 Step 4 Next, we will setup the "Minimum or Weight Shipping"
module. By now you know how to add modules, so we assume that from now on you are at
the appropriate screen to add the options within the give module. Click on the
yellow button in the top right corner and you will get a set of boxes. Put in a name
for your shipping method, then put the amount you want to charge per unit of weight,
similar to what we did in the above module.
The difference between this module and the one above is
that you do not slap a shipping surcharge (Base) on every transaction but instead you have
the option to require a minimum amount of shipping charges. This is useful in
situations where you know that the shipping carrier will charge a given amount regardless
of how light the item is.
Again, if you put zero in the "Amount/Weight
Unit" you will, in effect, be setting the module as if it is a flat rate shipping
where the minimum is the effective flat rate. If you put zero in the minimum charge
box it will be a straight weight based shipping. In our example, we put 2 for the
charge for the "Amount/Weight Unit" and 5 for the minimum. This means
that if someone's total shipping charges is less than $5, he will be charged the minimum
of $5, but if his shipping total was more, he will pay the shipping total amount.
Step 5
Next we will discuss the "Quantity Based
Shipping". This will enable you to assign a shipping charge per product based
on the number of products the customer is checking out with. You can setup this
module to calculate the charges in two different ways.
The first is the simple (standard) form where the customer
is charged the per unit rate multiplied by the number of items he is buying based on the
set charges you have preassigned to that range. For example, if you set the charges
to be $3 per unit starting (Floor) with unit 1 and up to (ceiling) unit 10, and the next
tier to be $2 per unit starting (Floor) with unit 11 and up to (ceiling) unit 20 then
someone buying 15 items will pay $2 x 15 = $30.
The second method is the progressive method which gives you
the ability to charge an amount for each quantity range and total the amount for the total
shipping charges. You can be charging the customer the rate of 1-10 for the first
ten items, and then the rate for 11-20 for the last 5 items. So, in the above
example your shipping charges will total (10 x $3) + (5 x $2) = $30 + $10 =$40.
In the module screen, when you click the yellow button the
text boxes will show starting with the all familiar "Shipping Method" where you
enter the name. Next to it is a checkbox under the heading "Prog.".
That stands for progressive and is described above. Decide if you want it to be
progressive, then enter the floor and ceiling of the range followed by the amount you want
to charge. Click update and you will see another set of boxes for the next range.
The default is an increment of 2 but you can change the numbers the way you want.
Just make sure you keep the floor of the second range one number higher than the
ceiling of the range before it.
 A handy wild card
character is the plus "+" sign. If you put it in the floor of your last
range without putting a ceiling, you are telling the shopping cart to treat anything
above the ceiling of the previous range as part of the final range regardless how high it
is.
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