ZippyCart weight-distance based shopping cart

Simple Shopping Cart with weight-distance based shipping charges

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Sample Order Buttons

Use the following imaginary product buttons to simulate the experience your customers will enjoy with ZippyCart installed on your website!

Frequently Asked Questions: Installation and Operation

How do my customers add items to the cart?

ZippyCart uses the same type of add-to-cart form as Paypal, but requires an additional field to indicate shipping weight of each products. Just add a hidden field named pounds or ounces to each button.

The changes needed are illustrated by the three samples below. If you already have buttons edit them as shown in the second example.

If you don't already use 'Paypal' buttons, just create your forms using the third example. (ZippyCart only requires the item information and weight) Standard Paypal button example 1 <form method="post" action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" target="paypal"> <input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_xclick"> <input type="hidden" name="business" value="you@your.com"> <input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="Title of product"> <input type="hidden" name="item_number" value="product number"> <input type="hidden" name="amount" value="19.95"> <input type="hidden" name="add" value="1"> <input type="hidden" name="currency_code" value="USD"> <input type="hidden" name="undefined_quantity" value="0"> <input type="submit" value="Buy This!"> </form> Button example 2 converted to work with ZippyCart <form method="post" action="http://yourdomain.com/zippy/cart.php" target="cart"> <input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_xclick"> <input type="hidden" name="business" value="you@your.com"> <input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="Title of product"> <input type="hidden" name="item_number" value="product number"> <input type="hidden" name="amount" value="19.95"> <input type="hidden" name="add" value="1"> <input type="hidden" name="ounces" value="12"> <input type="hidden" name="currency_code" value="USD"> <input type="hidden" name="undefined_quantity" value="0"> <input type="submit" value="Buy This!"> </form> ZippyCart Button (minimal) example 3 <form method="post" action="http://yourdomain.com/zippy/cart.php" target="cart"> <input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_xclick"> <input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="Title of product"> <input type="hidden" name="item_number" value="product number"> <input type="hidden" name="amount" value="19.95"> <input type="hidden" name="add" value="1"> <input type="hidden" name="ounces" value="12"> <input type="submit" value="Buy This!"> </form>

The shipping charge shown is 9999.99! Why?

An impossible large number is to alert you that you do not have rates set up for the weight. The default rate tables are minimal to conserve the length of the cart script. Check the variable area of your script and make sure you have rate tables set for the max weight you will ship. Common rates may be pasted from this page: , or you may create your own by following the example format. http://zippycart.com/drates.html

Can I charge a fixed shipping charge for an item?

Yes, ZippyCart can charge a fixed shipping cost on an item by item basis. The fixed charge may apply to domestic and/or international shipment. To pass fixed charges for an item, add the field name item_class to the button form like this example:

 <input type=hidden name=item_class value="fixed_dom=25,fixed_int=50">

The example above will add $25.00 for a domestic shipment and $50.00 for international. NOTE! Be sure to set the weight of the item to zero or the cart will add both fixed and computed shipping. It is not necessary to specify fixed charges for both domestic and international. If passing only one value, you must omit the separating comma also.

Can I offer a discount for quantity?

Yes, ZippyCart provides the means to discount an item using qty @ price ea. method. See the spice store sample to see how this works.Discounting works using the item_class field like the example above.

 <input type=hidden name=item_class value="qty_break 3 @ 3.99">

The example above will charge $3.99 each when at least 3 items are ordered. assuming the regular price is $5 each, this amounts to a discount of 25% when three or more items are purchased. The trigger 'qty_break' is required, and the character @ must separate quantity and price.

Can I use an image for the submit button?

Yes, any image that will work with Paypal will also work with ZippyCart.

I only accept mailed in payments. How do I do that?

If ZippyCart does not find a Paypal ID ($paypalid) in the configuration, the text contained in variable $payment_page will be displayed.

Edit this text to display the information (such as your mailing address) your customer needs to complete payment. Three cart variables may be embedded in your Text/HTML using the tokens _DATE_ _ORDER_ and _AMOUNT_.Refer to the script default content to see how to use the variables in your output.

I can't find the orders in my Paypal account. Where are they?

ZippyCart writes confirmed orders to a subdirectory on your server (/zippy/orders) Only the total due is passed to Paypal for collection, not the order detail.

I received an order but no payment?
I received a payment but the order is not marked paid?

Zippy Cart records the order at the time the customer presses the payment button. After this, the customer must interact with the Paypal website. ZippyCart can no longer interact. Unpaid orders and those without payment applied are subject to actions by the customer using Paypal.

ZippyCart calculates shipping by your customer's zip code. Zippy adds up the combined weight of each item in the order, then looks up the rate based on standard zones. This is the same method used by the USPS and other web sites to calculate mailing costs.

Because you can edit the rates used in this calculation, you will be able to create accurate calculations using any carrier. Default rates are provided for both domestic and international shipments, plus, you can easily add custom rates for any destination

If you already have the Paypal cart on your pages, conversion is easy! ZippyCart uses existing Paypal add-to-cart buttons unchanged other than one additional field for item weight.