PayPal API experience?

[brian.mark]

Has anyone used the PayPal API to integrate PayPal payments into their own shopping cart? I'm not interested in a PayPal shopping cart or taking them to PayPal's site to do the transaction. I would only consider adding that payment option if I can make it as seamless as Visa with our PayFlowPro account. I'll also need to be able to settle transactions without giving our CSR's passwords to our PayPal account. I can see that being a bad security risk.

Anyone that has experience with it and could guide me if this is possible or not, I'd love to hear from you.

Brian.

[ADAM Web Design]

I don't think PrayPal even provides that option, do they?

From what I've used of it (and I try to avoid it when possible), it's pretty weak. The only thing I've ever been able to do with it is send someone to PrayPal's site, change the background colour from white to black, and add a logo. You can do the sum total of about 15 minutes' worth of stuff on it.

[brian.mark]

I got to reading some documentation, and it is indeed weak. Seems to allow for most of the details (other than password) to be entered on your site, then it passes them off to PayPal with your logo displayed and the background color you want, then returns them back to your site. Hahaha... what a joke.

If we can't approve / decline transactions without giving CSR's (many who are fairly new around here) our password, then that's fairly worthless.

Brian.

[imvain2]

Paypal does offer another solution.

It may not be what you are looking for but...

You take the customer's info as usual in your shopping cart (CC info included) w/digital certificate and store it into your database.

Then have your CSR's log into your shopping cart's admin area and view the customer's info. Then use paypal's [normal virtual terminal] called "Website Payments Pro" to run the credit card manually. This will allow your CSR's the ability to verify the orders before the credit card is charged [less charge backs & refunds].

I'm not to sure on the particulars of this yet though.

[southplatte]

Actually with WebSite Payments Pro you can interface directly with PayPal from your web site by passing all of the information from your site via SSL to PayPal and then interpret the response codes.

Works exactly as any other merchant account does - you take the info, pass it to the process, interpret the code. The user never leaves your web site.

Of course, there are monthly fees with it ($20US) as with any other merchant account.

[brian.mark]

Originally Posted by southplatte

Actually with WebSite Payments Pro you can interface directly with PayPal from your web site by passing all of the information from your site via SSL to PayPal and then interpret the response codes.

Works exactly as any other merchant account does - you take the info, pass it to the process, interpret the code. The user never leaves your web site.

Of course, there are monthly fees with it ($20US) as with any other merchant account.

Really? $20 is nothing if we can integrate it like that. And here I've been hoping that since they are buying Verisign's payment services that we'd have some sort of PayPal option through there.

Maybe I'll give our local PayPal office a call when I get back to the office and find out what I can about Website Payments Pro. One of the owners at ToolBarn knows some of the higher-ups over there. That sounds like just what I need. Thanks for the tip, southplatte.

Brian.

[Evic]

I have yet to use Paypal myself, but I have been looking into it as it seems a viable and cheaper option than having a merchant account.

Can anyone share more experiences with using Paypal as their only payment method, accepting credit cards and Paypal accounts with it?

[ADAM Web Design]

Evic, if you want to know what will happen if you decide to use PayPal, perform the following steps:

1. Put a rubber glove on your left hand.
2. Take all of the money out of your wallet and place it into your left hand. Bills, coins, everything. If you've got an Interac card, take that out too.
3. Take your left hand and insert it, money and all, into the bowl of the closest available toilet.
4. Place the contents of your left hand into the toilet bowl, and remove your left hand from inside of the toilet bowl.
5. Flush the toilet repeatedly until the contents of the bowl disappear.

- It's a sinkhole for potential revenues.
- People find the processes (both registration and payment) confusing.
- PayPal, as I mentioned earlier, has a VERY limited API.
- If you're from outside of the US, settlement issues can occur with some banks.
- It's in English only, so if you plan on using it with a foreign-language website, forget it.

Nuff zed? ;)

[Evic]

Thanks for the reply Adam - amusing and informative. :)

Do you know of any research materials I can review in respect to merchant accounts?