Integration Guide

Table Of Contents
Website Payments Standard Integration Guide September 2008 335
10
Testing Payment Buttons in the
PayPal Sandbox
The PayPal Sandbox can be used to test the following functionality:
z Buy Now buttons – Test single-item payments.
For more information, see Chapter 1, “Single-Item Payments – Buy Now Buttons.”
z Subscribe buttons – Test recurring payments.
For more information, see Chapter 3, “Recurring Payments – Subscribe Buttons.”
z Donate buttons – Test contribution payments.
For more information, see Chapter 2, “Contribution Payments – Donate Buttons.”
z Shopping Cart buttons Test multiple-item payments in a single purchase transaction.
For more information, see Chapter 4, “The PayPal Shopping Cart – Add to Cart and View
Cart Buttons.”
z Refunds – Test the refunding of money paid by PayPal members.
For more information, see Chapter 9, “Issuing Refunds.”
z Payment Data TransferTest your identity token, return URL, and Payment Data
Transfer settings.
For more information about implementing Payment Data Transfer, see the Order
Management Integration Guide.
z Instant Payment Notification – Test Instant Payment Notification messages for payments
and reversals
Instant Payment Notification messages in the Sandbox environment include the special
ipn_test variable, set to the value 1. This variable lets your code differentiate between
Instant Payment Notification messages in the Sandbox and Instant Payment Notification
messages from the live PayPal website. Use the ipn_test variable to develop scripts that
work in both situations.
IMPORTANT: Instant Payment Notification messages that come from the Sandbox
cannot be verified against the live PayPal website, and Instant Payment
Notification messages that come from the live PayPal website cannot be
verified against the Sandbox.
For more information about implementing Instant Payment Notification, see the Order
Management Integration Guide.
z Simulated transactions – Test scenarios, such as successful and failed eChecks.
To test in the Sandbox, create a Developer Central account. Then create multiple PayPal
test accounts for buyers and merchants so that you can simulate different scenarios.
IMPORTANT: The Sandbox does not process real money.