Add PayPal Checkout to Your Store

You can accept payments on your online store using PayPal. To use PayPal in your store, you need a Business PayPal account. You can integrate it with your store by following the steps below.

 

Setup the PayPal connection

Part 1: Create your PayPal account

When you set up your online store, your store's login email address be automatically designated as your PayPal account email username. This can be found by selecting Payment on the left-hand sidebar of your Shop dashboard, and viewing the PayPal Checkout option under Current payment methods.

To enable the PayPal payment method in your online store:

1. Select Payment on the left-hand sidebar of your Shop app.
2. Scroll down to PayPal Checkout block. Depending on whether you have a PayPal account or not, follow the steps below:
   • (Your business PayPal account is registered to the same email that you used to sign up for your store.) Click Enable PayPal to start accepting payments.
   • (You don’t have a business PayPal account yet.) Click Enable PayPal to start accepting payments. Then create a business PayPal account with the same email as set up in your online store to withdraw the money.
   • (You already have a business PayPal account with a different email address.) Click Change PayPal account to switch your PayPal account in your online store. Then click Enable PayPal to save changes:
     

After that, PayPal should now be enabled as a payment method at your store checkout:

 

Part 2: Test your PayPal connection

Place a "test" to confirm that the PayPal payment method is set up properly. Note: you will need to run the test using a PayPal account separate from the one used to set up your PayPal Business account.

To place a "test" order:

1. Login to PayPal (or create a new account) using an email address that is different from the email of your PayPal account linked to your online store. 
2. Add a cheap "test" product ($1 or less) in your store.
3. Confirm that you've set up a PayPal payment method in your store.
4. Make a purchase from your store. Confirm that the funds were processed.
5. If needed, you may refund the order in your PayPal account.

 

Other options

Add PayPal Credit

In addition to PayPal, you can offer PayPal Credit as a financing option to your customers. This can encourage them to purchase more expensive products and services. With PayPal Credit, you are paid upfront while your customers can pay in installments. This will appear as an option on your checkout page.

To enable or disable the PayPal Credit button in your store:

1. Select Payment on the left-hand sidebar of your Shop dashboard.
2. Select PayPal, then click Settings.
3. Open Advanced Settings.
4. Enable or disable the Show PayPal Credit button toggle.

Here is how the PayPal Credit button appears at checkout:

 

Offer local payment options (such as Venmo)

When you enable the PayPal payment method, additional payment options become automatically enabled in your store. These include mobile payment apps and country-specific funding source, including:

• Venmo (US, mobile-only)
• iDEAL (Netherlands)
• Bancontact (Belgium)
• MyBank (Italy)
• Giropay and SEPA Direct Debit (Germany)
• EPS (Australia)

PayPal will dynamically choose the most relevant payment methods for each buyer at checkout based on a customer's location and whether they have downloaded the relevant app to their device.

Here is an example of the cart page with additional payment buttons (the available buttons may vary for each customer):

This gives your customer more choice for how they pay, and it also reduces the need to sign up with a variety of local payment providers.

Regardless of which payment method a customer chooses, PayPal will send the funds to your PayPal account, so you can manage your transactions as usual. These payments will appear as PayPal payments in your orders in your dashboard.

 

Offer express checkout

You can offer your customers a faster checkout option with PayPal on your store's cart page. Your customers can skip entering their address at checkout and use shipping and payment details right from their PayPal accounts to quickly place their orders.

To add the PayPal Checkout button to the cart page:

1. Select Payment on the left-hand sidebar of your Shop dashboard.
2. Select PayPal, then click Settings.
3. Expand the Advanced settings.
4. Select Enable PayPal Checkout on the cart page.

Now your customers will see PayPal Checkout button on the cart page and can choose if they want to go through the express checkout with PayPal or proceed with your regular checkout:

If PayPal is the only payment method you selected, your customers will see only PayPal checkout options on the cart page:

 

Let customers pay without PayPal account

Your customers can pay with a credit or debit card without a PayPal account login. The guest checkout option is available to the merchants with a verified Business account with PayPal.

To offer guest checkout through PayPal:

1. Log into your business PayPal account.
2. Proceed to Profile > Selling Preferences > Website Payment Preferences.
3. Select Yes for the PayPal Account Optional setting.

Now, after clicking the PayPal Checkout button, customers can choose to pay by debit or credit card and PayPal will process their payments.

 

FAQ

Why does a paid order have "Awaiting Payment" status in my online store?

PayPal orders may have Awaiting Payment status in your online store for several reasons:

1. An eCheck that has not cleared is the most frequent cause of a pending payment. This often resolves itself when the eCheck clears (usually 3-5 days).
2. The customer did not provide a confirmed shipping address and your Payment Receiving Preferences requires you to manually accept or deny these payments. To change this preference, go to the Preferences section of your Profile in PayPal.
3. The payment is pending because you hold a non-U.S. account and do not have a withdrawal mechanism. You must manually accept or deny this payment from Account Overview in your PayPal account.
4. You do not have a balance in the currency sent, and you do not have your Payment Receiving Preferences set to automatically convert and accept such payments. You must manually accept or deny this payment.
5. The payment is pending while PayPal reviews it for risk.
6. The payment is pending because you must upgrade your account with PayPal. The Business or Premier plans allow you to accept credit cards and increase the monthly limit for transactions on your account.
7. The payment is pending because you have not been verified yet. After verifying your account with PayPal, you will be able to accept this payment.

You can verify the reason for a PayPal order showing "Awaiting Payment"  by navigating to My Sales > Orders in your Shop dashboard.

If you receive the following message in your Orders:

The payment is pending because it was made to an email address that is not yet registered or confirmed.

First, make sure you have the right email address entered by navigating to Payment > PayPal-Settings:

• If the email address is correct, your PayPal account probably needs to be confirmed or verified. If this is the case, the money is in limbo until your account gets verified.
• If the email doesn’t match, and you’re working with a test order, update your PayPal settings in your store admin and submit another test order to ensure the orders arrive as Paid.
  In case you’re dealing with a live order from your customer, the money will remain pending on the PayPal side for the next 45 days. If nobody (you) claims the funds, PayPal will return the funds to the buyer. Now you have two options:
  1. If PayPal returns the funds, we suggest contacting the buyer and explaining the situation. Creating an invoice in your PayPal account for the same amount and asking your customer to pay it may be the easiest option.
  2. Register a PayPal account for the wrong email, and verify it. After that, PayPal will transfer the money to the account with the "wrong email" and you can forward the funds to your main business account.
     When you receive the money, you can manually update the orders status to "Paid" by navigating to My Sales > Orders in your Shop dashboard.