# How to Exclude States in WooCommerce: A Beginner’s Guide
Selling online with WooCommerce opens up a world of possibilities, but sometimes you need to restrict your shipping or product availability based on location. Perhaps you don’t ship to Alaska and Hawaii, or maybe you only sell a certain product in specific states. This guide shows you how to exclude states in WooCommerce, making your shipping and sales processes more efficient.
Why Exclude States in WooCommerce?
There are several compelling reasons to limit your WooCommerce store’s reach to specific states:
- Shipping Costs: Shipping to certain states can be prohibitively expensive. Excluding them can save you money and prevent unexpected losses. For example, if shipping a large, heavy item to Hawaii is significantly more than to California, excluding Hawaii might be a wise business decision.
- Legal Restrictions: Some products have legal restrictions based on state laws. Excluding states where you can’t legally sell your product protects you from legal trouble. Think of alcohol or certain medications with varying state regulations.
- Inventory Management: If you have limited stock or are dealing with perishable goods, focusing on nearby states can improve your logistics and reduce the risk of spoilage during transit.
- Targeted Marketing: You might want to focus your marketing efforts on specific regions where your product is in higher demand or where you have a stronger brand presence.
- WooCommerce Conditional Shipping and Payments: This plugin allows you to set shipping and payment options based on a variety of factors, including state. It offers more complex logic than the built-in shipping zones.
- Restrict Content Pro: While primarily for content restriction, this plugin can also limit product visibility based on location, effectively excluding states from purchasing certain products.
Methods for Excluding States in WooCommerce
There are a few ways to exclude states, depending on your needs and technical comfort level:
1. Using WooCommerce Shipping Zones
This is the easiest and most recommended method for most users. WooCommerce’s built-in shipping zones allow for granular control over shipping rates and availability.
* Create a Shipping Zone: In your WooCommerce dashboard, navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping. Click “Add shipping zone.”
* Name Your Zone: Give it a descriptive name, like “Continental US.”
* Add States: Add all the states you *want* to ship to. States not included are automatically excluded.
* Set Shipping Methods: Create shipping methods (flat rate, free shipping, etc.) for this zone.
Example: If you want to exclude Alaska and Hawaii, create a zone including only the contiguous 48 states. Any order with a shipping address in Alaska or Hawaii will not have any shipping options available.
2. Using Plugins
Several plugins offer advanced location-based controls, giving you more flexibility beyond basic shipping zones. Some popular options include:
3. Custom Code (Advanced Users Only!)
For highly specific requirements, you may need to use custom code. This is not recommended for beginners as incorrect code can break your website. An example of excluding states from specific products using a snippet:
add_filter( 'woocommerce_product_is_visible', 'exclude_product_by_state', 10, 2 );
function exclude_product_by_state( $visible, $product ) {
$excluded_states = array( 'AK', 'HI' ); // States to exclude
$shipping_state = WC()->customer->get_shipping_state();
if ( in_array( $shipping_state, $excluded_states ) && $product->get_id() == 123 ) { // Replace 123 with your product ID
$visible = false;
}
return $visible;
}
Remember: Always back up your website before adding custom code.
Conclusion
Excluding states in WooCommerce is crucial for efficient shipping, legal compliance, and optimized inventory management. By using WooCommerce’s built-in shipping zones or employing plugins, you can easily tailor your store’s reach to target your ideal customer base and streamline your operations. Remember to choose the method that best suits your technical skills and business needs. If you’re unsure, start with the shipping zones method—it’s the simplest and most effective approach for most users.
