configuring states for worldwide shipping

[simpleaspen]

I am a bit confused about states. If I have worldwide shipping, does that mean I need the enter every state/province for every country worldwide and then set them to a zone?

 

That seems a little crazy. Is there some easy way that I am missing?

[PrestaHeroes USA]

you can try importing the localzation pack for a particular country...part of that process imports states, but that doesn't mean the pack has states.

 

back office-->localization-->Import localization pack

[simpleaspen]

So does that mean I really have to add every state or province for every country I would like to ship to? That seems daunting. Have people actually done this?

[PrestaHeroes USA]

you can try as suggested...

[tannerS]

I was confused when doing the initial carrier set up too. The simple way to do it for me was to set up my country in it's own zone. That way I have one domestic zone and everything else is international.

 

So I created a US zone, then I selected the states that are considered domestic and assigned them to the US zone. Everything else is considered international and each of these zones are set up with their own carrier. So, I have a carrier for First Class US, First- Class North America, First-Class Asia etc. More carriers for Priority, Express, UPS and etc... each assigned to a zone and a service type. Seems to work perfect, no issues so far. I mainly use the Presto-Changeo USPS module now. Got it a few weeks ago and it works well. I like how it creates the new carriers through the module manually. You can add extra cost or packaging fees for each carrier. Being new to Prestashops it took me a bit to figure out the shipping zones, but I see now how it works. It makes sense and is fairly flexible. If you ship world wide it does take a little zone tweaking since your country is probably in a zone that includes a few separate countries.

[simpleaspen]

elpatron, I do appreciate the suggestion and I think that would cut down on the work of adding states. But that still requires you to configure all the states to a certain zone once you add them. I was just wondering if there were other ways people got around this.

 

Sages Outdoors,

I understand about the zones but did you add every state from every country that you ship to? Or does the module take care of all of that?

[tannerS]

The default zones outside the states have worked fine as far as I can tell.

 

Sweden does cost more than Canada for example. The Presto USPS postage calculator works fine, it matches exactly the same as my Endicia software. I haven't seen any zone issues shipping world wide. I have seen a decrease in small orders since the USPS international rates doubled. It's over $8 now for a few ounces to Sweden. The $3.00 postage is over and done.... The rate hike has slowed my international sales a lot.

 

 

So, no you don't need to break up zones that are international to you. I just broke out the US to its own zone to separate it from Canada and Mexico. That was the easiest way to set up domestic shipping rates IMO. Took me a couple head scratched to figure that out....

Edited February 2, 2013 by Sages Outdoors (see edit history)

[PrestaHeroes USA]

honestly...setting up shipping is a mess....they include countries in a zone...but then many need to create a separate zone by country...easy enough said, until it comes to the states/departments/provinces....

 

I hear you pain and thank my lucky stars that I don't have shipping on my websites.

 

I looked at writing a 'transplant' of inner zone, to it's own zone, so it would take the states with it....but it's just not near the top of my list...if you are handy with mysql, you could export an existing countries states, then modify the sql to import into your new country zone...back up...

[tannerS]

Whats complicated is the countries with taxes that cross borders. In the US we just charge tax for customers inside our state. Now city and county taxes can complicate things in certain states. I only have county tax here.

 

Setting up US shipping is very easy compared to other places, well at least that's what I've read. Once I figured out I needed a carrier for each zone and service all has been fine. My USPS Presto calculator works fine with no issues so far, but I haven't shipped to every zone yet. Mostly, we ship to Canada, France, England, Russia, South America and occasionally to Sweden.

[simpleaspen]

Well, I'm just not excited about adding all the states when I think I just want a flat rate to other zones. So I have canada with its different provinces because that is my default country. But then I want a flat rate to Europe, Africa, etc.

[simpleaspen]

Well I guess from my lurking in the forum, Paypal will give a payment error for transactions without a state when you need one. I really appreciate everyone input.

 

So the next question is: Which countries need states? Anyone have a list? I've been looking for one.

Edited February 3, 2013 by simpleaspen (see edit history)

[simpleaspen]

So from my searching I came up with the post

https://www.x.com/developers/paypal/forums/paypal-sample-code/what-countries-use-state-field-it-province-state-territory-region-county-prefecture

 

That talks about countries and states. I know it is a bit old, but it gave me a place to start with adding states. I thought I would share if anyone else is interested.

 

And thank you elpatron, I did import some states through the localization pack. It was not all I needed, but it saved some work.

[tannerS]

I just broke my home country into it's own zone, so I could separate domestic and international shipping rates. If I was in Canada I would create a Canadian shipping zone. Then you can set up tax rules within your zone too. Here in the US we only collect taxes for our local revenuers, sometimes the city if your in the limits, the county and state.

 

The shipping calculator figures everything based on location, it works fine set up with domestic and international carriers. It was easy to set up for my US site. International shipping rates through USPS are 100% or more than domestic, so it would not work well leaving the US grouped with other countries.

 

I have carriers for each zone and service type, the zones are North America, US, South America, EU, out of EU, Asia etc... The Presto-Changeo USPS module gives exact postage to each address and its all based on the current rates given via USPS. I've always used USPS calculated postage for international and I use PayPal, works fine. I guess if your in the EU it would take a lot more to set up since you have the tax requirements and would need tax rules for each area your connected to. One day the states will probably do some kind national sales tax too. I'm not looking forward to it.