Discussion Forum: Suggestions: Message 736341
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 Author: bb314137 View Messages Posted By bb314137
 Posted: Jun 16, 2013 17:05
 Subject: Thoughts on instant checkout & postage...
 Viewed: 295 times
 Topic: Suggestions
 Status:Implemented
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bb314137 (859)

Location:  Spain, Andalucia Ceuta i Melilla
Member Since Contact Type Status
Apr 3, 2012 Contact Member Seller
No Longer RegisteredNo Longer Registered
Store Closed Store: Bricktopio
No Longer Registered
I was the kind of person that never wanted instant checkout to be implemented
here in BL. I thought it would bring problems, overpaying or underpaying,
and also would stop a way of communication with my buyers. I really like to communicate
with them.

However, I was recently invited to test out another Lego selling website that
is under production. This site in particular has instant checkout implemented.
Well, after receiving an order today... I was thoroughly impressed by how well
it worked.

When setting up your store, it requires you to add your shipping methods, either
by weight bands or price bands. On countries where you have dimension limits,
that could be hard to implement. Anyways, after some thinking, this would be
my solution.

First, the simplest things would be to add weight ranges from the cart (you'd
need to weight your envelopes/boxes) and add the price. In example, if my bubble
envelopes weight less than 20 grams, I'd add a shipping band from 0-75 grams,
and put the price for under 100 grams. Or, if my boxes weight about 150 grams,
I'd put another band from 450 grams to... 750 grams, for under 1 KG!

That is the simple part, now let's get to restrictions or special needs.
I'm not sure about restrictions on other countries, but here the restrictions
are not too harsh. For them, and special bulky items, my solution would be to
have a special intern mark in the catalog, so the system knows they are bulky.
For example, let's say I'm adding a raised baseplate to the catalog,
another field could be if it's bulky or not. Bulky could be considered over
2 centimeters high on all three dimensions, or something like that. Yes, it
would
require some work to be implemented in the actual catalog items, but with this
community's help, it would be easily done. You could also make differences
between big bulky items, such as raised baseplates, or semi-bulky items, such
as some panels. A raised baseplate would make a difference in my shipping costs,
but not a panel, normally.

Now, with the mark, what it would happen is, you get a special option on your
shipping methods to see if your store "cares" for bulky items. I mean, when the
system is making the shipping price to give it to the buyer, it would detect
that his order has bulky items, and then, predefined by the seller, you could
get two different options. Either the seller could establish new rates for bulky
items, or the make the buyer request a regular invoice, so the seller can calculate
the shipping cost.

Solved the restrictions problem. Now on to fees. All fees should be noted up
front, anyways. It's easy to automatize lot limits/fees, packing fees, etc.
The seller would be required to add them, and the system would add them to the
order and show them to the buyer along with shipping prices, before checkout.

Lastly, I would make automatic checkout, at least in the beginning, an option,
not a must. I'm sure many, many sellers would implemented, and those that
feel that they can't, just would not. Probably the former would be small
stores who cannot afford to loose 2$ on shipping and that. That way, you'd
make everyone happy.

On another note, I would automatize fees as a priority, and that cost should
be noted up front before checkout, even if you don't have instant checkout,
as you don't need postage to calculate them.

After this, and having all fees noted up front, postage should always be real
PO cost.

I hope you made it to the bottom of the page, as it was hard for me to write
this long thing.
I you have any more ideas, I'd love you to post them, or to refute my ideas,
that is what the forum is for. I posted is as a suggestion as it is how I'd
like the system to work, or how I think it would work the best. Lots of ideas
in my head!

Cheers,
Gerald

(Minor but huge typos in the other one )

Message Has 13 Replies:

View Thread Re: Thoughts on instant checkout & postage... - flyingo330 (276)
Hi Gerald, I am just a buyer, and I am not sure I understand all the stuff you wrote, but definitely agree that all the costs before shipping should be added up front before [...]
(133 months ago, Jun 16, 2013, to Suggestions)
View Thread Re: Thoughts on instant checkout & postage... - Pokernut (1005)
For and against Gerald. While it has a lot of pros for it some of the cons, from my perspective, are complicated. If it totally customisable for the seller re the packagung restrictions, [...]
(133 months ago, Jun 16, 2013, to Suggestions)
View Thread Re: Thoughts on instant checkout & postage... - DEREKFST (11700)
I voted no and will always vote no unless there is an opt out clause. Over half my orders especially OS are sent as letters which means a 20mm maximum thickness. Without the [...]
(133 months ago, Jun 16, 2013, to Suggestions)
View Thread Re: Thoughts on instant checkout & postage... - calebfishn (2143)
"On countries where you have dimension limits,that could be hard to implement." What you say there is a problem. The shipping cost for almost all of my orders is dependent on [...]
(133 months ago, Jun 16, 2013, to Suggestions)
View Thread Re: Thoughts on instant checkout & postage... - connie (21036)
This was discussed also the other day in - Need Beta Testers - Seller Automation - thread. I think there are too many cons with this system. I received many private e-mails [...]
(133 months ago, Jun 16, 2013, to Suggestions)
View Thread Re: Thoughts on instant checkout & postage... - Rbobo (3014)
Bricklink, the community, seems to prefer that actual shipping costs be passed on to the buyer. Any attempt to mandate instant checkout WILL raise the average cost of shipping. [...]
(133 months ago, Jun 17, 2013, to Suggestions)
View Thread Re: Thoughts on instant checkout & postage... - bricksalabim (1353)
Instant checkout for sets - yes, possible (shipping price can be set for each single set). However, a combination of sets/parts or several sets in one order would still [...]
(133 months ago, Jun 17, 2013, to Suggestions)
View Thread Re: Thoughts on instant checkout & postage... - bb314137 (859)
A follow up on my previous post. Please consider all this points before even voting: - This method is totally optional. The seller can choose wether to implement it or not. [...]
(133 months ago, Jun 17, 2013, to Suggestions)
View Thread Re: Thoughts on instant checkout & postage... - bb200521 (471)
often new buyer don't read the help/tuition page on how BL work. And you offer to make more differences on how the process work depending of each store.... then how could [...]
(133 months ago, Jun 17, 2013, to Suggestions)
View Thread Re: Thoughts on instant checkout & postage... - enig (6342)
Alright time to chip in. First of all - I like seeing someone devoting such a big amount of time for something. Thank you G. secondly, and I dont want to put you down, but let [...]
(133 months ago, Jun 17, 2013, to Suggestions)
View Thread Re: Thoughts on instant checkout & postage... - LastingToysInc (5681)
But how the heck do you handle 'volume' based shipping. Most countries for airmail have gone to volume based shipping for 'LEGO sets' since they are light/bulky [...]
(133 months ago, Jun 17, 2013, to Suggestions)
View Thread Re: Thoughts on instant checkout & postage... - LastingToysInc (5681)
And as per any site in the world - that ships - it's always called shipping & handling. We add 3-6$ to any raw shipping cost to cover boxes/tapes/worms etc, and it's [...]
(133 months ago, Jun 17, 2013, to Suggestions)
View Thread Re: Thoughts on instant checkout & postage... - bb314137 (859)
On a side not and not wanting to bring up this old discussion, Brick Owl is using one of my ideas of having dimensions on every part and adding them up to semi-calculate volume. [...]
(133 months ago, Jun 29, 2013, to Suggestions)

41 Messages in this Thread:

 Msg 1 « - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 2 - flyingo330 (276) 133 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 3 - Pokernut (1005) 133 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 4 - eileenkeeney (1610) 133 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 5 - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 6 - Timothy_Smith (1537) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 7 - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 8 - Timothy_Smith (1537) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 9 - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 10 - DEREKFST (11700) 133 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 11 - Pokernut (1005) 133 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 12 - Brettj666 (1111) 133 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 13 - Timothy_Smith (1537) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 14 - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 15 - Timothy_Smith (1537) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 16 - enig (6342) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 17 - Timothy_Smith (1537) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 18 - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 19 - Brettj666 (1111) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 20 - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 21 - Brettj666 (1111) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 22 - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 23 - starbeanie (10841) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 24 - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 25 - starbeanie (10841) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 26 - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 27 - Brettj666 (1111) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 28 - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 29 - calebfishn (2143) 133 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 30 - connie (21036) 133 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 31 - Rbobo (3014) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 32 - bricksalabim (1353) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 33 - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 34 - bb200521 (471) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 35 - enig (6342) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 36 - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 37 - LastingToysInc (5681) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 38 - LastingToysInc (5681) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 39 - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 40 - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 29, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 41 - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 29, 2013 to Suggestions

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The status of this message was changed from Open to Implemented on Apr 3, 2024