PayPal add to cart buttons - combined shipping - paypal

Question

I want to set up my PayPal buttons (about 5 of them), to have combined shipping prices.
Eg first item is $10, then each additional item is $5 extra.
I know this can be done for 1 single product (eg if I buy 2 apples, shipping would be $15), but I would like it so that if I buy 1 apple and 1 lemon, shipping would be $15 (currently paypal is making this $20).
Can this be done?

Answer 1

Yes you can achieve this by adjusting the values for these three variables:
shipping ---> This will be added only one time for the very first item in the cart
shipping2 ---> This will be added each time additional item is added in the cart
handling_cart ---> This is common for all the items in the cart .
In your case the values for these variables will be :
shipping=5.00
shipping2=5.00
handling_cart=5.00
It should work with these settings . I have included the sample code for two buttons to demonstrate :
First button:
<form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post" target="paypal">
<input type="hidden" name="business" value="testing#testing123.com">
<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_cart">
<input type="hidden" name="add" value="1">
<input type="hidden" name="amount" value="2.00">
<input type="hidden" name="currency_code" value="USD">
<input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="Lemon">
<input type="hidden" name="item_number" value="Lemon123">
<input type="hidden" name="shipping" value="5.00">
<input type="hidden" name="shipping2" value="5.00">
<input type="hidden" name="handling_cart" value="5.00">
<input type="image" src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_cart_LG.gif" border="0" name="submit" alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!">
</form>
Second button:
<form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post" target="paypal">
<input type="hidden" name="business" value="testing#testing123.com">
<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_cart">
<input type="hidden" name="add" value="1">
<input type="hidden" name="amount" value="2.00">
<input type="hidden" name="currency_code" value="USD">
<input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="Apple">
<input type="hidden" name="item_number" value="Apple123">
<input type="hidden" name="shipping" value="5.00">
<input type="hidden" name="shipping2" value="5.00">
<input type="hidden" name="handling_cart" value="5.00">
<input type="image" src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_cart_LG.gif" border="0" name="submit" alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!">
</form>

Answer 2

Thanks Esham, we have worked out the solution.
I didnt realise there was a difference between protected buttons - I always generate paypal buttons from the paypal account.
The variables you mentioned dont work properly for protected buttons if adding to the html code, but what did work was to check the button for "advanced variables" under Step 3 of creating the button.
We added this:
shipping2=5
handling_cart=5
Other settings required include:
When editing a product button - Use specific postage amount ($5)
On the postage calculations page, ensure "Click here to allow transaction-based postage values" is checked