Multiple flat shipping rates for suburbs

I'm setting up a store which requires flat shipping rates for three different areas. These areas are not states or cities; they are particular suburbs within a city. All other areas outside these suburbs are a different price again (Price On Application).

What is the best method to create these alternate rates? Should I simply remove all of the states ("zones") currently associated with Australia and replace them with these three items? How would I handle the POA rate?

Ok, doesn't sound like there's a way to do this. If anyone is interested in developing this for me, please contact me privately to discuss your rates and further project details etc.

To avoid a repost, could one of the moderators please move this topic to the commercial support section of the forum?

I think you could use the existing Weight-Based shipping method for this.

First, define additional zones for your suburbs, or better, replace the zone corresponding to your state where you are located (I assume you are posting from there) with zones corresponding to your suburbs and the rest of the state. Each time a customer signs up a store account he will now be presented with the newly defined zones, and his selection of the zone will become part of the customer's shipping address.

In the weight based shipping method, define the geo-zones comprising your zones for each shipping area. And only define one big weight-range with one price for each geo-zone. You effectively end up with a flat rate for each geo-zone used in your shipping method.

The problem with this is that you leave it to the customer to choose which can be problematic.

If you have
Suburb A, California - 10.00
Suburb B, California - 12.00
Suburb C, California - 15.00

I might be inclined as a customer to choose the 12.00 even if I am in Suburb C. But as long as your customers are honest up front then it could work.

Thanks for the advice, guys.

I'll try your suggestions and see how I go. Just one question: Do the geo zones determine the shipping address details shown on checkout? For example, if I replaced the geo zone "Queensland" (my state) with "South-East Queensland", would this option then replace the list of states displayed on the checkout screen? If so, your proposed solution would be just fine because there wouldn't be much point choosing an incorrect shipping address - people would have to be honest to receive the goods.

Yes. Geozones map directly to the Country and Zone that the customer chooses

If you have a GeoZone for
California, United States
Then all customers who choose California, United States for their Shipping address will match with that zone for shipping and/or tax options

If you have a GeoZone for
All Zones, United States
Then all customers who choose any state in United States for their Shipping address will match with that zone for shipping and/or tax options

Ok great, I'll give it a whirl now and let you know if I have any issues. Thanks!

Ok, so I've created a few new zones:

For Australia (the only place items can be shipped), the state "Queensland" has now been removed and replaced with:

Queensland - Brisbane
Queensland - Sunshine Coast
Queensland - Bundaberg

I've then gone to edit the weight-based shipping module, however it only gives me the option "Australia" so I can't define the prices per zone. Have I missed a step?

You also need to define 3 Geo-Zones:

Geo-Zone 1 containing Brisbane
Geo-Zone 2 containing Sunshine Coast
Geo-Zone 3 containing Bundaberg
Geo-Zone 4 containing the other zones of Australia

Now your Weight-Based shipping method should see them.

I'm a bit confused. This is what I've currently got:

===========================================================================

"Zones"
------------------------------------------------------------------
(Country - Zone Name)
Australia - Australian Capital Territory
Australia - New South Wales
Australia - Northern Territory
Australia - Queensland (Bundaberg)
Australia - Queensland (Gladstone)
Australia - Queensland (Sunshine Coast)
Australia - South Australia
Australia - Tasmania
Australia - Victoria
Australia - Western Australia

"Geo Zones"
------------------------------------------------------------------
(Geo Zone Name - Description)
Australia - Australia

Within the above Geo Zone "Australia", I have the following Zones (only a couple, as a test):

(Country - Zone)
Australia - Queensland (Bundaberg)
Australia - Queensland (Gladstone)

===========================================================================

Assuming for a moment that I only needed individual pricing for the 10 areas in the first list above, am I on the right track, or have I got it backwards?

Sorry for being daft; I've always struggled with the Countries vs Zones vs Geo Zones and their uses.