PayPal

Connect PayPal with live REST API credentials — getting the Client ID and secret, the webhook ESTAGE adds, subscriptions and testing.

PayPal lets buyers pay with their PayPal account on your order forms, paid meetings and online store. The money goes to your own PayPal business account.

Where	What PayPal does
Order forms	One-time products, subscriptions, free trials and coupons. Buyers pay in PayPal's window.
Paid meetings	The booking is paid on the page. A cancelled booking is flagged Refund by hand, and you refund it in PayPal.
Online store	The storefront checkout.

Before you start

• A PayPal Business account. PayPal gives live API credentials only to a verified Business (or Premier) account.
• Live credentials only. ESTAGE connects to PayPal's live environment, so sandbox credentials are refused with Invalid API Key provided. To test, make a small real purchase and refund it.
• Business Details. PayPal can't be ticked on an order form until every required field in Business Details is saved.

Getting your credentials

1. Sign in to the PayPal Developer Dashboard with the account that receives the money.
2. Open Apps & Credentials and switch the page to Live.
3. Under REST API apps, open your app, or create one.
4. Copy the Client ID and the Secret.

PayPal's guide: Get started with PayPal REST APIs and Go live.

Connecting PayPal

1. In Genesis, open Settings → Payment Processing.
2. On the PayPal card, select Connect.
3. Paste the Client ID, and the secret into Secret Key.
4. Select Connect My Account.

PayPal connected appears and the card shows ACTIVE. Credentials PayPal doesn't accept — sandbox ones, a typo, a deleted app — give Failed to connect PayPal with Invalid API Key provided.

From your CRM it's the same: Settings → Payments, Connect on PayPal, the same fields, then Connect.

The webhook

ESTAGE registers a webhook on your PayPal app as you connect; there's nothing to paste. Through it ESTAGE records:

• refunds you make in PayPal;
• subscriptions that are cancelled, suspended or expire;
• subscription payments that failed.

Turning PayPal on for products

1. In the CRM, open Products and then the product.
2. On the Pricing tab, add PayPal under Payment providers.
3. Pick the price and currency, then select Update. For a monthly or annual product, saving creates its billing plan in your PayPal account.
4. In the order form, tick PayPal in step 2.

PayPal can charge in AUD, BRL, CAD, CHF, CNY, CZK, DKK, EUR, GBP, HKD, HUF, ILS, JPY, MXN, MYR, NOK, NZD, PHP, PLN, RUB, SEK, SGD, THB, TWD and USD. With other providers chosen too, the Currency menu keeps only the currencies they all share.

Testing and going live

There's no test mode, so try it with real money:

1. Connect PayPal with your live credentials and turn it on for an inexpensive product.
2. On your published site, buy it with a PayPal account other than the one receiving the money.
3. Check the order in the CRM under Orders, then refund the payment in PayPal. The order is marked refunded.

To move to another PayPal account, disconnect PayPal, connect it with the new credentials, then add PayPal back under Payment providers on each product and select Update.

Things worth knowing

• Refund in PayPal. The order is marked refunded and the product's Action upon refund runs — see After a purchase.
• A coupon on a subscription gets its own billing plan in PayPal. If PayPal can't take it, the buyer is asked to remove the coupon or pick another payment method.
• One PayPal app on several projects works: connect it on each project.
• Paid bookings aren't refunded automatically. Cancelling one flags it Refund by hand in Bookings; refund it in PayPal.

Related: Payment Processing · Stripe · Business Details