Integration Guide

Table Of Contents
PayPal Payments Standard Integration Guide June 2012 145
Recurring Payments – Subscribe Buttons
Advanced Features of Subscribe Buttons
3
Temporary limits that PayPal places on subscribers’ accounts are often lifted quickly. To avoid
unnecessary cancellations, you can specify that PayPal should reattempt failed payments
before canceling subscriptions.
How PayPal Reattempts Failed Recurring Payments
PayPal reattempts to collect recurring payments three days after the day on which recurring
payments fail. If the first reattempt to collect a recurring payment fails, PayPal waits 5 days to
reattempt a second time. If the second reattempt fails, PayPal cancels the subscription.
NOTE: PayPal automatically reattempts payments made with bank accounts 3 days after
PayPal notifies subscribers that their payments failed.
Reattempts will not occur if another subscription payment is scheduled within 14 days of the
failed payment, so that payments do not overlap.
PayPal Reattempts to Collect a Failed Recurring Payment
Subscription Terms:
A regular subscription for $20.00 USD a month, for one year
Bob signs up for a subscription on Feb. 12.
On Apr. 12, PayPal attempts to collect Bob’s recurring $20.00 payment, but the payment
fails because of a temporary limit placed on Bob’s PayPal account.
On Apr. 15, PayPal reattempts to collect Bob’s recurring $20.00 payment for April, but the
payment fails again because the temporary limit remains on Bob’s PayPal account.
On Apr. 18, Bob takes action on his PayPal account, and PayPal lifts the temporary limit.
On Apr. 20, PayPal reattempts to collect Bob’s recurring $20.00 payment for April, and the
payment succeeds.
On May 12, PayPal attempts to collect Bob’s recurring $20.00 payment for May, and the
payment succeeds.
Specifying to Reattempt Failed Recurring Payments with Subscribe Buttons
Subscribe buttons reattempt failed recurring payments by default. To override the default,
specify the sra HTML variable with the value set to 0.
For more information, see “Sample HTML Code for a Subscribe Button That Reattempts
Payments” on page 170.