How to Block Customers on Shopify

Shopify has no single button to block a customer. To block customers on Shopify, tag the customer and let a free Shopify Flow workflow cancel their orders, block their country, region, IP address or VPN with an app such as Ultimate Country Blocker, and refuse postal codes or PO Box addresses you won’t ship to.

Which of these you need depends on why you are blocking someone. Most stores combine two: one that stops the person, and one that stops the place or address they order from.

When blocking a customer makes sense

• Fraud and chargebacks: orders paid with stolen cards, or buyers who dispute every delivery.

• Abuse: a customer who harasses your team. Protecting staff is reason enough.

• Resellers: buyers who clear out limited stock to resell it, if your terms forbid that.

Not every odd order is a bad actor. A large order may be a sports team or an event. Contact the customer first when the evidence is thin; blocking a good customer costs more than one questionable order.

How to tell whether an order is fraudulent

Start with Shopify’s fraud analysis on the order page. It lists fraud indicators such as card verification checks, location mismatches and unusual device activity, and on eligible orders it rates the chance of a fraud chargeback as low, medium or high (Shopify’s guide to fraud analysis).

Fraud indicators are available from the Basic plan; the low, medium or high recommendation needs the Grow plan or higher, or Shopify Payments. Shopify advises against deciding on one indicator alone. For a high-risk order, you can try to verify it, cancel it or refund it before you ship.

1. Cancel a specific customer’s orders automatically

To stop one known person, tag their customer record in Shopify admin, for example “blocked”. Then build a workflow in Shopify Flow, which is free on every plan: when an order is created and the customer has that tag, cancel the order (Shopify’s guide to the Cancel order action). The cancellation voids the payment authorization, so you don’t have to refund an order whose payment hasn’t been captured.

If your store captures payments automatically, turn on the action’s refund option too, which refunds the product, duties and shipping. The action can also restock the items and notify the customer, but it doesn’t void a shipping label already bought.

This works as long as they use the same email address. Someone determined can create a new one, so combine it with the steps below. When we set this up for Shopify stores at msmtech, we use one tag name everywhere, so staff, workflows and reports all agree on who is blocked.

2. Block by location, IP address or VPN

When the problem comes from a place rather than a person, block it before the visitor reaches checkout. Ultimate Country Blocker, our app, blocks countries, states and specific IP addresses, shuts out VPNs, proxies and Tor, and stops restricted orders before payment. Visitors see a blocking page in your brand, and reports show who was blocked.

Use it for a run of fraudulent orders from one region, or for a person who keeps coming back from the same IP address. IP addresses can change, so treat an IP block as one layer, not the only one.

3. Refuse postal codes you don’t serve

If problems cluster in certain postal codes, or you simply can’t deliver there, block those codes at checkout. Ultimate Postal Code Blocker blocks or allows shipping methods by postal code, with rules by country, region and product.

4. Stop PO Box orders on courier rates

PO Boxes are a legitimate address for many customers, especially in rural areas, so don’t treat them as fraud by default. But UPS, FedEx, DHL Express and Purolator can’t deliver to them, and a PO Box order on a courier rate becomes a return, a reshipment or a dispute. Block PO Boxes on courier rates, and keep them on USPS or Canada Post if you offer those. Ultimate PO Box Blocker does this on every Shopify plan. Read how to block PO Boxes at Shopify checkout →

Which method fits your problem?

• One known person, same email: a customer tag and a Flow workflow that cancels their orders.

• Repeat fraud from one country, region or IP address: a location and IP block before checkout.

• Orders hidden behind VPNs or Tor: a VPN and Tor block, together with fraud analysis on each order.

• Addresses you can’t deliver to: postal code and PO Box rules at checkout, not a customer block.

Before you block someone

1. Check the order history and any messages; make sure it isn’t a misunderstanding.

2. For chargebacks, keep proof of delivery, and use tracked services for high-value orders. Shopify explains how disputes work in its guide to chargebacks and inquiries.

3. For abuse, reply once, calmly, saying you won’t take further orders, then block.

4. Write down why you blocked each customer, so the decision can be reviewed later.

Frequently asked questions

Can I block an email address on Shopify?

Not directly. Tag the customer who uses that email and let a Shopify Flow workflow cancel any order they place. A new email address gets around it, so add a location or IP block if the person keeps returning.

Does cancelling an order in Shopify refund the customer?

Cancelling voids the payment authorization. If the payment has already been captured, choose the refund option as well; in Flow’s Cancel order action, that refunds the product, duties and shipping.

Can I block a country on Shopify?

If you leave a country out of your shipping zones, customers there see a notice that no shipping rate is available, but they can still browse. To stop visitors from a country before they reach your store, use an app such as Ultimate Country Blocker.

Is Shopify Flow free?

Yes. Shopify Flow is a free app on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus plans, and it includes the Cancel order action used to block a tagged customer.