Magento

Howdy all:

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SHIPPING WEIGHT CALCULATIONS AND USPS

Ok in my store I ship widgets.  My widgets fit into a standard #10 envelope.

If a customer orders one widget it weighs 1 ounce or less depending upon thickness of envelope used and will ship for current first class postage at the post office.

If a customer orders two or more widgets then I am over the 1 ounce limit set by the post office and my envelopes become non-machinable.  In person I can usally ship an envelope with two widgets in it and non-machinable for about $0.86 first class mail.  I still find that shipping first class non-machinable is still cheaper than shipping parcel post or priority mail.

I have looked in the forum and found others that have asked what is the default unit of measure for weight used in the shipping modules?  To date I have not found anywhere that anyone specifically indicates what unit of measure is used for shipping.

I make an assumption that it must be pounds . . . this is only an assumption.  Now working from the assumption that the default weight is in pounds, I set up product widget #1 as having a weight of .0625 or 1/16 of a pound.

If I use .0625 as my weight the USPS shipping module does NOT offer First Class as an option for shipping.
If I use .0624 as my weight the USPS shipping module displays that it is not a valid option for shipping to use the USPS shipping module at all.  In fact if I use .0624 as a product weight the shipping module changes the weight to 0.000 when I update the product.

I would like to be able to put in a weight that will allow for shipping of less than an ounce and add the fee for non-machinable envelopes.  If i cannot add the non-machinable fee, I can add that fee by building that into the handling charge.

Recap:

I have only three options selected for USPS shipping: 1) First Class, 2) Priority Mail, 3) Parcel Post
I have a product that weighs less than 1 ounce or .0624 of a pound
I cannot get the shipping module to offer First Class as an option for shipping.
If I use .0624 as my product weight the USPS shipping module becomes unavaliable
If I use .0625 as my product weight the USPS shipping module offers only Priority Mail and Parcel Post as a valid shipping option and does not offer first class.

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HANDLING FEE CALCULATIONS

I would like to add $0.75 handling fee per every $6.00 on the product order total. 
I Changed the “Calculate Handling Fee” to Percent
Handling Applied = Per Order
Handling fee = .125

If my theory is correct then .125% x $6.00 should = $.075

I might have the handling fee calcuations correct but I have no idea since I cannot get the shipping weight correct so that it chooses first class mail to allow me to verify the fees.

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#1) I would like to find out exactally how Magento handles weight and what units of measure are used.

#2) how to set up a product that weighs less than 1 ounce.

#3) I would like to find out how to add “First Class” as a mailing option so that it displays the price for “First Class” until the weight reaches say 4 lbs. - the USPS will quote prices for “First Class” up to 4 lbs., after 4 pounds USPS does not quote a shipping rate.

NOTE:  I know that in my current shopping cart - I had to alter the weight formulas in the code to properly calculate shipping for weight less than one ounce.  I expect that I might have to do the same here.  It would help if someone could point me in the right direction.

Thank you

TagTech