Paypal setup in SimplePhoto

  1. Sign up with Paypal at http://www.paypal.com
  2. Create a free BUSINESS account through PayPal if you have not done so already.
  3. Required Steps in PayPal:
    1. Verify your e-mail address.
    2. Add a bank account:  You should add your business checking account or the checking account to which you will be depositing your revenue.  If you DO NOT add a bank account, you will not be able to access your funds. This process will take 3-4 business days.
    3. Lift your Limit:  All PayPal accounts have a default "Limit" of $500, preventing you from withdrawing more than $500 per month from PayPal into your bank account.  Refer to PayPal for information on lifting your Limit.

Obtain your PayPal “Client ID” and “Secret”:

SimplePhoto is now using a newer PayPal integration, so PayPal customers will need to obtain new credentials from PayPal called a "Client ID" and "Secret.” 

Here are instructions on obtaining the necessary PayPal credentials:

  1. Visit this link: http://developer.paypal.com
  2. Click Log Into Dashboard and enter your PayPal email address and password.
  3. Click the Live button located under the “My Apps & Credentials” header.
    • The Live button will become highlighted in blue once selected. 
  4. Click the Create App button located under the “Rest API Apps” header.
  5. Type a name such as “SimplePhoto Storefront” and click the Create App button. Leave App Type as "Merchant."
  6. You should then see heading called LIVE API CREDENTIALS. IMPORTANT: In order for your customers to check out, you must copy the Live credentials and NOT the Sandbox credentials.
  7. Copy the Client ID and Secret fields.
    • Click the Show button to reveal the secret field.
    • The secret key often overflows to a second line so make sure to copy the entire string of numbers/letters.

Complete the PayPal setup in SimplePhoto:

  1. Login to your SimplePhoto account.  Click on the How you Collect link in the My Account section of the Dashboard.
  2. Copy the Client ID and Secret fields and paste them into the appropriate fields in the SimplePhoto How You Collect settings screen.
  3. Click the Update button. 


Troubleshooting PayPal issues

If the following error message appears when you attempt to checkout using PayPal: "There was an error creating your payment" 
... followed by "The error message was: Payment configuration error. Contact your photographer."
This error is caused by incorrect values being provided for the PayPal Client ID and/or Secret. Please make sure you're using the "Live" values for Client ID and Secret, not the "Sandbox" values. If you'd like the SimplePhoto support team to help troubleshoot this issue, it will be helpful for you to send both the "Live" and "Sandbox" values for Client ID and Secret to our support team.

"Value is invalid" error response from PayPal
If a customer is not able to check out with PayPal and the error response from PayPal includes the text "Value is invalid", it is possible that the issue is due to an invalid zip code.

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