I want to add my first merchant.
But it is so confusing that I fear I will make a mess of it.
It is clearly an excellent feature but why so confusing?
 
I have been through the manual - but the 'one page' does not mention much that is available for me to select, let alone explain it all.
 
Here is a list of sections ALL devoted to my new merchant!!
 
 
Administration > Site Users > Users Types > Edit Type
------------------------------------------------------------------
Discounts, Fees, Commissions
------------------------------------------------------------------
Discount
Merchant Fee
Affiliate Commission
 
 
Administration > Site Users > Edit User Info
------------------------------------------------------------------
Discounts, Fees, Commissions
------------------------------------------------------------------
Discount
Merchant Fee
Affiliate Commission
 
 
Administration > Products > Products Settings
------------------------------------------------------------------
Merchants & Affiliates Settings
------------------------------------------------------------------
Merchant Fee
Affiliate Commission
Affiliate Commissions Deduction
Affiliate Cookie expires
Minimum Payment Amount
 
 
Manual says
decide what permissions you would like to give - find the 'Products Settings' section below the 'Discounts, Fees, Commissions' section and tick off the appropriate checkboxes
... can't find this but I can find:
 
Administration > Site Users > Users Types > Trader > Product Settings
 
 
And then we have:
 
Administration > Users > Users Types > Trader > Profile Settings
 
Why can't I manage everything to do with my new merchant in one place - and why can't I have much more explanation - not just WHAT to do but WHY - and the IMPLICATIONS of different decisions?
 
This is linked to the thread http://www.viart.com/whats_going_on_with_support.html so comments about the manual are for that one.
 
Anyone who can easily sort out my confusion about merchants is invited to leave words of wisdom here.
 
Now there's a challenge
 
Chris

I have a question - is it possible to specify for a product that a Merchant's goods will be delivered separately? This could mean special shipping costs for his products.

At present, this isn't an option in the cart. That is why I have such a trouble using the system's merchant aspect as this is just a rough issue for me.
 
If I don't literally ship out everyone, then providing the single tracking number on their invoice isn't acceptable, as well as the fact that I would't ship that item.
 
I would suppose the way it is currently is so that the receiver wouldn't know the source of the product?
 
Merchants for me would only be for downloadable products...

Thanks Dan - I expected a reply like that.
 
My only real option appears to add merchant's goods to my site and handle the distribution for them - to save trying to charge a different shipping fee for their products.
 
That will be OK where the merchant is geographically close enough to get the goods to me when we get an order.
 
Oh! A feature half way to something workable.
Please VIART, can we stop development progress and get existing features properly set up?
 
Chris