question on shipping quotes

OK. im sure this has been answered already on here. i spent the last half hour reading pages of threads in teh shipping forum, and trying to fix the problem based on other peoples responses, but nothing helps.
basically my problem is that international shipping quotes are ridiculously high. for something just a few ounces, it costs 18 or 20 dollars to ship internationally.
i have gone through and checked the tare weight, and the weights of the items, etc.
all of the domestic quotes are dead on, and right where they should be, so its not multiplying ALL the shipping costs. but the international prices are not even close.
interestingly enough i have a couple of friends who use zen cart for their sites, and they have the same problem. we have not been able to fix the problem.
the weird thing is that it worked just fine for a while and just started to be messed up about 6 weeks ago or so. i thought it was a problem with the usps site that would be resolved, but so far nothing.

has anyone else had/have this problem? is there anything i can do to fix it?

What Shipping Module?

What Ship From and What Ship To Address are you using?

What weight are you testing?

What results are you getting on your site?

i am shipping from the USA from zip code 57101
i have tested international rates to canada, to the united kingdom, to australia, germany, and italy.
i have tested weights between 4.5 ounces and 2.7 pounds.

the results i am getting are much higher. for instance, a package that weight about 6 ounces to canada came back with a quote of 17.35 for air mail. if i go to the usps site and check international shipping and type in 6 ounces it tells me that it is 1.95 for air mail.

to germany a package about 1 pound came up with about 24 dollars for air mail, whereas it was only about 9 according to the usps site.
i am not getting any errors or anything.
i have tested it with a tare weight of 0:0, and my normal tare of 0:0.3
i have my max shipping weight of 30.

i am not sure what you mean by what shipping module am i using?

This is what I get for shipping from North Dakota to Canada:

Estimate Shipping Costs
Total Items: 1 Weight: 0.375lbs Amount: $25.00
Ship to:
CAD Inc
CAD First CAD Last
123 Ringwood
Toronto, M4B 1B3
ON, Canada

Available Shipping Methods Rates
Flat Rate (Best Way) $5.00
Table Rate (1 x 0.38lbs) (Best Way) $8.50
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.38lbs) (Global Express Guaranteed Document Service (2 - 3 days)) $25.25
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.38lbs) (Global Express Guaranteed Non-Document Service (2 - 3 days)) $38.00
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.38lbs) (Global Express Mail (EMS) (3 - 5 days)) $16.25
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.38lbs) (Global Priority Mail - Flat-rate Envelope (Large) (4 - 6 days)) $7.50
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.38lbs) (Global Priority Mail - Flat-rate Envelope (Small) (4 - 6 days)) $4.25
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.38lbs) (Global Priority Mail - Variable Weight (Single) (4 - 6 days)) $6.25
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.38lbs) (Airmail Letter Post (4 - 7 days)) $1.95
United States Postal Service (1 x 0.38lbs) (Economy (Surface) Letter Post (4 - 6 weeks)) $2.85

hmmm. i think the problem that i see, is that only global priority is being shown. in the shipping module, i have air mail letter, air mail parcel, surface letter, surface parcel, and global priority all selected, but for some reason only the global priority option is being shown.
i put in that canada address that you had used.

if i estimate the shipping to germany i get 3 options

United States Postal Service United States Postal Service (Global Express Mail (EMS) (3 - 5 days)) $25.35
United States Postal Service United States Postal Service (Airmail Parcel Post (4 - 10 days)) $18.60
United States Postal Service United States Postal Service (Economy (Surface) Parcel Post (4 - 6 weeks)) $20.35

this is for a package that weighs 0.154 pounds.

What version of Zen Cart are you running?

There have been updates to the USPS Shipping Module ... a couple three times over the last year to 18 months ...

i am using zen cart 1.2.7

please dont say to upgrade. i tried upgrading before, and it caused a LOT of problems, and other than this relatively small problem i am quite happy with this version. there are others who use this version without having this problem, so i know its just probably something with the way i have it set up.

im not sure when the latest upgrade to the modules were, but as i stated before, its just a problem that seems to have popped up on mine and other sites about 6 weeks ago.

Let's assume you have a bad USPS module or something ...

1 download Zen Cart Full v1.3.0.2

2 First BACKUP then Load only the usps.php files to your site

/includes/modules/shipping/usps.php

/includes/languages/english/modules/shipping/usps.php

3 write down your current settings in Admin ... Modules ... Shipping ...
for the USPS module

4 Remove/Uninstall USPS

5 Install USPS

6 Configure USPS

Voila! the magic will happen ... :cool:

so i did step #1. i downloaded the latest zen cart.
then i did step #2. i backed up, and loaded only the usps files in the directories you stated.
then i logged into the admin section to do steps #3 and 4, and when i got to modules, it doesnt give me a usps option, and instead says

Fatal error: Class usps: Cannot inherit from undefined class base in /home/vinyljun/public_html/includes/modules/shipping/usps.php on line 13

anyone? i could really use help because now the whole thing is screwed up. I tried to reload the files i backed up, and it doesnt give me an error, but it doesnt give me a usps module option.
so currently anyone who tries to make an order cant calculate shipping.

Put your original 2 files back ... let's do this a different way ...

/includes/modules/shipping/usps.php

Find the code around lines 71 - 80 and replace with:

    $this->intl_types = array('GXG Document' => 'Global Express Guaranteed Document Service',
    'GXG Non-Document' => 'Global Express Guaranteed Non-Document Service',
    'Express' => 'Global Express Mail (EMS)',
    'Priority Lg' => 'Global Priority Mail - Flat-rate Envelope (Large)',
    'Priority Sm' => 'Global Priority Mail - Flat-rate Envelope (Small)',
    'Priority Var' => 'Global Priority Mail - Variable Weight (Single)',
    'Airmail Letter' => 'Airmail Letter Post',
    'Airmail Parcel' => 'Airmail Parcel Post',
    'Surface Letter' => 'Economy (Surface) Letter Post',
    'Surface Post' => 'Economy (Surface) Parcel Post');

NOTE: be sure to uninstall and reinstall USPS ...

OK i did that now. and now the usps module is back. i removed it, and reinstalled it, and entered all of my information back in.
now it does not give me an error message on my site, butit also does not give me any shipping prices either.
anytime i enter the zip code or state, or country, it gives me no shipping quotes or prices.

in the checkout mode it says

An error occurred with the USPS shipping calculations.
If you prefer to use USPS as your shipping method, please contact the store owner.

i double checked all the info in the usps shipping module, as well as the username, and account info for usps as well, and it is all correct.

Check that you have the right account and a password added ...

Otherwise, USPS won't send a quote ...

And just to be sure ... peek at your Zip Code in the Shipping/Packaging ... you are still set to 5 digit correct?

I am having the same problem with the Canada Post Shipping Module.

I am using Zen Cart version 1.3.0.1.

I am getting reasonable shipping prices for domestic shipping but outrageous ones for the US and International shipping. I am testing with 3 different accounts. It seems that the US and International shipping prices always remain the same regardless of the number of items...(although didn't test endlessly). Also, the problem seems to go away when the "ship in own box" option is selected, however this is not a good solution.

I am really not sure what to do.

1 upgrade to v1.3.0.2

2 this thread is about the usps.php Shipping Module shipping from the US to Canada and other countries and not the Canadian Post Shipping Module

Perhaps you are better posting questions on either an existing thread on Canadian Post Shipping Module or starting a different one? :smile:

I'm having the same problem. AIRMAIL LETTER doesn't show as a shipping option on any international orders.

I'm using v1.2.7

I tried downloading v1.3.0.2 and installing the usps.com shipping module but get the same fatal error message psychosis got:

Fatal error: Class usps: Cannot inherit from undefined class base in /home/vinyljun/public_html/includes/modules/shipping/usps.php on line 13

Any clue on how to fix it?

YANNICK

Ajeh:

Put your original 2 files back ... let's do this a different way ...

/includes/modules/shipping/usps.php

Find the code around lines 71 - 80 and replace with:
...

Bingo. This is exactly what I came to the forums for today. Thanks!!

Thanks for the update ... glad you got this working ... :smile:

Feral Ward:

I'm having the same problem. AIRMAIL LETTER doesn't show as a shipping option on any international orders.

I'm using v1.2.7

I tried downloading v1.3.0.2 and installing the usps.com shipping module but get the same fatal error message psychosis got:

Fatal error: Class usps: Cannot inherit from undefined class base in /home/vinyljun/public_html/includes/modules/shipping/usps.php on line 13

Any clue on how to fix it?

YANNICK

Did you try to copy the v1.3.0.2 file directly?

You would need to modify that file for the:

class usps extends base {

To read:

class usps {