GoDaddy checkout not working: the failing step

Checkout runs a chain of rules, and the shopper meets them in order. The address step accepts whatever was typed. The shipping step then shows only the methods that cover that address, so a region missing from your shipping settings gives a page with nothing to choose, not an error. Checkouts also usually show only the payment methods that are switched on, so a shopper with a card ready finds nothing to press. The shopper goes back to the cart, changes nothing, and tries the same address again. From their side, the store simply does not sell to them.

• Enter an address in your home region. Does a shipping option appear?
• Enter an address in a region you say you ship to. Does the same option appear?
• Enter a region you do not ship to. Does the checkout say so, or return to the cart?
• Reach the payment step. Does at least one payment method show?
• Compare the total on each step. Does it change without a reason shown?

A shopper reaches checkout with a cart they already trust. The first screen asks for a name and an address, and it accepts almost anything, so the form feels fine. The second screen is where the store decides whether it sells to that address. If a shipping option is offered, the shopper moves on. If the screen is empty, the shopper reads it as a bug, since there is no message that says the address is outside your shipping area. Only after that does the payment step appear, and it can hide the method the shopper expected. Each of those screens depends on a different setting in the admin, and the shopper cannot see any of them.

A shipping gap shows up as a step with no option in it, or as a jump back to the cart with the same total. Look at the address you entered and compare it with the regions your shipping settings list. If the country or region is not on the list, the gap is in the settings, and the fix is a new rule or an honest message. A payment gap shows up later, as a payment step with fewer methods than you expected. That points at the payment settings for that currency or region, not at the address. The total can also change between the cart and the payment step.

Pick two addresses before you test: one in the region you sell to most, and one in a region your settings leave out. Walk both to the payment step. If both stop at shipping, the gap is wider than one region, and the shipping settings or the cart rules are the next place to look. If only the second one stops, the rule for that region is the missing piece, and a clear message at checkout is the honest fix if you choose not to ship there.

A simulated shopper follows each walk and reports the step where it stopped, with a screenshot of the screen it saw. Compare the two screenshots side by side, since the step where they split is where the rule is missing. The walk stops at the payment step, since a shopper cannot pay with a real card in a test, so the final charge still needs your own check.

Each change to shipping regions, rates or payment methods can close checkout for a region that worked last month. Walk the checkout with one address in each region you sell to after every change, and compare the total on each step. Send visitors from a region-specific ad too, since their address will not match the one you tested with at home.