blocking local customers

[Guest]

i do not want local people buying off my website, but i want them to be able to see the products and such.

 

here are the options dancing in my head at the moment:

- filter city name from checkout

- hide checkout button based on ip location

 

is there anything else that can be used to block them from checking out?

[djmonkey1]

Do you mean local as in within a very limited area, ie a single city, and if so, if you don't mind me asking, why?

[Guest]

just within the city, because my prices are much cheaper on the web than in the store.. while the store is still being cheaper than local competitors. ;)

 

i will lose a great amount of profit if all of the locals order online versus purchasing in person.

[djmonkey1]

Interesting.

 

I can't think of a way to do this other than code that checks the city/state/zip code (depending on where you are) and then throws an error if it matches up. I'd do JavaScript and server-side functions to make sure you get everyone. Take a look at the code that does the form check for credit card info if you need somewhere to start.

 

Are you concerned your local customers will become alienated if/when they learn that you sell for less online but want to exclude them from those savings?

[Guest]

ok thanks for the suggestion about the cc javascript :)

 

Are you concerned your local customers will become alienated if/when they learn that you sell for less online but want to exclude them from those savings?

no

the majority of them already know of the site's existence, but i don't want them ordering off the site. i want them to come in and browse.. because you see a lot more things at once in a store than online, which = more sales ;)

 

one of many reasons of course