02 pounds is rounded up to 7 pounds. FedEx charges you for a 7 pound box or the actual weight of the box, whichever is greater.

Pack by Cubic Volume
To use Pack by Cubic Volume, you must set dimensions on your products. Pack by Cubic Volume ignores boxes that you've created in your on-line store. Instead, it adds up the volume of products in the order and sends the total volume to the carrier as one imaginary box.

Technically, what Pack by Cubic Volume does is:

Add up the volume of products in the order.
Take the cube root of the total volume.
Send the carrier an imaginary box with equal sides.
The carrier calculates the dimensional weight of the imaginary box and that's your shipping rate.
If your carrier is using dimensional weight, you can use any of the Box Packing options:

Always Use the Fallback Package Dimensions
Pack by Weight
Pack by Quantity
Pack by Cubic Volume
Pack by Cubic Volume just gives you another option to experiment with so you can get the best shipping rates for your products.

warning Because Pack by Cubic Volume creates an "imaginary" box, you cannot use it with Box Weight.

[lesliekirk]

in our latest release 9.13 Rate shopping is now permitted for the UPS Developer Kit module when using negotiated rates. This will allow USPS rates to display along side UPS rates but not FedEx rates.

Thanks for confirming what I heard.

[kayakbabe]

Ideally, we could fill a box to a maximum cubic volume or weight or qty limit. At least that is how I thought it worked until I read rbuelna's descriptions above.

My assumption before reading rbuelna's example #3 regarding a 1x1 box

define the box as 1"x1" with qty 3
so a .3x1x1 and a .2x1x1 and .1x1x1 would ship in that 1x1x1 box.
AND
up to 2 products exceeding 1x1 would not fit..
so .5x1x1 and .7x1x1 should ship in two boxes..

BUT from what was described in example #3 from what rbuelna said.
the .5x1x1 and .7x1x1 should ship in one 1x1x1 box.

is it correct that miva would put these two products ( .5x1x1 and a .7x1x1 ) into one 1x1x1 box?

[talerco]

rbuelna - after carefully reading your message - many times - it seems that we may not be able to do what we want.

We have many items in many sizes. We were hoping that we could enter weights and cubic volume dimensions for each. Then, have shown UPS or Fedex rates based on weight and distance (as now) and also USPS Flat Rate Priority Mail boxes - given a possible mix of several items which would fit the volume of the Flat Rate box.

If I choose "Product Always Ships in Separate Packaging" wouldn't it use a separate box for each item even if more might fit? We have 3 pound items that will ship in a USPS envelope for $7.35 and 5X3 pounds in a box at $14.35. Would the software show 5 envelopes at $7.35 = $36.75?

Am I correct that what we're looking to do is not doable given current MIVA software?
Thanks, David
SunOrganic Farm

[talerco]

Thanks for your reply.
My first questions right off are;

The plan is to use USPS Priority Mail boxes that it looks like are already shown in MIVA. Do I need to configure boxes with the size of these or is that already 'known'?

You give a choice between weight and quantity shipping but I need weight (for UPS) and volume (for USPS). How can I do this? Does 'quantity' calculate based on the quantity of products usaing given dimensions entered?

To answer you - we are using MIVA installed USPS Rate Calculation.

We did have 1 update not installed so I will do that and hope it helps.
Thanks, David

[rbuelna]

In the past we have only offered UPS shipping.
We are trying to set up to also offer USPS and have hit a point where we have a couple basic questions;

I understand that UPS won't allow options to be shown along with other (USPS) options. We are OK with showing Fedex + USPS but have been unable to get that to show. We have tried every combination of settings in MIVA imaginable.

For the sample item we are testing with we entered dimensions for UPSP use. We also checked (and unchecked) 'show online pricing' but Regional A and B boxes are not shown.

We increased the quantity of this sample product to be far too much volume for any USPS box but it continues to show choices including the Small Box which would only hold 1 or 2.

In MIVA 'Shipping Settings' under the tab 'Settings' there is a drop down choice of 'Pack by Weight' or 'Pack by Cubic Volume'. We have it set a t Pack by Wieght. If I change a screen comes up saying the by weight module will be discarded so we have not done that. It seems we have to choose between weight (UPS/FEDEX) and volume (USPS). Is it true we can't get both?

Very frustrated at this point. Will we ever get what we want to work. FEDEX for weight and distance and USPS for volume in MIVA? Have printed out the MIVA manual sections and virtually memorized. If not, is there a module recommended that would accomplish this.....and maybe even allow UPS / USPS? We're not back end computer experts but willing to trial and error to get stuff done but this has us stumped.
Thanks, David
SunOrganic Farm

one more thing - yesterday when we x'ed 'Show online pricing' I THINK Regional boxes showed - and I'm SURE it showed discounted USPS pricing which is not available to us....or old prices. This is not the case today. Any way to show current pricing once we get back to this showing?

Hello David,

in our latest release 9.13 Rate shopping is now permitted for the UPS Developer Kit module when using negotiated rates. This will allow USPS rates to display along side UPS rates but not FedEx rates.

Regarding your other questions with the pack by weight under shipping settings > Settings screen. I'm not sure why you're getting a pop up saying "the by weight module" will be discarded. I'd have to look at your Miva admin to get you an honest answer. It looks like we don't host your site so I don't have access to your server to look for myself.

From the Docs: https://docs.miva.com/reference-guide/pack-by-weight

If you select Pack by Weight, it's still a good idea to enter values in the Fallback Package Dimensions field. If you forget to create boxes, or if you set the max weight in your boxes to zero, having Fallback Package Dimensions guarantees that the system will always have a backup box size.

Boxes:
Do you have any boxes configured in your store yet?

The software does not actually assign the box to the item in the store,

it is actually just using the box dimension (or weight) to calculate shipping costs. The first thing to decide before you create boxes is whether or not you are going to ship based on weight or quantity, not selecting one of these methods under Menu> Shipping Settings > Settings: Packaging Rules will make the box sizes you create irrelevant. Once you have decided on weight or quantity you want to create your boxes in order of smallest to largest because the software will look at the boxes in the order they were added to the database.


Let's say that you selected pack by quantity and the first box you created was a 1x1x1 inch cube and ships a quantity of 3. Then a customer orders a 1x1x1 inch cubed product in a quantity of 3. The way the logic works behind the scenes, the software will take the quantity of 3 - 1x1x1 inch cubed- products and fit them in to your 1x1x1 inch box because it is specified in the admin as being able to hold a quantity of 3.

The software only uses the actual product dimensions to retrieve rates when the "Product Always Ships in Separate Packaging" is enabled in the product menu. Otherwise, it uses the box dimensions of the box that would fulfill the order for the rates. Our recommendation would be to create boxes that are designed to hold specific amounts of products. For instance, if you ship 2 rolls of duct tape in 1 box, create a box that has the dimensions for that order and set the max qty to 2 and create a box that ships 4, etc... Alternatively, you may want to use the Pack By Weight module since that will use the same logic as described above, but instead will look for boxes that can hold the products based on their weight.


Regarding your question about showing online pricing in the USPS module and it showing discounted USPS rates not available to you or possible old rates, are you using our native USPS module or a 3rd party module like the USPS Advanced module made by Viking Coders?

Let me know if this information helps. Remember you can always submit a ticket to us by emailing [email protected] as well.

Regards,

[talerco]

In the past we have only offered UPS shipping.
We are trying to set up to also offer USPS and have hit a point where we have a couple basic questions;

I understand that UPS won't allow options to be shown along with other (USPS) options. We are OK with showing Fedex + USPS but have been unable to get that to show. We have tried every combination of settings in MIVA imaginable.

For the sample item we are testing with we entered dimensions for UPSP use. We also checked (and unchecked) 'show online pricing' but Regional A and B boxes are not shown.

We increased the quantity of this sample product to be far too much volume for any USPS box but it continues to show choices including the Small Box which would only hold 1 or 2.

In MIVA 'Shipping Settings' under the tab 'Settings' there is a drop down choice of 'Pack by Weight' or 'Pack by Cubic Volume'. We have it set a t Pack by Wieght. If I change a screen comes up saying the by weight module will be discarded so we have not done that. It seems we have to choose between weight (UPS/FEDEX) and volume (USPS). Is it true we can't get both?

Very frustrated at this point. Will we ever get what we want to work. FEDEX for weight and distance and USPS for volume in MIVA? Have printed out the MIVA manual sections and virtually memorized. If not, is there a module recommended that would accomplish this.....and maybe even allow UPS / USPS? We're not back end computer experts but willing to trial and error to get stuff done but this has us stumped.
Thanks, David
SunOrganic Farm

one more thing - yesterday when we x'ed 'Show online pricing' I THINK Regional boxes showed - and I'm SURE it showed discounted USPS pricing which is not available to us....or old prices. This is not the case today. Any way to show current pricing once we get back to this showing?