Connecting PayPal

Connecting PayPal

Connect your PayPal account to take PayPal payments from guests. Once configured and enabled, PayPal becomes available at checkout (subject to the processors you allow — see Choosing payment processors).

Open Settings → PayPal (/settings/paypal).

In the Update Credentials card (on the right), enter your Client ID (①), Secret (②), and Webhook ID (③). Use the Live mode (uncheck for Sandbox) checkbox (④) to say which set of credentials you've entered — tick it for live, leave it unticked for Sandbox. Then click Save & verify (⑤). Once verification succeeds, tick Enable PayPal payments and save again — the Enable checkbox stays disabled until PayPal has verified your credentials.

What you'll need from PayPal

From the PayPal Developer Dashboard, collect:

• Client ID — your app's public identifier.
• Secret — the matching private credential; treat it like a password.
• Webhook ID — issued after you create a webhook (see below).

PayPal provides separate credentials for Sandbox (testing) and Live. Use the Live mode checkbox to tell Stayant which set of credentials you've entered: tick it for live credentials, leave it unticked to run against the Sandbox.

Entering your credentials

In the Update Credentials card on the right:

1. Paste your Client ID.
2. Paste your Secret (the field is masked).
3. Paste your Webhook ID once you have it (see Setting up the webhook).
4. Tick Live mode for live credentials, or leave it unticked for Sandbox.
5. Click Save & verify.
6. Once it verifies, tick Enable PayPal payments and save again.

Each credential is only updated if you enter a new value — leave a field blank to keep the value already on file. After saving, the entered values are cleared and the summary card shows masked versions.

Save & verify

Clicking Save does more than store your credentials — Stayant runs a live check against PayPal with them before anything else changes. This is why the button reads Save & verify.

• If verification succeeds, the Enable PayPal payments box unlocks (and if it was already ticked, PayPal goes live immediately).
• If verification fails, the Enable PayPal payments box stays locked — you can't turn PayPal on with credentials Stayant hasn't been able to confirm work. A Verification failed badge appears on the left, and the Update Credentials card on the right shows the reason under "We couldn't verify your PayPal credentials: …".

Until your credentials have verified, the Enable PayPal payments checkbox is disabled with a note: Save valid credentials to verify your account before enabling.

If verification fails

Common causes:

• Wrong or mistyped credentials — check the Client ID and Secret against the PayPal Developer Dashboard.
• Live/Sandbox mismatch — the Live mode checkbox has to match the credentials you pasted in. Sandbox credentials checked with Live mode ticked (or live credentials checked with it unticked) will fail verification — fix the checkbox to match your credentials, then save again.
• Rotated or revoked credentials — if you regenerated your Secret in PayPal, paste the new one and save again.

Fix the credentials and click Save & verify again — verification runs every time you save.

If PayPal ever shows Configured — not verified, re-open Settings → PayPal and click Save & verify with your existing (or updated) credentials. Until you do, PayPal is hidden from checkout — guests won't see it as an option.

Status and what the badges mean

The left-hand card shows the current state:

• Active (green) — verified, configured, and enabled; guests can pay with PayPal.
• Verified — not enabled (blue) — your credentials passed the live check but Enable PayPal payments is unticked.
• Verification failed (red) — your last save didn't pass PayPal's live check; see If verification fails above.
• Configured — not verified (amber) — credentials are saved but haven't been verified yet — see the note above.
• Not configured (grey) — nothing saved yet.

A second badge shows the mode: Live (red) or Sandbox (blue). When configured, the card also lists the masked Client ID, masked Webhook ID, and the current mode.

Setting up the webhook

PayPal uses a webhook to notify Stayant when a payment is captured. Once you have an active account selected, a Webhook URL card shows the URL to register (it includes your account identifier and points at Stayant's /api/paypal/webhook endpoint).

1. Copy the URL with the Copy button.
2. In the PayPal Developer Dashboard, add a webhook with that URL.
3. Subscribe it to the PAYMENT.CAPTURE.COMPLETED event.
4. PayPal returns a Webhook ID — paste that into the Webhook ID field in Stayant and save again.