I live in Guernsey (offshore of the UK - similar to the Isle of Man & Jersey. Currently since you changed the delivery functionality individual store checkouts often fail because merchants must manually configure Guernsey as a separate shipping zone rather than part of the United Kingdom. A lot of merchants don’t realise this which means Guernsey, Jersey and Isle of Man customers often don’t get past the post with their orders despite the fact on their websites they list the fact they can ship to these locations. I am a consumer but have noticed this issue many many times. Merchants are losing sales, consumers in these areas aren’t getting the goods they want. As Shopify is becoming a dominant force in the industry it’s creating a lot of confusion and headache for everyone involved. It really needs to be looked at.
Not defending the current state, but the mechanism is worth spelling out because the merchant side fix is small once someone knows.
Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man have their own country codes (GG, JE, IM). They are not inside Shopify’s United Kingdom, so a shipping zone called United Kingdom genuinely does not contain them. Nothing warns the merchant, and the failure shows up as no delivery method at checkout rather than an error message, so most merchants only find out when a customer emails them. That is why you keep seeing stores that say they ship there and then cannot.
Where it gets messier is the fix people reach for. Merchants who do notice usually drop all three into the UK zone. That is fine for the Isle of Man, which shares a VAT and customs arrangement with the UK. It is wrong for Jersey and Guernsey, which sit outside the UK VAT area, where the sale is an export and both the goods and the delivery charge are zero rated. Bundled in with the UK you get charged 20 percent that should not be there.
So the setup that actually works is a separate zone for the Channel Islands with its own tax treatment, not just adding the countries.
When you hit this as a buyer, is it usually no delivery option showing at all, or a rate that appears and then fails at payment?
Everything you have said is bang on the money - and you’ve laid it out more elaborately than I did. Thank you.
I think there should be a little note under the UK settings, or maybe an email pushed to merchants to make them aware of the problem so they can decide whether or not they want to change the settings. It’s very frustrating as a consumer to have to email companies individually whenever you encounter the problem, which is extremely often these days with Shopify’s prominent influence in the industry. Could the zones be enabled as default and merchants have to switch it off if they don’t want to ship to the Channel Islands? If the shipping calculates correctly then inform see the problem? But again, I come from a consumers perspective.
Thanks for the reply.
This seems like a valid concern. From a merchant perspective, it’s easy to assume that selecting the United Kingdom also covers the Crown Dependencies, when in reality Guernsey, Jersey, and the Isle of Man often need to be configured separately in shipping zones.
That can lead to failed checkouts and lost sales, even when the merchant is happy to ship there. Since many store owners aren’t aware of this distinction, a clearer setup process or warning during shipping configuration could help prevent a lot of confusion for both merchants and customers.
Hopefully, the Shopify team will consider improving the shipping setup experience so these destinations are less likely to be overlooked.
Hey @A20 ,
This is a really important point, and I can see why this creates frustration for both merchants and customers.
Guernsey, Jersey, and the Isle of Man are often treated differently for shipping, tax and customs purposes, but many merchants naturally assume that selecting the United Kingdom will cover these regions automatically. If Shopify requires them to be added as separate shipping zones it can easily lead to missed sales when merchants are not aware of the requirement.
For now, merchants selling to these locations should review their shipping zones and make sure these regions are explicitly included, even if they already have the UK enabled.
It would definitely be helpful if Shopify could provide clearer guidance during shipping setup or make these regions more visible, since this affects real customers trying to complete purchases.
Hopefully Shopify can improve this experience so merchants don’t have to discover the issue only after customers report failed checkouts.
Thank You !