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Prevent Shipping to a Zone for Certain Items

Set up ShipperHQ to block product shipping to restricted zones

Table of Contents

Overview

Some merchants sell products online that face restrictions based on local or state regulations. For instance, shipping items like alcohol or ammunition often involves preventing shipping to specific locations where it's prohibited by regulations. ShipperHQ provides two easy ways to restrict products, which are outlined below. 😊

Requirements

You need to set up your carriers and origin(s) in ShipperHQ first. Let's assume you have done this with UPS as a carrier and one origin for dispatching.

Define Shipping Zone

Before creating a shipping rule or group to be restricted, create and define the zone where the product(s) can be shipped. For example, we'll use a zone titled "Unrestricted Alcohol Zone," including only the states, cities, or zip codes where shipment is allowed. See our setup guide for Shipping Zone Configuration here for more details.

Define Shipping Group

Set up a shipping group to categorize goods together for rule application. In this example, we'll create a group called ALCOHOL. Follow the steps for Shipping Group Configuration here.

Setup

SETUP A: Use Shipping Group to Prevent Shipping to Zone

With shipping groups, you can restrict the zones they display rates to, which is often the best approach for specific product restrictions. Here’s how:

  1. Edit the Shipping Group you defined, such as ALCOHOL.
  2. In the Optional panel, under Restrict to Specific Destinations, choose the Zone you created for allowed alcohol shipments.
    Example showing how to restrict shipping to specific zones. This section is under Optional tab of the Shipping Group.
  3. Only set the "Restrict to Shipping Methods" if you want the group to show specific methods, like Ground only.
  4. No need to adjust Advanced Settings.
  5. Save the group.

💡 Please Note: When a shipping group has a zone defined under "Restrict to Specific Destinations," no other zones will be eligible, regardless of other items in the cart. If this scenario is common for your quotes, see our article on how to rate groups as separate shipments here.

SETUP B: Use a Shipping Rule to Prevent Shipping to Zone

With shipping rules, you can hide rates when the group is in the cart, allowing more conditional flexibility:

  1. Navigate to Shipping Rules and click +New.
    Click new to start configuring a new shipping rule.
  2. Choose Hide Methods.
    Location to select Hide Methods as the action to be performed by shipping rule.
  3. Under Shipping Methods, select all methods to prevent rates from being displayed except for the designated zone.
    Click Select All to select all the shipping methods in the list.
  4. Next, select Shipping Zones as a condition.
    Location to choose Shipping Zones as a condition to apply the rule.
  5. If your zone includes areas where ALCOHOL products cannot be shipped, select Shipping Zones Include.
    Example showing to configure shipping zone for this rule to hide the methods for this zone.
  6. If the zone includes only areas where ALCOHOL products can be shipped, select Shipping Zones Do Not Include. Configure appropriately based on your Shipping Zone setup.
    Sample configuration to hide shipping methods when certain zone is not included.
  7. Add a recognizable title for the new rule for easy identification.
  8. Click “Finish” to save and apply the rule immediately. Use the Test your Rates feature to confirm it's working.

💡 NOTE: For Magento 1 and 2, there is a checkbox to “Show Error Message when this Rule Applies.” If checked, you can enter a custom message like “Alcohol cannot be shipped to your destination.”

Assign Products to their Shipping Groups

Ensure you assign products to their respective groups before testing at checkout.