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*Possible* shipping calculation bug

TeupTeup
edited June 2015 in Site Issues Vote Up0Vote Down
I encountered something in the shipping cost calculation system that may be a little suspicous. I think it's more likely not to be a bug, but just to be sure I'm posting this anyway.

I have an order that checked out as a letter shipment, but it's going to be tough to fit it into one. So far, so 'good' :)
Now this buyer placed another order, generating no extra shipping charges. Weight-wise, that is sound. Volume-wise, I'm not so sure. This buyer added quite a few parts.

So my question is, does the addition system properly take volume into account? I would have expected the addition to cause the order to become a boxed shipment.
For admin, the orders are 3686537 and 4181395. I cannot be sure because the margins that I have set have come about through trial and error, but as they are usually correct these days and this one deviates, I'd like to know anyway. Thanks!

Comments

  • 10 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • LawrenceLawrence
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    It does take account of volume, additions are new orders, that take into account the shipping details of the previous orders items
  • TeupTeup
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    Thanks for confirming that. Still leaves me to wonder why it turns out so off this time, but I can live with an inaccurate prediction every once in a while :)

    Perhaps it should automatically add a bit or margin on large items to account for the inflexibility and inevitable space waste they cause when packing. Although I can also understand if you prefer the system to be purely mathematically correct.
  • pumbaughpumbaugh
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    Perhaps a dimension is off? If a piece has a dimension that is off it could cause you a problem when it comes to fitting the piece in the actual containers/envelope/box.
  • minithingsforlifeminithingsforlife
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    I agree that it could be an inaccurate dimension. It would be good if there was a way to see dimensions for all parts on an order without having to click through each one.
  • TeupTeup
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    Thanks for that suggestion, I will inspect the catalog!

    Items like 1x6x5 panels are hard to fit, as they are almost perfectly square. I'd much rather have a long beam with the same volume, they're much easier to fit in. So besides a parts LxWxH volume, its squareness is also factor, as square parts have reduced options when it comes to puzzling everything together. I'm yet to actually pack the order, but judging by what it looks like on my packing desk it's going to be rather hard ;)
  • robernatrobernat
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    @Teup
    Reasonable 'limits' are important, so a matter of tweaking your shippingmethods...
    For example on my 350 grams Padded mailer methods, my limit is 280 grams, not that could not fit 300 or even 320 grams in some cases, but it is just a safety net in case indeed one gets a lot of odly formed or hard to pack items... If for some reason it brings the buyer into the next limit, it's easier to refund after packing then to break your head over 'how am I going to get 'that' into a mailer' ;-)
  • TeupTeup
    edited June 2015 Vote Up0Vote Down
    Yeah true, practically I'd just go for box shipping right away on this one. And even leave all my settings exactly as they are now. I don't mind if it's sometimes off, I have been on the lucky side of it too, so it's only fair ;)

    But I'm just going to try to pack it as a letter anyway, just to see how far I get. It just raised some question marks as it didn't look like it could fit by a long shot. Still, I could be wrong, maybe the system will yet prove to outsmart me. I'll update when I'm done packing :D
  • TeupTeup
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    Update: Packed it, didn't fit :P

    My settings were already very conservative, but still it's just off. The shipment turned out to be about 50% over the max size of my specified max volume. (That is, if I fit everything in the specified LxW configuration, it turns out to be 50% higher than my max height parameter).

    First one to be this far off, usually it works fine so I'll keep it this way and see what happens from here :)
  • robernatrobernat
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    Did you check all items 'measurement wise' to the sizes mentioned in the BO catalog? One must take in consideration there are still many errors, for example: for certain items other sites only display LxW and no H (so H=zero) those have been converted to LxWx0.2 or 0.5 (need to check my mails with Lawrence to be more precise) and might cause issues. And also people enter wrong dimensions sometimes (including myself), so that may cause issues as well. Would you mind sending me a screenshot of the items (you don't need to show quantities or prices if you don't want) I don't mind taking a look at current 'catalog' values for the items to help find the problem. PM me if you like ;-)
  • TeupTeup
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    Ah right, forgot to do that. And thanks for the offer :) but I did a quick run myself, it was fairly simple, the order is mostly the same few parts in different colours.
    I could swear it was the addition that ruined it, that the system failed to recalculate total volume properly, but according to Lawrence that's not it, so it must be a coincidental factor.

    Leaves the discrepancy between theoretical maths and reality as the only reason, as far as I can see. This order had a fair amount of small parts, tiles and cheese slopes, and those end up with a lot of air in between when packed (then again, the system would treat slopes as solid boxes, which would compensate for that effect..). Seems like just some idiosyncracy, an order that just didn't fit well together.. with large square items (6 panels and 4 panels), and small parts divided up into relatively many bags for my standards.. I guess the system just came up with a brilliant puzzle solution that mortals can't figure out :D I'll just shrug and move on and see if happens again sometime :)
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