You need to review our Instant Payment Notification (IPN). This is a message service that notifies you of events related to PayPal transactions. You can use it to automate back-office and administrative functions, such as fulfilling orders, tracking customers, and providing status and other information related to a transaction.
This feature is available to our Premier and Business customers and is included with Website Payment products, Express Checkout, and Standard Checkout.
IPN is a message service that PayPal uses to notify you about events. These events include the following:
• Instant payments, including Express Checkout and direct credit card payments
• eCheque payments and associated status, such as pending, completed, or denied
• Payments that may be pending for other reasons, such as those being reviewed for potential fraud
• Events related to recurring payments and subscriptions
• Authorizations, which indicate a sale whose payment has not yet been collected
• Chargebacks, which are initiated by a credit card processor; for example, when a customer disputes a charge
• Disputes, which are initiated by a buyer using the PayPal resolution process
• Reversals, which occur when you win a dispute or a chargeback is cancelled
• Refunds, which you may choose to give
The actions that may be taken when notified of an event are specific to your needs. Examples of the kinds of actions that might be taken when you receive an IPN message include the following:
• Trigger order fulfilment or enable media downloads when a check clears or a payment is made
• Update your list of customers
• Update accounting records
• Create specialized ‘to do’ lists based on the kind of event
To view more information about this feature, variables and their values, and sample payment notification code, please follow these steps:
1. Log in to your PayPal account at www.paypal.co.uk
2. Click ‘Business' near the top of the page.
3. Select ’For Developers’ under 'Business'.
4. Click 'Visit Developer Central’.
5. In the ‘Sample Code and Documentation’ section click 'Instant Payment Notifications'.
