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  2. Payment
  3. Payment Plugins
  4. PayPal

PayPal

With the PayPal plugin, you integrate the PayPal payment methods in your online shop and make them available to your customers. To do so, download the PayPal plugin from the plentyMarketplace . Setup of the payment method is done with an assistant. You also have to carry out a few basic settings in your plentymarkets system so that the payment methods are activated in your system.
The explanations in this section apply after adding the plugin. You can find more information on adding and installing plugins in the /en/plugins section of the manual.

1. Requirement: Opening a PayPal business account

To work with PayPal, you first need a PayPal business account. You get information as well as login details when you open the account. Without these, the plugin cannot be set up and is not usable. If you don’t have one yet, open a PayPal business acount  first.

2. Completing the assistant

Activating the plugin set in the main client

For account linking and the functionality of event procedures, the PayPal plugin has to be activated in the plugin set used for the main client. Since there is a dependency on the IO plugin, IO must be active for the deployment process (saving the plugin set).

After you have installed the plugin the corresponding assistant is available. Proceed as follows to complete the assistant and thus set up the payment method.

Setting up a payment method:

  1. Go to Setup » Assistants » Plugins » [select Plugin set].

  2. Select the assistant PayPal.

  3. Complete the assistant.

The payment method PayPal is available in your online shop.

Information about address validation

The PayPal assistant contains the option Address validation in the section Order processing. This validation is automatically activated. You have to select to deactivate the validation. You can either deactivate the validation for selected or for all countries. To do so, check () the countries for which addresses are not to be validated.
If the payment should also be executed with an incomplete address you should deactivate the address validation.

The default validation is a PayPal requirement. The validation checks if there is a complete address. It is not validated whether this is an actually existing address. The payment is only executed successfully if there is a complete address.
The PayPal address validation is important for the coverage when shipping goods. Moreover, PayPal offers buyer and customer protection, which is especially important when orders are processed with PayPal Express. In this case, the address is transmitted by PayPal itself.

Only when using a payment method for several clients: Complete assistant several times

Depending on the configuration of your plugin sets and clients, the PayPal assistant has to be completed more than once. Only this ensures that the PayPal payment methods are configured correctly and all functions such as event procedures and crons run smoothly in the background.

The following tables show you which assistants you have to complete in which plugin set. The upper row displays the configuration of the plugin sets and clients. The second row lists correspondingly, in which set the PayPal assistant has to be completed for which client.

Important: The examples are not about either or. The assistant has to be completed several times for multi-clients because it always also has to be completed in the plugin set which is linked with the main client.

Example 1:

Your plugin sets and clients:

Plugin set 1 is linked with the main client

Plugin set 2 is linked with multi-client 1

Plugin set 3 is linked with multi-client 2

Complete the assistant:

Complete the PayPal assistant in this plugin set for all the clients. This means for the main client, for multi-client 1 and for multi-client 2.

Complete the PayPal assistant in this plugin set for multi-client 1.

Complete the PayPal assistant in this plugin set for multi-client 2.

Example 2:

Your plugin sets and clients:

Plugin set 1 is linked with the main client

Plugin set 2 is linked with multi-client 1 and multi-client 2

Complete the assistant:

Complete the PayPal assistant in this plugin set for all the clients. This means for the main client, for multi-client 1 and for multi-client 2.

Complete the PayPal assistant in this plugin set for multi-client 1 and for multi-client 2.

Example 3:

Your plugin sets and clients:

Plugin set 1 is linked with the main client and to multi-client 1

Plugin set 2 is linked with multi-client 2

Complete the assistant:

Complete the PayPal assistant in this plugin set for all the clients. This means for the main client, for multi-client 1 and for multi-client 2.

Complete the PayPal assistant in this plugin set for multi-client 2.

Example 4:

Your plugin sets and clients:

Plugin set 1 is linked with the main client, with multi-client 1 and with multi-client 2

Complete the assistant:

Complete the PayPal assistant in this plugin set for all the clients. This means for the main client, for multi-client 1 and for multi-client 2.

3. ShopBuilder widgets

The PayPal Express Checkout Button and the Banners for PayPal Installment are available as widgets in the ShopBuilder.

4. Linking template containers

Information about linking containers

The containers needed by default are automatically linked during setup with the PayPal assistant. Up from version 5.4.0 on, required as well as optional containers are linked in the same plugin set in which the assistant is completed.

You have different options how to integrate PayPal PLUS, the PayPal Express Checkout button and the Banners for PayPal Installments in your online shop. To do this, the plentymarkets system offers containers at relevant places which can be filled with content to meet your needs.

Linking template containers:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin set overview.

  2. Open the plugin set you want to edit.

  3. Open the plugin PayPal.

  4. Click on Container links.

  5. From the drop-down list, select the data provider you want to link.

  6. Select the container you want to link to the data provider. Pay attention to the explanations given in Table 1.

  7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for all data providers you want to link to containers.

  8. Save () the settings.

Table 1. Linking template containers
Content Explanation

General

PayPal Checkout Scripts

The container Checkout: After scripts loaded has to be linked.

PayPal Confirmation Scripts

The container Script loader: After scripts loaded has to be linked.

PayPal Express Button Scripts

The container Script loader: After scripts loaded has to be linked.

PayPal Styles

The container Template: style has to be linked to activate the styles required by PayPal and to offer optimal functionality.

PayPal Express Checkout button

Optional: The PayPal Express Checkout button can be individually placed, e.g. next to the shopping cart. By clicking on this button, customers can purchase the content of the shopping cart immediately without going through the regular checkout. Instead, the customer is immediately forwarded to the PayPal payment process. The shipping address is provided by PayPal.

Banners for PayPal Installments

Optional: The Banners for PayPal Installments can be placed in many different ways to promote this payment method. You can choose between a graphic banner (PayPal Installment Graphical Promotion Banner) and a text banner (PayPal Installment Text Promotion Banner). A separate integration is not necessary. In the assistant, the banners can automatically be linked to an item page, the cart or the checkout. Additionally, the banners are also available to you as widgets in the ShopBuilder. Thus, they can be placed where they are needed, e.g. on landing pages, item pages, the shopping cart or the checkout.

PayPal Reinitialize Payment / PayPal PLUS Reinitialize Payment

A link with the container My account: Additional payment information allows the customer to reinitialise the payment in the My account area after an unsuccessful transaction. For PayPal, the Order now button is displayed, for PayPal PLUS, the Wall is displayed.
A link with the container Order confirmation: Additional payment information allows the customer to reinitialise the payment in the order confirmation area after an unsuccessful transaction. For PayPal, the Order now button is displayed, for PayPal PLUS, the Wall is displayed.

PayPal PLUS

PayPal PLUS Wall

A link with the container Checkout: Override payment method replaces all previous payment methods with the PayPal PLUS Wall. Any payment methods offered in addition to those included in the Wall – PayPal, Debit, Credit card and Payment upon invoice – are displayed below these four inside the wall in the order of their priority.
In the assistant, different options how to display the PayPal PLUS Wall are available: Wall replaces the payment list, Wall within the payment list or Wall in an overlay during the purchase.
Also pay attention to Additional information about the PayPal PLUS Wall. Additional information as well as restrictions are described there.

4.1. Additional information about the PayPal PLUS Wall

Apart from the PayPal PLUS payment methods, 10 further payment methods can be shown in the checkout within the PayPal PLUS Wall.
For Germany, for example, the payment methods Debit, Credit card and Invoice are possible. With this, a maximum of 14 payment methods can be shown in the checkout. But if, for example, only PayPal and Credit card are allowed for a certain delivery country, the maximum number is restricted to 12.

Moreover, PayPal PLUS limits the number of characters for the names of the other payment methods. The maximum number of characters is limited to 25. If a name has more than 25 characters, it is truncated.
Note that special characters, e.g. an umlaut, reduces the number of characters, because they are read out in HTML-style.

PayPal states the following:

  • max. image size of 100 x 25 px

  • max. 25 characters for methodName

  • max. 120 characters for description

5. Activating webhook notifications

Information about linking containers

The webhooks needed by default are automatically activated during setup with the PayPal assistant. You can carry out individual settings for webhooks in the Additional settings step of the assistant.

Your plentymarkets system and the PayPal interface communicate with the help of webhooks. For certain events, such as an incoming payment, PayPal sends a webhook notification to plentymarkets. plentymarkets automatically responds to these notifications.

Table 2. Webhook notifications
Webhook Explanation

PAYMENT.SALE.COMPLETED

A payment has been completed. When PayPal sends this notification, a pending payment is marked as paid in plentymarkets.

PAYMENT.SALE.DENIED

A payment has been denied. When PayPal sends this notification, a pending payment is marked as unpaid in plentymarkets.

PAYMENT.SALE.PENDING

There is a pending payment. When PayPal sends this notification, a pending payment is created in plentymarkets.

PAYMENT.SALE.REFUNDED

A payment has been partially or completely refunded by the seller. When PayPal sends this notification, a credit note for the payment is created in plentymarkets.

PAYMENT.SALE.REVERSED

A payment has been reversed by PayPal.

6. Customer classes and shipping profiles

Make sure the payment method is allowed in the customer classes and is not deactivated in the shipping profiles. For this, you should consider first for which customer classes and shipping profiles the payment method should be allowed. This can be set individually.

Permitting the payment method in a customer class:

  1. Go to Setup » CRM » Customer classes.

  2. Open the customer class for which you want to permit the payment method.

  3. Select the payment method from the list Permitted payment methods.

  4. Save () the settings.

  5. If needed, repeat these steps for other customer classes as well.

Checking payment method in existing shipping profiles:

  1. Go to Setup » Orders » Shipping » Settings.

  2. Click on the Shipping profiles tab.

  3. Open the shipping profile in which the payment method should be allowed.

  4. Check whether the payment method is selected in the Blocked payment methods area.

  5. Deselect the payment method if you want to allow it for this shipping profile.

  6. Save () the settings.

  7. If needed, repeat these steps for shipping profiles as well.

7. Automatically refunding PayPal payments

Set up an event procedure to automatically refund a PayPal payment.

Setting up an event procedure

  1. Go to Setup » Orders » Events.

  2. Click on Add event procedure ().
    → The Create new event procedure window opens.

  3. Enter a distinct Name for the event procedure.

  4. Select the Event according to Table 3.

  5. Save () the settings.

  6. Carry out the further settings according to Table 3.

  7. Activate the option Active ().

  8. Save () the settings.

Table 3. Event procedure for automatically refunding PayPal payments
Setting Option Selection

Event

Select the event that will trigger a refund.

Filter 1

Order > Payment method

Plugin: PayPal
Plugin: PayPalExpress
PayPal: PayPalPlus

Procedure

Plugin > Refunding a PayPal payment

Following the procedure Refunding a PayPal payment, two additional event procedures are available to follow the further process of the order: PayPal refund successful and PayPal refund failed. You can optionally set up event procedures with these events in the same way as described above.

8. Editing text elements

You can edit texts of the plugin in the CMS » Multilingualism menu. The texts can be adapted into all available system languages. To do so, proceed as described below.

Adapting language files:

  1. Go to CMS » Multilingualism.

  2. On the left side, select the Source language from the drop-down list.

  3. On the right side, select the Target language from the drop-down list.

  4. Expand the various sections in the PayPal area.

  5. Enter the text for the individual text elements in the area of the target language.

  6. Save () the settings.

Find more information on how to edit online shop texts on the manual page Editing online store texts.

9. FAQ about the PayPal plugin

In this section, FAQ about linking the PayPal with plentymarkets are compiled. Additionally, you can also make use of our Forum . You can either look for information in already existing threads or open a new thread and ask our supporters.

9.1. Configuring PayPal using the assistant

When configuring PayPal with the assistant, problems in the online shop may occur under certain circumstances. Updating the PayPal plugin often helps with this:

I want to update PayPal. How should I proceed? If you want to update the PayPal plugin in a copy of your plugin set, you have to change the back end plugin set that is linked to your user account. For further information on how to change your back end plugin set, refer to the page Installing added plugins. After reloading your back end, you can complete the assistant.

9.2. First aid: Problems with linking your PayPal account

If you have problems with linking your PayPal account with plentymarkets, it is advisable to use a different browser, just to eliminate this as a source of errors. Moreover, you should make sure that there are no basic problems with your PayPal account itself. Possibly, the email address was not confirmed yet, PayPal PLUS was not activated yet or you did not set a password yet. More possible sources of error and their solutions are described below.

9.2.1. What am I to do if I am not redirected to plentymarkets after I activated my PayPal account?

First check whether the latest PayPal version  is installed and deployed in your plentymarkets system. How to update plugins is explained in the manual chapter Updating installed plugins.

Activation and preview of the plugin

Make sure that the PayPal plugin is already activated and deployed in the plugin set of the main client when you are linking your account with plentymarkets. If this is not the case, malfunctions can occur.
Attention: The plugin-set preview must not be open while the PayPal account is linked with plentymarkets.
Plugin Fehlermeldung 1
Figure 1. Redirection to plentymarkets is not possible

  • Solution 1: Change the browser and try again. plentymarkets supports the browsers Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

  • Solution 2: There is still an active API right in the PayPal account. Remove the rights for plentymarkets. The API authorisation can be found on the following website: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_profile-api-list-auths .

NOTE

With removing the API rights, all linked PayPal accounts are disconnected from your plentymarkets system. In case a PayPal account is linked with the market eBay, this account has to be linked with the PayPal interface again.

9.2.2. What am I to do if I am asked to sign up for a business account again?

Business account
Figure 2. New PayPal business account

If this window opens, check whether the data in the Account step were correctly inserted.

Account setup
Figure 3. Account setup in assistant

  • Adding an account: Was the right option selected? Add new account or use existing account.

  • New account: Check whether the email address of the PayPal business account has been entered correctly.

  • Activate PayPal PLUS: Only activate this option if you also signed up for PayPal PLUS with this account.

  • Use PayPal test environment: If this option is activated, you don’t use PayPal live but only in a test mode. To actually use PayPal, do not activate this option.

9.3. Problems with the PayPal PLUS Wall

If the PayPal PLUS Wall is not or only incorrectly displayed, the reason often has to do with missing access or restrictions of the Wall itself. Also pay attention to Additional information about the PayPal PLUS Wall.

9.3.1. What do I do if the PayPal PLUS Wall is not displayed?

If the PayPal PLUS Wall is not displayed, check the following:

  • Make sure that you are allowed by PayPal to use PayPal PLUS.

  • Check the settings in the PayPal assistant. → PayPal PLUS has to be activated in Account step of the assistant.

  • Check the container links. They should be created automatically by completing the assistant but can also be set manually.

  • In order to use PayPal PLUS the payment method has to be allowed in customer classes and unblocked in shipping profiles.

9.3.2. Why are not all payment methods displayed in the PayPal PLUS Wall?

Not the following if a payment methods is not shown in the PayPal PLUS Wall:

  • Payment methods depend on the delivery country. For example, invoice and debit are only cleared for Germany. Also pay attention to Additional information about the PayPal PLUS Wall.

  • If a payment method is not cleared, contact PayPal  directly about this. They can activate payment methods for your PayPal business account.

9.4. Event procedures and the old PayPal integration

Since the old payment integrations are no longer supported, procedures and filters for event procedures have to be selected from the respective plugin groups. However, from version 5.3.1 on of the PayPal plugin, the procedure Refund PayPal payment also works for the old PayPal integration.
In order to see all changes to the PayPal plugin and to not miss any updates, use the changelog of the PayPal plugins . In general we recommend to use the plugin payment methods available on the plentyMarketplace .

10. PayPal Dispute

The PayPal Dispute plugin allows you to work on problems and solve conflicts with your customers directly in your plentymarkets system. In plentymarkets, the notifications and the messenger are used for this.

10.1. Requirements and installation

Using PayPal Dispute requires setting up the PayPal plugin first. You need version 5.0.0 or higher of the PayPal plugin. Moreover, required are Ceres from version 5.0.0 and IO from version 5.0.0 and higher.

Download and install the PayPal Dispute-Plugin  to integrate PayPal Dispute into your plentymarkets system. After the installation of the plugin, the corresponding assistant is available. With the help of this assistant you can add those PayPal accounts for which you want to use PayPal Dispute. Proceed as follows, to complete the assistant and set up PayPal Dispute.

Setting up PayPal Dispute with the assistant:

  1. Go to Setup » Assistants » Plugins » [select Plugin set].

  2. Select the assistant PayPal Dispute.

  3. Complete the assistant.

PayPal Dispute is now set up in your plentymarkets system.

10.2. Using PayPal dispute in plentymarkets

The advantage of using the PayPal Dispute plugin is that you will be informed about all cases of customers that reported a problem with a merchandise or service to PayPal directly in your plentymarkets back end. Go to CRM » Messenger to see all dispute messages. The buyer has 4 options to report a problem. The reactions available to you depend on the problem reported by the customer and on the level of escalation the problem has reached. There are 2 levels of escalation. The first level is called dispute and the second level is called claim. The 4 options available to the buyer are the following:

  • Item not received

  • Item not as described

  • Unauthorised activity

  • Billing issue

As long as a problem is still on the first level of escalation, the dispute level, you can still exchange messages with the customer to solve the problem. Once a problem is escalated to PayPal the level of escalation will be set to claim and simple messages will no longer be send to PayPal.

Loading of new cases

Once you have opened a case in the Dispute plugin no other case will be loaded. This means you need to close the Dispute plugin tab every time you want to open a different case.

The following table explains the options you have when you want to react to new dispute cases.

Table 4. Response options for dispute cases
Dispute case Explanation Response options

Customer did not receive the item

Your customer says that he did not receive the item. The case is on dispute level and you have 3 options to respond to it. Depending on your response, there are different options available.

You have the following 3 basic response options:
* writing a message to the customer
* treat as conflict and accept claim
* treat as conflict and escalate to PayPal

Customer says that the item is not as described

Your customer says that the item he received is not as described. The case is on dispute level and you have 6 options to respond to it. Depending on your response, there are different options available.

You have the following 6 basic response options:
* writing a message to the customer
* treat as conflict and accept claim
* treat as conflict and offer a full refund with item return
* treat as conflict and offer a partial refund
* treat as conflict and offer replacement
* treat as conflict and escalate to PayPal

Customer reported an unauthorised transaction

The customer says that he did not buy the item and the access to the account was not authorised. The case is on claim level and this means the customer requested buyer protection. Depending on your response, there are different options available.

Your 2 basic response options are:
* respond to buyer protection case and accept claim
* respond to buyer protection case and provide evidence

Customer reported a billing issue

Your customer reported that the invoice is not correct. This might be the case if the invoiced amount is not correct or the invoice applies to recurring billing agreement that was cancelled. In these cases you will be informed about the issue, but cannot edit it in plentymarkets. You need to log into your PayPal account to edit the case.

NONE - You need to log into your PayPal account to edit the case.

10.2.1. Inspecting PayPal dispute messages

To get an overview of all issues, navigate to CRM » Messenger. Once you have opened an issue message you can either answer the buyer or use one of the PayPal response options. If you activated the Notifications in the assistant, you are directly informed about new cases, updates to cases and when cases are closed.

See messages:

  1. Navigate to CRM » Messenger.

  2. Click on Search ().
    → All messages are listed.

  3. Click on the message you want to respond to.
    → The message history for this issue opens.

  4. Write a message to the buyer or use one of the PayPal response options.

Change visibility

You can use the visibility to restrict who can read the messages of an issue. At first all issues are visible to every user. The visibility can only be restricted after the first message has been received. The setting applies to all messages of an issue.
Table 5. Editing process
Icon Explanation

Blue circle

The message is unread.

Green check mark

The issue was solved or needs to be edited in your PayPal account.

10.2.2. Writing a message to your customer

You want to send a simple message to the customer to solve the issue. You can only write messages as long as an issue is on dispute level. The message history is only between you and your customer. PayPal does not take a closer look at issues on dispute level. Proceed as described below to send a message to the customer.

Writing a message to a customer:

  1. Navigate to CRM » Messenger.

  2. Click on Search ().
    → All messages are listed.

  3. Click on the message you want to respond to.
    → The message history for this issue opens.

  4. Click on Reply.
    → An input field opens.

  5. Enter your text.

  6. Click on Send.
    → The message is send to PayPal and will be displayed in the customer’s PayPal account.

Whisper

The message is not transmitted to PayPal if you whisper the message. Whispering is for internal conversations. Whispering must be individually set for every message.

10.2.3. Using dispute resolution options

The PayPal Dispute plugin opens if you treat an issue as conflict. The resolution options available to you depend on the issue that was reported by the customer. The options are exactly the same as in your PayPal account.

Treating an issue as a conflict:

  1. Navigate to CRM » Messenger.

  2. Click on Search ().
    → All messages are listed.

  3. Click on the message you want to respond to.
    → The message history for this issue opens.

  4. Click on Conflict: React to this case below the customer’s message.
    → The PayPal Dispute plugin opens.

  5. Choose a response option and take the explanations in Table 6 into consideration.

  6. Enter further information.

  7. Click on Send to PayPal.
    → The message is transmitted to PayPal.

Table 6. Response options for conflicts
Option Explanation Level of escalation

Accept claim

Choosing this option means that you refund the total amount to the customer or a partial amount if the customer requested a partial refund. This resolves and closes the case.

The case is on dispute level and will be closed as soon as you accept the claim.

Offer a full refund while requesting the return of the item

You are asking the customer to return the item while sending a full refund. The case will be closed as soon as the buyer accepts your offer and once you confirm the return.

The issue is on dispute level and therefore you can write messages with the customer.

Offer a partial refund

You are offering a partial refund and in some cases you want the item to be returned or you are offering an additional replacement. The case will be closed as soon as the buyer accepts your offer and once the buyer confirms the receipt of the replacement or once you confirm the return.

The issue is on dispute level and therefore you can write messages with the customer.

Offer replacement

You are offering a replacement. The case will be closed as soon as the buyer accepts your offer and confirms the receipt of the replacement.

The issue is on dispute level and therefore you can write messages with the customer.

Escalate to PayPal

Once you have escalated the issue to PayPal the following options will be available. You can either Accept claim or Provide evidence.

The issue will be elevated to claim level. On claim level you can no longer write messages to the customer and therefore you need to wait for PayPal to decide the case.

Provide evidence

This option is available if your customer says that the payment was unauthorised or an issue was escalated to PayPal.

The issue is only available on claim level. On claim level you can no longer write messages to the customer and therefore you need to wait for PayPal to decide the case.
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