Shipping back orders

[ssgumby]

I was wondering how other sites might be handling this? Our site allows the customer to do a shipping estimate and it calculates in real time current fedex rates. Currently, we only allow a customer to buy if it is in stock. I would like to change this a bit to show as follows :

Available in 1 Business Day
Available in 5-7 Business Days

The problem is, how do you calculate shipping if they order 2 widgets in stock (ship immediately) and 3 widgets out of stock (5-7 days)? It doesnt quite work to charge them to the total shipping weight at once as it is a bit more costly to split this package.

Any ideas?

[jwolthuis]

You're getting realtime rates from FedEx. I assume you can calculate the shipping weight of the package(s).

Simply request from FedEx: (a) the rate for a 2-package shipment (the fact that the 2nd package will ship 5 days later won't affect the postage), and (b) the rate for a single combined package.

Offer both rates to your customer, and let him choose between the quicker delivery or the lower shipping charge.

[piatkow]

You really need to look at the competition in your sector.

One company that I buy a lot charges a flat fee for shipping and takes the hit if there are back orders.