Paypal express checkout, pending payment, auto refund ?

[Kwok1989]

Hello Shopify Staff,

For some reason, I have a default set up for paypal express check out, but I have actually not set up the account. Then I got an order, and now I set up a new paypal account using the same email address as shopify.  Then I try to disactivate the paypal express check out, and relink it to the new account. Then all a sudden, I see that the payment is being refunded. I am uploading info to the new payoak account to lift the limit. 

Would the payment come back ? Do I need to contact paypal or the customer to ask her to send the payment again ? I am quite confused here. Please help.  Thank you very much in advance. 

Best Regards,

David

[Moira]

Hey @Kwok1989,

I'll be happy to help you out with this.

PayPal is one of Shopify's default payment providers. As soon as you open a store, you're given a PayPal Express Checkout account with the email you used to sign up for your Shopify store. Before you can collect payments for orders made with PayPal, you need to set up your PayPal account. You can follow our guide below for further instructions:

• Set up PayPal on Shopify

PayPal account "limited"

This can occur when a personal PayPal account is linked then made into a business account. PayPal will then ask for tax forms etc which many people do not have. Briefly, all you need to do is contact PayPal directly to remove the limitation from your account.

According to the screenshot you shared, it appears the refund was successful. This means you would need to reach out to the customer for payment again, once your PayPal account is back up and running. Don't forget that you can eliminate your transaction fees with us by adding Shopify Payments as a gateway (if supported in your country) option for your customers as well.

'Payment is Pending' Error

This can occur if Shopify never receives the notification from PayPal that the payment has cleared on PayPal's end - and the status of the payment remains pending. While the order can still be marked as paid once you observe it has cleared within PayPal, our developers are aware of this and are working with PayPal to ensure that payments/pending payments with PayPal are updated within both your PayPal dashboard and your Shopify admin to make management of your orders easier.

Although there is a workaround! Sometimes email conflicts within PayPal could be an issue. If you have one email you use to log into Shopify and a different email for PayPal. I suggest logging into PayPal then linking the email address you use to log into Shopify. Next, make it your primary email on PayPal. If you head back into Shopify, deactivate PayPal and then reactivate using the new primary email (the same email you log into Shopify with). 'Payment Pending' should disappear.

Here is another Shopify community forum post that explains this resolution in more detail:

• PayPal still processing order payment

PayPal has also provided some steps they recommend to follow below:

• PayPal Pending or Holding Funds

[Kwok1989]

Thanks a lot Moira for the detailed answer,  I submitted all docs to paypal, and have reached out to them. One follow up question, how do I ask my customer to pay again through paypal ? I guess she does not need to buy the same item again ? Just do some clicks in her paypal again ? I am sending the order to the customer anyway in good faith. 

I am still a bit confused, but your answer already cleared up a lot, i need to wait for paypal to get back and will contact you guys again for help. 

[Moira]

@Kwok1989,

Does your refunded PayPal order state that it is 'unfulfilled' and 'refunded' as shown in the image below?

If so, you are unable to manually capture payment from this order again which means the customer would need to make a new purchase (which will create a new order). As part of the refund process, you have the option to restock the items and to send a notification email to the customer.

The other option you have is to create a draft order. You can create orders for your customers and send them invoices from the Shopify admin or the Shopify app. The orders that you create on behalf of your customers are named draft orders. Draft orders are similar to the orders that your customers create for themselves. A draft order is converted to an order when you accept payment for it.

You can read more about how to create a draft order below:

• Creating draft orders · Shopify Help Center

Once you hear back from PayPal don't hesitate to reach back out!