Connecting my paypal account to my dev TEST store

Payments + Shipping & Fulfilment

Topic summary

A developer is unable to connect a PayPal account to a Shopify development store for app testing purposes. The error message states that development stores can only process test payments.

Official Response:

  • Development stores cannot process real transactions through active payment providers
  • Only three testing methods are supported:
    • Bogus Test Gateway
    • Payment providers in test mode
    • REST/GraphQL Admin API for creating test orders

PayPal Sandbox Option:

  • PayPal offers a Sandbox account feature for testing
  • Setup instructions are available in PayPal’s community forums
  • Shopify support recommends contacting PayPal directly for Sandbox configuration assistance

Current Status:

  • The original poster hasn’t confirmed finding a solution
  • At least one other developer reports experiencing the same issue
  • A follow-up question asks whether Shop Pay or external payment providers can be tested in development stores (unanswered)
Summarized with AI on October 30. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

Hi all,

It’s been a week that I’m trying to connect my pay pal account to my dev store. Shopify contradict themselves (said it’s possible to my dev, and it’s impossible to me). I went over all the docs unsuccessfully, same goes for past threads here. End goal is to test our new app (we’re not merchants).

Error returned is ‘Development stores can only process test payments.
Activate the test payment provider or set your payment provider to test mode. Learn more about testing in development stores.’ which I’ve tried too (with bogus and without), verified the email & country are identical (for the store & pp). Anyone knows? Maybe I need a pp sandbox account?

Help

1 Like
2

Hi there, @Mordaniel87 .

Thanks for reaching out and posting to the Shopify Community.

It looks as though you’re trying to activate PayPal to your development store, however, you’re receiving an error message on your end.

When using a development store, you can only test orders using the Bogus Test Gateway, enabling test mode for your payment provider or create test orders using the REST Admin API or GraphQL Admin API.

You can’t test orders using real transactions through active payment providers. Real transactions are transactions that are processed through a payment provider that isn’t in test mode, and that use real payment information such as a valid credit card number. For reference, I’ll share a screenshot below from our testing orders in development stores resource.

08-41-35483-64484.png
08-41-35483-64484.png834×549 44.3 KB

In regard to your query about needing a PayPal Sandbox account, PayPal has provided steps in their community forums on how to enable this. These steps are not supported on our end, so I recommend contacting PayPal Support if you need assistance with the setup.

Lastly, I’d like to share some of our Partner Resources for you to explore.

3

Hi @Victoria_13 Is there a way to test a Shop Pay, or external payment provider in a test store?

1 Like
4

Hey Mordaniel, I am facing the same issue, did you find any solution to test orders using paypal in a dev store ?