PayPal Integration (REST API)

RSVPMaker now integrates with PayPal via its REST application programming interface (API).

If you previously set up integration with the older Express Checkout / NVP API method, RSVPMaker still supports it. PayPal also still supports it but is not adding new features to that version. You probably want to switch to the new method anyway because the user experience is better and more tightly integrated with your website.

The pay by PayPal / pay by credit card buttons will appear as part of the confirmation message when someone registers for one of your events.

PayPal payment buttons

Attendees who click on the PayPal button will get a pop up prompt inviting them to log in and pay.

PayPal login prompt

Those who prefer to pay by credit card can click one of the credit card icons (or the button on the screen above that says Pay with Debit of Credit Card) and be prompted for credit card information.

To obtain the required credentials for the REST API, go to developer.paypal.com and log in with your PayPal password. The developer’s dashboard allows you to register multiple sandbox accounts for testing and create an app for your integration. Creating an app just means you are generating the API access keys required for the integration with RSVPMaker. Just give your app a name, associate it with a sandbox account for testing, and click the Create App button.

Creating an App

Then copy the keys (the client id and client secret) for both the Sandbox (test) and Live versions of the app.

Copying the client id and client secret.

Once you have copied and pasted all the credentials, into the Payments Tab of the RSVPMaker settings, it’s a good idea to toggle the Operating Mode setting from Production to Sandbox. Create a sample event with sample pricing and test the integration. For testing, you can make payments using one of the sandbox accounts associated with your developer account on PayPal, which is funded by imaginary money.

Once you are satisfied that everything is working properly, go to the Payments tab in RSVPMaker settings and toggle the integration from Sandbox to Production to accept live payments.

Here is a quick video demo:

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