If you need to restrict your shipping to specific zip/post codes, or exclude shipping from specific zip/post codes, then you can set up Better Shipping to only provide shipping rates to the zip/post codes that you set up. This step is completely optional, and if you do not specifically need to restrict or exclude zip codes from your shipping rate, you can answer "No" to the question. Please also note that if you need to restrict by state or country (and not by zip codes), it is better to use the Shopify Shipping Zones (in your ShopifyAdmin->Settings->Shipping and delivery->General->Manage page) to set up the locations you want to ship to, and then create a shipping rate for each of the shipping zones as described in the sections above.
We also have some examples with videos on our blog:
Restrict Your Store Using Zip Codes (with video)
How to Restrict Specific Products from Shipping to Specific Countries or States
Additionally, we have some other resources in our knowledge base which may be useful:
USA zip code areas (lists of zip codes by state)
UK post code areas (e.g. mainland GB, Northern Ireland, etc)
Zip code radius (e.g. 5 miles around a certain location)
This example will go through setting up a shipping rate that excludes an area from the shipping rate.
First, as before, inside the Better Shipping app go to the main Shipping Rates page and click the "Create a New Shipping Rate" button.
Give the shipping rate a name, remembering that the customer will see this name at checkout. In this example, we've called the rate "Shipping". We've also chosen the shipping zone "Domestic" as we want to ship to the whole USA, except for the zip codes that we enter. Click "Next" when you've entered in your information.
On the next page, you are asked the question "Do you need to exclude any specific areas by zip/post code within the shipping zones?". In this example we will choose and click on the "Yes" button.
You will then be taken to a page with two toggle buttons. The first asks if you want to want to only ship within particular zip codes, the second asks if you want to ship to everywhere except to specific zip codes.
You can use one or both of these options. If you use both, however, the order becomes important. See below for more information on each of the options.
Only ship within specific zip codes
If you only want to ship within a specific zip code or set of zip codes, you can use toggle on the "Do you need to only ship within specific zip/post codes?" switch. This brings up some fields in which you can enter the zip codes you want to ship to. Note that any customer ordering with a customer address outside of the specified zip/post codes, will not have a shipping price generated from this shipping rate. However, if you have another shipping rate, either within Better Shipping, a default Shopify shipping rate, or are using another app as well as Better Shipping, Better Shipping will not restrict those rates. This restriction will only happen for the current rate you are setting up.
When the fields appear, you will see two heading "Exact Zip/Postal Codes" and "Starts with Zip/Postal Codes". You can use one or both of these fields to specify your zip/post code areas.
Include Exact Zip/Postal Codes
The Exact match zip/post codes field means your customers must enter the exact same zip/post code that you enter here in order to have a shipping rate generated. You can enter multiple zip codes by separating them with a comma ",". E.g. 10001, 10002, 10003 etc.
This is useful if you have a complete list of zip codes that you want to ship to. Any customer who is not within one of the specified zip codes, will not get a price from this shipping rate.
Include Starts with Zip/Postal Codes
If you want to include a larger area, you can use the "Starts With" field.
This lets you specify post codes for large areas by only matching the first numbers or letters you input. For example, if we wanted to ship to a zip code range of 10000 to 10099, then we could use the "Starts With" field and enter in 100. This means that any customer whose zip code has the first 3 number of 100 will get a match. So a customer with 10083 is OK, and so is 10025. Every post code that starts with 100.
This becomes useful when you want to include a large area such as the Continental USA. As with the exact zip code field, you can enter multiple values separated by a comma. So for the continental US, we could enter:
01,02,03,04,05,06,07,08,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,90,91,92,93,94,95,961,97,98,990,994
in the "Starts With" field. Which would include all of the zip codes for the continental USA.
Please note for those you shipping outside the USA, the Starts With field will also match letters as well as numbers.
Ship to everywhere except specific zip codes
The ship to everywhere except toggle brings up the "Exclude Zip Code" fields. These two fields, Exact and Starts with work in exactly the same way as described in the Only ship within specific zip codes section, except that instead of describing the zip codes you want to be able to ship to, you enter in the zip/post codes that you do not want to ship to.
For example, if we had a shop with products that we could not ship to a specific zip code, then we could input that zip code in the "Exact" zip code field, and anytime a customer with that exact zip code tried to place an order, they would not get a shipping price generated from this shipping rate.
In a wider example, if we could not ship to a whole state, we could enter in the "Starts with" field the first number(s) of that states zip code, and any customer trying to order with a zip code that began with that number, would not have a shipping price generated from this shipping rate. For example, if we didn't want to ship to California, we could enter 90,91,92,93,94,95,961 into the "Starts with" field and any customer with a shipping address in California would not get a shipping price generated for this shipping rate, but any customer whose zip code does not start with any of those values, would get a shipping price.
Using both include and exclude zip/post codes
It is also possible to use both the toggle switches, to include specific zip codes and to exclude specific zip codes. Please note however, that the Better Shipping app will always look at the zip codes in order. It will always look at the "Include" zip codes first and the "Exclude" zip codes second.
This allows you to create rules that include large areas, and then using the exclude rules, exclude particular zip codes within the included areas. For example if we wanted to ship to all of New York State, except to Staten Island, then we can use both the include and exclude fields to achieve this easily.
First, in the include section we would use the "Starts with" field to enter in all of the New York State zip codes:
10, 11, 12, 13, 14
Then, in the excludes section, we can put in the "Starts with" zip code for Staten Island:
103
Also, just for an example, say we also didn't want to include the exact zip code 10001, we can also put that in the "Exact" field.
Now, if a customer orders a from our store with a New York address, if it does not start with 103 or is exactly 10001, then they will get a shipping price. If it does start with 103, is exactly 10001, or is not in New York state, the customer will not get a shipping price generated for this shipping rate.
As always if you have any issues or questions, please email us at better.shipping@atomyard.com and we will be happy to help you out.