Set Up Blocklists and Allowlists

Overview

AfterShip Returns blocklists and allowlists feature enables you to prevent returns and allow exceptions in certain situations. To set up and manage blocklists and allowlists, navigate to AfterShip Returns admin > Return policy > Eligibility rules.

What you’ll learn

In this article, we will show you:

• Blocklist vs. Allowlist
• Blocklist and allowlist set up
• Types of listings
• CSV upload
• FAQs
• Key takeaways

Blocklist vs. Allowlist

A. Blocklists allow you to prevent customers from submitting certain return requests

Blocklists can be created based on predefined criteria like

• Customer email address
• Order tag
• Product tag
• Product type
• Product SKU
• Discount

B. Allowlists, on the other hand, allows you to make exceptions in certain return situations for a specific product, order, and customer. Allowlists override all the ineligibility rules defined in AfterShip Returns admin that allows customers to submit a return request normally through the returns page.

Allowlists can be configured based on the following criteria.

• Customer email address
• Order number
• Product tag
• Product type
• Discount
• Product SKU

How to set up blocklists and allowlists

1. To create a blocklist or allowlist, navigate to Return policy > Eligibility rules in AfterShip Returns admin
2. Click Manage to open the blocklist dashboard, where all the listings will be created and displayed.
3. To add a listing, click Add listing and select the criteria (list type).

• Input the listing value for the criteria you selected and click Add.
• Once the listing is added, you will be able to view the item on the listing dashboard, the date when it was created, and the listing type.
• You will also see the option to remove listings whenever required. Select the bin icon to the right of the listing you would like to remove

Types of listings

When creating blocklists and allowlists, certain values can be added to the listing naming customer email address, order tag, product tag, type, and SKU.

1. Order tag

• Adding an order tag as defined in your eCommerce platform’s admin to the blocklist will make all orders with the same tag ineligible for return.

2. Product tag

• Adding a product tag as defined in your eCommerce platform’s admin to the blocklist will make all orders with the same tag ineligible for return.
• Adding a product tag as defined in your eCommerce platform’s admin to the allowlist will make all orders with the same tag eligible for a return, overriding the existing blocklist entry and product-specific returns window settings.

3. Customer

The customer here is the email address from which the orders are placed.

• Blocklisting an email address will make all products ordered by that customer ineligible for return.
• Allowlisting an email address will make all products ordered by that customer eligible for a return, overriding the existing blocklist entry and return window settings.

To edit your return window settings, check out this article.

4. Product type

• Adding a product type as defined in your eCommerce platform’s admin to the blocklist will make all orders of the same type ineligible for return.
• Adding a product type as defined in your eCommerce platform’s admin to the allowlist will make all orders of the same type eligible for a return, overriding the existing blocklist entry and product-specific returns window settings.

5. Product SKU

• Blocklisting a product SKU will make that product ineligible for return for any order.
• Blocklisting a product SKU within an order will make that product ineligible for return within that order.
• Allowlisting a product SKU will make that product eligible for return for any order.

6. Discount

• Blocklist a discount code generated in your eCommerce platform’s admin, amount, or percentage (%) to make all the orders on which customers have applied that discount code or those who fall within that discount range or % bracket ineligible for return.
• Allowlist a discount code generated in your eCommerce platform’s admin, amount, or percentage (%) to make all the orders on which customers have applied that discount code or those who fall within that discount range or % bracket eligible for return.

Know more about setting up discount listings with this guide.

7. Order

• Adding an order number to the Allowlist will make all products in the order eligible for return.

This overrides any existing blocklist entry or the order’s return window.

CSV upload

CSV file import is supported to import blocklists directly to AfterShip Returns admin without any manual efforts

1. Navigate to Return policy > Eligibility rules in AfterShip Returns admin
2. Click Manage to open the blocklist dashboard where all the listings will be shown and created
3. Click Import CSV. Select the CSV file with blocklist and allowlist entries from your computer or drop a file to the location and click Upload and continue

Use the structure below to import the CSV file correctly.

How blocklists and allowlists work?

If the customer's email address is added to your blocklist or the product has the blocklisted tag or type, this message will be displayed on your returns page:

The request is not in compliance with our return policy.

If you add any customer, product tag, or product type to your allowlist, return requests will be allowed to place, regardless of the blocklist restrictions.

Customer experience

A shopper bought a necklace having a non-returnable tag during a festive season, he/she won’t be able to raise a return request due to the blocklist restrictions.

Since a broken necklace was delivered, the shopper decides to speak with the merchant’s customer service team. After being convinced, the latter adds the shopper’s email address to the allowlist to override the blocklist restrictions for letting the former file a return request successfully.

If you still have some questions regarding the blocklist and allowlist, get clarity from our chat support team.

Supported platforms

Blocklists and Allowlists are available for users on Pro, Premium, and Enterprise plans. The availability of certain listings varies from one eCommerce platform to another.

• Product tag listings are available for Shopify, Magento 1, WooCommerce, and AfterShip Commerce API.
• Product type listings are available for Shopify, Magento 1, Magento 2, BigCommerce, and AfterShip Commerce API. (In BigCommerce, the product type is labeled as "Product category").
• Order tag listings are available for Shopify and Magento 2.
• Discount listings are available for Shopify and Commerce API.
• Customer and SKU listings are available for all supported platforms.
• Order number listings are available for all eCommerce platforms but are limited to allowlists.

FAQs

1. Why do my blocklist and allowlist settings are not working?

Blocklist and allowlist settings are applied to the products during the return request submission based on the conditions already configured in your Shopify settings.

This means product tags and types must be configured in the Shopify admin for each product in your catalog before a customer places an order for the setting to be picked up by AfterShip Returns admin to apply the blocklist and allowlist rules for that particular product tag or type.

If the product tag or type is added to the product(s) after the customer places an order, the blocklist and allowlist rules for that product type or tag will not function.

For e.g,

Case 1: A customer has ordered the product “Blue T-shirt”. The merchant then adds a “Sale” product tag to the “Blue T-shirt” product in the Shopify settings. The merchant adds this product tag to the blocklist in the AfterShip Returns admin.

Result: In this scenario, the blocklist rule for the product tag “Sale” will not apply since the product tag was added to the product in the Shopify settings after the order is placed. The customer will be able to submit the return request for the product successfully.

Case 2: The merchant has added a “Sale” product tag to the product “Blue T-shirt” in the Shopify settings. The customer then ordered the same product, a “Blue T-shirt”. The merchant adds this product tag to the blocklist in the AfterShip Returns admin.

Result: In this scenario, the blocklist rule for the product tag “Sale” will be applied since the product tag was added to the product in the Shopify settings before the order is placed. The customer will not be able to submit the return request for the product and will see an error message on the order lookup page.

Key takeaways

1. Blocklists and Allowlists in AfterShip Returns let merchants control which products, customers, or orders are eligible for return.
2. You can create blocklists to prevent returns and allowlists to override restrictions in special cases.
3. Listings can be created using customer email, order tag, product tag, product type, SKU, discount, or order number.
4. CSV upload allows quick import of blocklist and allowlist entries directly into AfterShip Returns admin.
5. Blocklist and allowlist settings only work if product tags or types exist before an order is placed in your eCommerce platform.
6. These features are available on Pro, Premium, and Enterprise plans across Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento 1 and 2, BigCommerce, and more. Though the availability of listing type varies from platform to platform.
7. Merchants can easily manage, edit, and remove listings anytime under Return policy > Eligibility rules in the admin.

For any further questions or help, please contact our chat support team or reach out to us at [email protected].

Updated on: 06/11/2025