AgoraCart Free User Forums

I've got a problem with the shipping amount calculated by the SBW module being significantly lower than what I get with ups.com's calculator. I presently have it set so that UPS is the only option for the carrier.

Here are some examples:

UPS Ground - SBW has $9.17. UPS.com has $11.59
UPS 2nd Day Air - SBW has $18.81, UPS.com has $22.63
UPS Next Day Air - SBW has $41.15, UPS.com has $46.11

I have residential delivery selected for both calculators, and they both have the same correct ship from zip code. The order is shipping in a single box and is not over any weight limits. On UPS.com, for "How will you get your package(s) to UPS?" I have selected "I will drop off my prepaid package(s)". No such option exists in the "UPS Pickup Type" in the AgoraCart shipping manager, so I selected Customer Counter. When that failed to generate a correct amount, I tried every other choice on the drop down list one by one. None of them made any difference in the amount that was calculated. I also noticed that making changes in the UPS Pickup Type list did not affect the generated code that's to be pasted into the chosen gateway order form (and, yes, I'm using the right gateway form). Is there some other code that needs to be manually changed for the pickup type? If so, which pickup type would I choose if I'm going to deliver the package to a UPS shipping location rather than have it picked up by them?

Here are some of my settings:

Use Alternate Origins?: No
Use the custom shipping logic? No
Use the Live/Real-Time SBW module?: Yes
Allow Shipments via which services?: UPS Yes
How do you wish to connect to UPS(non-XML) / USPS XML?: http-lib
Adjust UPS rates up or down from the quote?: No

So, any ideas on why the module is so far off in its calculations? The fact that changing the UPS pickup type makes no difference to the calculations leads me to believe that something somewhere isn't being changed in the code.

My shopping cart URL is below. It's the default cart and still has just the fake products since I'm not going to go through the effort of setting this cart up for real until I'm certain that it's going to work for me (and work properly). If I can get this cart to work, and I'm happy with it, then I'll likely upgrade to the Pro version.

http://www.thayersgraphic.com/reflections/store5/agora.cgi?

The non-XML UPS API is quite different than the UPS XML API that can be used by Premier/Lifetime Members w/ Booster Pack. The XML API is much more accurate.

I'm not sure that the non-XML API takes the "Fuel Recovery" cost into account.
That is why there is the Adjust UPS rates up or down from the quote?

Set it to "Yes" and set the percentage to "1.26"

HTH!


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Bonnie - AgoraCart Moderator

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Actually, that's not what's happening. On UPS.com, I can look at a detailed list of all the charges, so I can see how much the fuel surcharge is, and it's nowhere near the amount of the difference between what SBW is generating and what UPS.com is generating. The fuel charge for the UPS Ground delivery was $0.53, yet the difference between SBW and USP.com is $2.42. With the 2nd Day Air, the discrepancy is $3.82, the fuel charge $2.78. For Next Day Air, the discrepancy is $4.96, but the fuel charge is $5.66. So, as you can see, it's not the fuel charge that isn't being added.

1.26% wouldn't even come close to covering the difference. On ground delivery, SBW is over 26% off, for 2nd Day Air it's over 20% off, and for Next Day Air it's over 12% off. To cover the discrepancy in ground delivery, I'd have to have it set to adjust the rate by 26.4%, which would result in a huge overcharge for some of the other shipping methods, which, in turn, would make having that supposed real-time shipping calculator totally pointless. As far as I can see, there's no pattern to the discrepancy. But then, I'm not a math wizard, so maybe someone who is can see a pattern to the amount that it's off.

If it's perfectly normal for the non-XML module to be that far off in its calculations, quite frankly, I don't think it should even be included in the free version. I have to wonder how many people are trusting what it calculates and not realizing that they are losing money on shipping. Also, this does not explain why changing the pickup method makes no difference in the calculations. There is a fee to have UPS pick up your packages, and that should be factored in when you select it, like it is on UPS.com. Why even have that "UPS Pickup Type" if it doesn't do anything?

Accurate real-time shipping calculation is one of the most important things for my shopping cart. I have no way to test it on the Pro version since the demo isn't set up to let you see what the shipping charge is, and even if it was, I couldn't tell if the charge was right unless I knew what the Ship From zip code was. There is no free trial version for AgoraCart Pro, and there is no money back guarantee if I'm not completely satisfied, so if I got it, I'd be taking the chance that its SBW module isn't completely accurate either. So, unless someone can guarantee that the SBW module on the Pro version works right, I'm afraid that I'll be looking elsewhere for a shopping cart.

The API provides QUOTES that's all, just QUOTES.
AgoraCart gets the quotes DIRECTLY from UPS... and may vary than the UPS site which utilizes the more accurate UPS XML API...
I don't know what to tell you other than for "Adjust UPS rates up or down from the quote?"
Set it to "Yes" and set the percentage to "1.26"

Just try it and let me know if you get calculations that are closer...

BTW, I didn't say "1.26%"...... Just put "1.26" in the field (less the quote marks)...

For more accurate shipping quotes, you will need to use the Pro Version and have a Premier/Lifetime Membership with a Booster Pack....


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God Bless!
Bonnie - AgoraCart Moderator

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For the rate adjustment, it says "Will use percentage entered below to adjust the rate of shipping up or down. Enable if the rates differ from what you actually pay for the shipment charges. Default is yes. Enter Percentage to adjust by: [] Will be a percentage of the shipping cost." I naturally assumed that meant that typing in 1.26 would give an adjustment of 1.26% of the shipping cost. But you're right. It is definitely not 1.26%. Using that setting, UPS Ground comes to within 4 cents of being right. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the other shipping methods. 2nd Day Air is overcharged by $1.07 and Next Day Air is overcharged by $5.74. I increased the weight of the order by a pound to see what happened. Ground delivery was then 17 cents under the actual charge, 2nd Air was $1.04 over and Next Day Air was $6.27 over. I expected 2nd Day Air to be more than before, not less, so I've totally given up on trying to figure out the pattern to the discrepancies. Even if there was a way to adjust each shipping method by a different amount, I don't think it would come up with correct quotes. And it's still not factoring in what's selected for UPS Pickup Type.

I'm not willing to lay out a hundred dollars for a cart that I can't test out to see how well it works, so I guess that's that. Thanks for trying to help.

I decided to change my shipping method plans and stick to USPS Priority and Express Mail. It's cheaper, doesn't have all those surcharges added on, and I can easily print out postage-paid mailing labels. This means that I'll be able to use AgoraCart after all since the quotes for Priority and Express Mail are correct even in the free cart.

I've been busy creating my cart, and I have several questions and issues, particularly regarding layout and design, so expect to see more posts from me in the days ahead. I'm probably going to go ahead and get a Pro Version Membership so that I can take advantage of the more advanced help in that user forum, but I was wondering about the process of upgrading from the free AgoraCart to the Pro Version. I've already done a whole lot of customizations of the cart's layout and appearance. Most of the changes have been to the CSS files and the store headers and footers. If I upgrade, will it be easy for me to retain these customizations?

Yes, there is an upgrader file to do the upgrade...


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God Bless!
Bonnie - AgoraCart Moderator

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