Even more problems with this plugin (ship to - dropdown)

[SuperAgora]

I have spent over 6 hours of my precious time (today alone) trying to wrestle with the ineptness of this plugin!
I just noticed the following, which is probably part of a larger problem of the missing basic functions of this software.
IF... on the other hand I'm wrong and there is something that I'm missing, please accept my apologies but please offer a logical explanation.

When you visit AliExpress and wish to order an item, on the top right of their web site there is a drop down for selecting your Regional settings as well as your Ship To (destination).

Here is the screen capture of the AliExpress website:



As you can clearly see, there are TWO fields. One for selecting your shipping destination and another one for your local currency.

Now let's take a look at the same exact thing om my website which uses the AliDropship plugin for WordPress:




Do you notice anything missing? OF COURSE! The whole functionality of AliExpress!
Am I missing something?
Am I doing something wrong?

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
This is addressed to the developers of this plugin, so obviously I expect an answer please.

 

[skatepnk316]

Not developer just another user...

I don't really see or understand your point?

What's missing? the ship to destination? If so, the user sets this at the end when they checkout.

That option of the screenshot that you showed is just simply a currency converter. You're not supposed to select which country you want the item to be shipped to in your own store because it automatically applies when customer enter their detail at end.

 

[Sunster]

LOL, well you wasted 6 hours on something completely irrelevant.

 

[SuperAgora]

@skatepnk316
Good morning,


If you are not aware how certain suppliers work via AliExpress please let me explain.

In many cases there are suppliers that are able to ship product from different warehouses located in other countries, not just China.

One such country is the Russian Federation.
So in certain instances (depending on your niche of course) the buyer must select the warehouse location to ship from.

Here is one example:



The buyer must select the country, otherwise the BUY NOW or ADD TO CART Buttons are not activated.
Notice it's also written on the shipping field of the form element.

There are only two choices CHINA & RUSSIA

If you select China you will get the following screen:



Because I have selected my destination as USA (from the top drop down country selector), the form element changes dynamically and indicates Free Shipping to the US.

If you select Russia on the other hand, you will get this notice:



Notice the information has changed and the form now indicates that this item cannot be delivered to the US
So how can you overcome this?
By clicking on the down arrow of the shipping field and selecting another country like so....






So that's where the country drop down functionality is required.Either on the top right of the main page, or on the product page BEFORE going to the cart, because there it's going to be too late to change anything.

The AliDropship plugin imports ONLY the warehouses without consideration of destination, so the customer ends up not being able to purchase the item simply because there is no warning that the item cannot ship to his/her destination when selecting a different warehouse.

I know it's a little complicated.

Take care

 

[skatepnk316]

i know exactly what your referring to.

My simple answer was: Find a different supplier

that was the exact reason. I'm sure you can find another supplier of the same product shipping from only one warehouse or the other. import those only and problem solve.

It creates more headache and hassle than it is to solve it. I promise not trying to be rude or anything, just constructive criticism. I ran into the same problem myself and it was as simple as finding new supplier and problem solved immediately and was able to start generating $ faster.

 

[SuperAgora]

You're just expressing your opinion and I fully respect that!

At this point for me it is a matter of principle.
When you purchase a commercial plugin, you expect it to work properly, and not have to cut corners every time in order to bypass it's limitations.
But I understand what you're saying, AND I will follow your advice.

Thanks again and I really appreciate your feedback.

 

[richard96816]

Sadly, finding a different supplier isn't always easy. Or even possible.
In some categories all the vendors seem to have multiple locations.
One workaround is to enter the product(s) manually, and fulfill manually.
Or import the products then turn off their automatic status -- somehow.
It's a messy problem.

 

[Direct Webstore]

Sadly, finding a different supplier isn't always easy.

Happily, it usually is.

 

[richard96816]

Happily, it usually is.

Sadly, the best vendors in my niche have multiple 'ship from' locations. Some of the products are simply not available from anyone else. And these are great products. But I can't get Alidropship to handle it without presenting bad things to the customer.

What I want is to be able to force a particular variation (ship from) and have none of it show on the page. If I had more time I could probably hack the page code. But it would be really nice if AliDropship would handle this cleanly.

Thanks.

AliDropship is actually kind of fun to use otherwise ...
Finding and choosing new products to sell is an enjoyable process.

 

[Direct Webstore]

China ships to ALL countries. Just add an extra line in the "comment to the seller" section in the backend of the Alidropship plugin ("We are dropshipping etc...") that if they ship from multiple locations, please ship from China.

Sorted.



EDIT: Actually, I'm going to add that line on all my sites right now.

 

[richard96816]

China ships to ALL countries. Just add an extra line in the "comment to the seller" section in the backend of the Alidropship plugin ("We are dropshipping etc...") that if they ship from multiple locations, please ship from China.

Sorted.



EDIT: Actually, I'm going to add that line on all my sites right now.

This doesn't fix the page the customer sees. It's confusing and will probably chase them away.

 

[Direct Webstore]

This doesn't fix the page the customer sees. It's confusing and will probably chase them away.

I'd say that would be a pretty rare occurrence and worrying about the odd 1 in a thousand person who be "confused and run away" by a simple button selection isn't really worth worrying about. They'd be more likely to be scared away by the ridiculously high and greedy pricing formulas I've seen many here using. LOL

Just be upfront and honest (Like I am) and clearly state in your "FAQ" and "Shipping" pages that you ship from warehouses in multiple locations/countries. (The bit explaining why they may receive their order in multiple packages on different days)

This whole problem really is a bit of a "storm in a tea cup" in my opinion.

 

[richard96816]

Perhaps it's different where you are. My FAQ and other stuff own up as you suggest. But none of the rest of the site needs to remind the buyer that things are coming from China. Forcing the issue seems extremely counter productive. Expending all this effort for a perfect presentation then spoiling it all unnecessarily doesn't seem smart. I don't want ANYONE running away for something avoidable.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Direct Webstore]

My FAQ and other stuff own up as you suggest.

The only places I mention it is in the FAQ and Shipping & Delivery pages. That's it. In the unlikely and rare event that someone complains about their item coming from China and accusing me of some kind of "scam" or whatever ... I could simply direct them to one of those two pages. It's just common sense. That's why it's mentioned in the stock pages of a standard installation.

Perhaps it's different where you are.

My location is irrelevant. I don't ship the products.

Anyway, like I said before, considering the incredibly tiny number of customers you may "lose" because of this "issue" ... it's really not worth worrying about. Writing original informative blogs and making videos of your products (from product images and snippets from Youtube) and adding quality content to your site more than makes up for any minor annoyances like this. But that's just my opinion. I could be totally wrong.