Can I "own" PayPal transactions?

May 21, 2007 5:03 PM

Can I develop a shopping cart that allows people to pay via PayPal but keeps the transaction on my site?

What I thought I had seen, but can't find, is an example where:

1) customer adds item to cart + hits checkout
2) customer is asked to login to a paypal screen
3) customer completes order at store domain (the cart has captured the paypal account info above)

posted by subpixel to computers & internet (13 answers total)

PayPal would never, ever allow that. They are definitely not going to allow you to capture any account info. What's wrong with the current system where they go through PayPal and then redirect them back to your site?
posted by AaRdVarK at 5:08 PM on May 21, 2007

My mind must be playing tricks on me. Perhaps I dreamt it.
posted by subpixel at 5:10 PM on May 21, 2007

As far as I've seen, the usual way this works is that your cart sends them to paypal, then they login and send the money, and then paypal redirects them back to your site.

I've seen a few cases where the redirection back doesn't happen, when the merchant instead chooses to have you authorize them to take a certain amount of money from your account. Otherwise the sites I've used have been like I described in the first paragraph.

On preview: what AaRdVarK said
posted by wierdo at 5:10 PM on May 21, 2007

gothamcityonline, a new york shoe store/charity org seems to have this set up with paypal. The checkout is based on their domain, it's not (at least not fully, from what I have noticed during transactions) part of the paypal (or ebay) check out and does capture your paypal/ebay info.
posted by zarah at 5:14 PM on May 21, 2007

What you're looking for is contained within the PayPal API and SDK site. I believe you want Website Payments Pro.

That said, I don't think there's any solution that lets people pay via PayPal, but never see a PayPal.com page. That just sounds incredibly insecure.

Personally, not only would I never ever EVER enter my PayPal login/password on any site other than PayPal.com, but I would make it a point not to purchase anything from a site that asks me to.
posted by CrayDrygu at 5:15 PM on May 21, 2007

Seconding CrayDrygu. I'd never give my PayPal details to a site that wasn't really, really clearly PayPal. I double and triple check even on sites I trust. PayPal is a magnet for scammers, and you don't want to even give a hint that you might be one of them.
posted by bonaldi at 5:35 PM on May 21, 2007

What is it that you're after?

Do you want to give the impression that you're doing the credit card processing yourself without obviously involving a third party?

Or do you just think PayPal is ugly and it doesn't fit with the design of your site.

If it's the first you should go with a different company to process your credit cards. Your bank might be a good place to ask.

If it's the second, deal with it. As others have said, that your customer at PayPal and knows it is the whole point.
posted by Ookseer at 5:58 PM on May 21, 2007

There are a lot of sites integrating the Paypal system within their website using the Paypal API/SDK. This is no different than any other third-party provider integrating their payment system into a site. With most webstores, you do pay within the site and you don't ever know who the the gateway payment system belongs to. The merchant account is not something advertised, whether its when you hand your credit card over at a brick and mortar shoe store, or if it's an online handbag store. Why, when it's Paypal, should we feel we need to actually go to the Paypal site to feel safe? If you're afraid of a website fraudulently collecting information, a bogus website could do that without emulating Paypal. Bottom line: Paypal shouldn't be treated any differently than any other merchant account provider. They are branching out and competing with other more traditional merchant account providers - and that means an interface inside the site - just like every other merchant account payment gateway.
posted by Gerard Sorme at 6:41 PM on May 21, 2007

just like every other merchant account payment gateway.
That only the deserves the italics if PayPal and the merchant account gateways are the same, when they're absolutely not. Your credit card lives in your wallet; your PayPal account lives in PayPal.com. Websites can plausibly need to know my CC number; they don't need my PayPal details.

We feel the need to go to their site to feel safe because by taking a username and password, a site can have virtually unbridled access to our cash. By taking a C/C number, it gets limited and easily-revoked access.
posted by bonaldi at 6:57 PM on May 21, 2007

"Why, when it's Paypal, should we feel we need to actually go to the Paypal site to feel safe?"

When paying by a credit card, you only need to give the merchant a 16-digit card number. It's not even really an "account number" as you can change the card number without opening and closing accounts. If a fraudster gets the number, the worst they can do is run up a charge that you won't even be held liable for.

With PayPal, you don't have a card number, or even an account number. All you have is a username and password. If a fraudster gets that, they now have total control over your account. They can change your password, shut off all notifications, and play with it until their heart's content. You may never even know, if you're not in the habit of checking your PayPal account often.

So, if the OP just wanted to process normal credit transactions via PayPal, you'd be right. But you're not, on two counts. One, if you use PayPal to accept credit cards, their rules state you must also accept PayPal payments. And two, the OP specifically asked about paying via PayPal, not via credit card.
posted by CrayDrygu at 8:33 PM on May 21, 2007

bonaldi, The integrated Paypal sites are for accepting credit cards through Paypal only. If you want to use your Paypal account, you still sign-through to Paypal.com. At least, that's my understanding.
posted by Gerard Sorme at 8:34 PM on May 21, 2007

Umm. I just shopped for something at a Yahoo Store, and it worked the way you described. At checkout I was given the option of using Paypal, when I clicked on paypal link, it asked me to log in, and then it grabbed my info and filled out the form on yahoo's site. Truth be told, the only reason I remember, is because I don't remember ever seeing a transaction like this previously.

The store was : http://www.menswallet.com/ (I needed a very cheap wallet for something)
posted by niteHawk at 7:14 AM on May 22, 2007

Here's it is, explained: PayPal Express Checkout
posted by subpixel at 6:31 AM on July 31, 2007 [1 favorite]