PayPal Community

It lasted only a couple of months and now the same problem all over again. Paypal e-mails missing the "item description" details filled by buyers.  ... View more

Hmm, the only difference I see are the variables "on1" and "os1". On a new simple Buy Now button these optional variables start with an index "0" (on0, os0). I wonder if used on1 and os1 in my code instead if these would get passed along and show in my PayPal account then. I'll try. ... View more

Interesting John-GGD2. Was this the case all along for your account or did they fix that for you just recently? I for example was never able to see custom messages on PayPal, ever since 2016 when they changed the website layout. It's weird though cause my acc is also EU. ... View more

This also seems to differ between account. I for example (EU account) don't see these custom order messages under my PayPal account on PayPal's website. I can only see them in the notification e-mails they send. ... View more

I just got an order today and the notification e-mail from PayPal came in, and it contains the order custom description again. Perhaps they finally fixed it. ... View more

Coutts3 , you're a lifesaver!   I wasn't able to get anywhere with PayPal, which is what I was expecting, since this company's services are literally falling apart. It's getting worse and worse. I logged into my account, clicked "Activity" on top of the page, then on the right side of the search field I clicked on the download symbol which then took me to the statements page ( https://www.paypal.com/myaccount/activities/statements ). There I clicked on the only available link which was "Custom" which took me to the Reports page ( https://www.paypal.com/reports/ ). There I clicked on the switch to "Switch to classic view" and then on "Activity download" in the menu on the left. Then I was able to set the date range to "Today" and format to "CSV" and clicked the "Create Report" button. After a few seconds the report appeared in the list below and I could download it by clicking the "Download" link next to it.   I was actually there before, about 14 days ago when I was trying to get to the custom messages, but I only created a PDF report which doesn't include those. I never thought to try CSV. I also have a low volume of sales so this will be an acceptable workaround for the time being.   I just got an order today and received a notification e-mail from PayPal, and you know how I was addressed in this e-mail? As "Hello, null" ! I swear this is getting worse and worse as time goes by!   ... View more

This is actually pretty horrible. I am based in Europe and for me the order description is not visible either in notification e-mails nor in transaction details on PayPal website. I would actually be content if I could see it in transaction details on the website but I can't.   I have also written to PayPal support where they advised me to write to Merchant Technical Support, where they sent me back to regular customer support, where they are still not sure what it is all about since they are replying with completely unrelated instructions on how to create a PayPal button. I guess I shouldn't expect any kind of a solution from them.   Why even have this drop down / message box option on Buy Now buttons, if this feature doesn't actually work?   Very disappointing. ... View more

Wingflyer , do the e-mails with missing description have a different subject format compared to the e-mails that do contain the description for the order?   Before this recent change in July, I did notice that e-mail kinda came in two different "versions". Most had the subject "Notification of payment received" while some had the subject "Payment received from <buyer e-mail address>". I'm guessing these differed depending on where the buyer was from, but both versions still contained the order description back then.   Now after the change, the e-mails I received so far (which are all missing order descriptions) all have the subject formatted like this: "Item # - Notification of Payment Received from <buyer name> (<buyer e-mail address>)" ... View more

John-GGD3 , so US PayPal account holders can at least see the buyer message when looking at the transaction details on the PayPal website?  I guess US and EU websites differ a little since EU website doesn't show anything. And neither does the e-mail. We're really **bleep** over here. It's basically impossible to sell anymore. ... View more

Oh, God, yes, I have the same problem. I even posted a lenghty post here asking about a solution before I saw thist post (https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/PayPal-Payments-Standard/PayPal-no-longer-shows-me-custom-requests-from-buyers/m-p/3083772#M19152). PayPal changed something this summer 2023, and the drop down or free text item descriptions / custom buyer messages don't reach the seller anymore. These were actually never shown in the PayPal account (under transaction details) since PayPal revised the website around 2015/2016. At that time you still had the option to click on "old account view" and get all that info, but they have since removed it, and after that you could only see these custom messages in e-mails that PayPal sent after each order came in. Now that has stopped as well since they changed the e-mail format / layout.   I am wondering though if this problem only applies to non-US accounts. I also have a European account.   Another bug in PayPal that I also noticed is on the "saved button" page where the string "NaN EUR" or "NaN USD" is shown instead of the actual price, next to the button name. ... View more