This page explains how "express" checkout can be implemented. It looks like the user is forced into entering his street address and lots of other data so that this data is later used for shipping.
The page briefly mentions "generic" checkout to which "express" checkout is opposed. Where can I get more information (preferably with examples) on how "generic" checkout can be implemented?
First, Express Checkout does not require users to input anything. That's the whole point of PayPal payments and where the term "express" comes from. You just click the PayPal button, sign in, and agree to pay. Your shipping address comes from what you already have entered in your PayPal account.
As for "generic" PayPal that would be Payments Standard. You can use their basic HTML buttons or you if you're building in to your own shopping cart you can use the cart upload method.
If you are comfortable with web service API's, though, I would definitely recommend going with Express Checkout. The experience for the buyer is very similar, but EC provides a lot more flexibility and features.
Related
What's the difference between PayPal buttons and PayPal Express Checkout?
The second one seems more complicated than the first one to integrate in a web site. When I should consider to use Express Checkout rather than Buttons? What are the advantages?
PayPal Standard buttons are indeed quick and easy, but they are limited. One of the biggest issues with it is with regard to Guest Checkout, which allows non-PayPal account holders to pay with a credit card without creating an account.
With Standard buttons this is browser cookie based, so if anybody has ever signed in to a PayPal account using the browser in use, then the cookie will trigger and assume that the user will be logging in to PayPal. This causes the guest checkout option to be less prominent, and buyers often miss it, which results in lost sales.
Express Checkout uses the APIs which gives you more flexibility, including the ability to force the Guest Checkout experience if you want to regardless of any browser cookies. This can lead to increased conversion rates.
Another thing to consider is that with Standard buttons there is no guarantee the user will make it back to your site. Even if you have Auto-Return enabled in the PayPal account there is a delay, and the user could simply close their browser before they are sent back to your site. With Express Checkout the user has to return to your site before the process can be completed, so this gives you the ability to tie more post-transaction processing procedures into your checkout flow.
Adding PayPal buttons to your website eliminates the need to enter your shipping address. You only verify the purchase details and confirm by the user and it gets supplied by PayPal but in case of Express checkout customer still need to supply their shipping address .
Also in case of express checkout you make API call initially to PayPal and in turn PayPal gives you token id for the payment you are going to make and you use the token(which is unique for every payment) to subsequently authorize and capture the amount from PayPal account once the customer confirms the payment after logging into PayPal account.
We have been using the PayPal Checkout (v4) for a little while now, and really like the way it integrates. This is the system I'm talking about:
https://developer.paypal.com/docs/integration/direct/express-checkout/integration-jsv4/checkout-flow/
We are using this plugin to do the magic:
https://github.com/paypal/paypal-checkout
Anyway, as I said we have this all working fine when someone is sending US the money. However, we also have a tool on our site where "customers" can send money to sellers. For this, we currently have the Adaptive Payments system.
My question: How can we use the PayPal Checkout tool to let people send to a given email address, while still getting the callback for the order? (so we can enter it into our system, to track it)
At first I thought this wouldn't be possible - but I've seen this exact same logic on eBay:
Is this something that is publicly available? Or is it just a "PayPal-Ebay" thing? (as they are effectively the same company, so maybe have access to different tools than the general public do)
Thanks!
Here's another option -- the payee option in PayPal's REST api:
https://devblog.paypal.com/setting-payee/
Using this, you can set the money to be moved to whichever paypal account you like with just the email address.
The PayPal Express Checkout v4 is based on PayPal Rest API which does not support spliting or sending payment to a given PayPal account that is not the API caller. Adaptive payment is the right to do so in PayPal. The PayPal checkout on eBay is only for eBay, the checkout experience may look similar but it's using different product than the Express Checkout v4.
The basic integration lets you set up a button for a merchant using only their client id:
https://developer.paypal.com/docs/integration/direct/express-checkout/integration-jsv4/basic-integration/
So if you can collect the merchant's client id, you can set up a button to make payments to that merchant.
Hope that helps!
I just noticed that paypal now has a number of solutions to accept payment, and per this own page, it doesn't really compare their difference in a nice way:
https://developer.paypal.com/docs/accept-payments/
Does anyone happen to know (I am using C#/.net, but JS is also OK), if I want to have a customized checkout, in which I can customize the look and feel, and allow customers to enter/select shipping address (which is saved in the site's own database), which paypal method I should use?
Thanks! (also if any document that explain better the differences of the above different ways of accept payment, it would be great!)
If you want to completely customize everything then the PayPal Payments Pro Payflow Edition is a viable solution.
Here is the link to Sample Code C# is one of the programming languages offered in the Sample Payflow Code.
You will need to build your form/shopping cart and then the Sample Code can be used to make the payment request to process the payments. The Entire Transaction will take place place on your website from start to finish.
If you want PayPal to handle the payment portion with a customer leaving your site to use PayPal as the Payment method and then returning to your site to complete the payment, Express Checkout is the other option that will work.
You can make an API call to PayPal to get the Shipping information from PayPal and then store the shipping info in your own database.
Here is the Express Checkout Sample Code
I need a help regarding paypal.
That is. Once I have logged in with paypal and made payment, Then for another payment no login will be asked, Direct payment will be done using paypal. Please comment your suggestions. Thanks in Advance.
You have a couple of options for this.
First, you could take a look at Preapproval, which is part of the Adaptive Payments platform. It allows users to create a Preapproval profile that your application can then use to trigger payments at any time without further approval as long as the payment fits within the guidelines of the preapproval profile.
Another option would be to look into Express Checkout with Reference Transactions. This would give you a little bit more flexibility and would be more in line what you're asking for, I think. Users would agree during their first payment with you to allow you to auto-charge this same account in the future. Then you would use DoReferenceTransaction to trigger future payments based on that "billing agreement" which is what it would be called that way.
I would recommend going with Express Checkout, and you might want to look at Digital Goods, too, which just adds some more functionality with quicker PayPal checkout in various ways.
It's all handled through a few simple API calls, so don't let all the info scare you.
My PHP class library for PayPal will make all of the API calls very simple for you regardless of which method you choose. Again, though, I'd recommend Express Checkout.
Is there any known way (an api or something of the sort) that I could use to create my own user checkout experience for Paypal?
So, for instance, the user clicks my donate button which takes them to my donate page. I collect the needed user information and pass it securely to paypal using some auth method without ever redirecting away form my site or using their "Customize your Payment Page" (which is entirely not customizable enough for me).
I've looked through their myriad of api's but haven't found anything useful yet.
Thanks!
This can be done using the Direct Payment API. In order to use it, though, you need to have a Payment Pro account with PayPal.
If you plan to implement it with FuelPHP, then there is a feature rich, driver based, package here.