How to setup PayPal sandbox account to test transactions on WooCommerce?

Create a PayPal sandbox account to test transactions on WooCommerce.
👉 WooCommerce PayPal: sgwp.dev/abd83
Read the blog post: simongondeck.com/woocommerce-...
▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
00:00 Introduction
00:49 Enable the PayPal Standard sandbox on WooCommerce
01:28 Create PayPal Developer business account
02:15 Enter sandbox API credentials in WooCommerce
03:26 Create PayPal Developer personal account
03:51 Perform a test transaction
06:13 Summary
Follow the steps to setup your PayPal sandbox account.
On your WordPress dashboard, hover over WooCommerce and click Settings.
Next, click the Payments tab and click Manage next to PayPal.
Under Advanced Options, find “PayPal sandbox” and click “Enable PayPal sandbox”.
If you scroll to the bottom of your PayPal settings page, you will notice we need to insert our Sandbox API username, Sandbox API password, and Sandbox API signature.
To get these we need to go to your PayPal Developer account at developer.paypal.com/
Next, sign In and on your PayPal Developer Dashboard, under the Sandbox menu click Accounts.
Then, on the Sandbox Test Accounts page, click Create Account and create a Business Account.
After creating your Business Account, hover over the Manage tab and click “Profile” to see your Account Details. Toggle the tab to “API Credentials”.
Then, copy and paste the Username, Password, and Signature into your WooCommerce PayPal sandbox settings.
Click Save changes.
Your sandbox account is all set up. The next step is to create a sandbox personal account to test transactions.
See the full post on my blog: sgwebpartners.com/woocommerce...
WooCommerce PayPal: sgwp.dev/abd83
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#WooCommerce #PayPal #PayPalSandbox
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[@simongondeck]

👉 WooCommerce PayPal: sgwp.dev/abd83 Looking to setup PayPal Standard for live transactions on your WooCommerce store? See the tutorial at: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZKwhYpqp8iKZqM

[@bambanx]

thanks for the info, what are the standard live payment with other? Thanks so much

[@simongondeck]

Gene Jones glad it was helpful!

[@dominiccrawfordcollins]

after three days of frustration/exasperation... all I needed to do was watch this!...many thanks

[@simongondeck]

Thanks for watching!

[@erindahlquist8392]

Thank you for making something that PayPal made impossible to figure out (unless you're a developer) into something easy that I could figure out. I really appreciate it!

[@Jake-vd8os]

Thanks! this is exactly what I was looking for. I have liked and subscribed.

[@laundrychutesolutionsltd6763]

Thank you so much. I spent hours trying to work it out on my own. I found your video at the same time that I managed work it out. Your video was a great back up for reassurance.

[@simongondeck]

Great to hear and glad it helped!

[@41dhir]

After I checkout with paypal using sandbox in my orders section I got one payment as "processing" and the other one as "On Hold" . Should I worry about this or go forward with editing sandbox crendentials with live ?

[@codyselby2803]

Thanks Sam! That was really helpful! This kind of stuff can be quite intimidating for newbies like me but your video was so easy to follow along with :D

[@TinaIrvine]

You made it so easy! Thank you so much!

[@simongondeck]

glad it was helpful Tina!

[@got2ask]

Great Job! Clear and simple!

[@simongondeck]

thank you for the kinds words Humberto!

[@jsb1364]

Excellent and helpful, thanks Sam!

[@simongondeck]

for sure!

[@zubianrais4623]

Genuanly love your video. Very Helpful. Thanks.

[@simongondeck]

glad it was helpful Zubian!

[@SuppanReviews]

Sweet, saved me many hours

[@hopforward1759]

Thanks for this dude! So helpful. The WooCommerce and PayPal docs are a total nightmare!

[@simongondeck]

Thanks for watching! If you have any additional questions let me know and I will do my best to respond in a timely manner.

[@mazcrafters]

Thanks so much for a great, easy to follow video. Worked like a charm!

[@simongondeck]

Glad to hear Paul! Thanks for watching!

[@YogaComCainara]

Thank you so much! So helpful! 💞

[@simongondeck]

glad it was helpful!

[@letsdiscusslifematters]

Great job.... nicely done. Super useful.

[@simongondeck]

thanks!

[@jtrenda333]

Suuuuper helpful. Thanks man.

[@simongondeck]

glad to hear it James!

[@ruthe.6975]

Great video! Easy to follow.

[@simongondeck]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@MaroSola]

Thank you! It was really helpful. Regards

[@ittricks1196]

Thanks, very clear

[@simongondeck]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rayeaglenz]

Great stuff :) Thank you, clear, easy to understand :)

[@simongondeck]

Ray Eagle thanks Ray!

[@JennieJiang520]

it's helpful!!thanks a lot!!

[@manfredguttenberger9135]

Thank you very much for your video. It helped me a lot. Keep it up

[@simongondeck]

thanks Manfred! Glad it was helpful!

[@sydi24]

Great Video! Cleared all the confusion! Paypal should work to make it simpler!

[@simongondeck]

@Syed Arif - Glad it was helpful!

[@ArtofAwakening]

Super helpful, thank you!

[@simongondeck]

Glad it was helpful!

[@matmaximiliano]

Amazing Video!!! Thank you for sharing!!!

[@simongondeck]

Glad it was helpful Mathias!

[@EugeneDoneganSongwriter]

Thanks dude

[@cinnamonholmes917]

great video very informative

[@iliakaplan]

great instructions! thank u

[@simongondeck]

Thanks for watching!

[@silverian]

Great content!

[@simongondeck]

Thanks!

[@PartyGalardiPodcast]

You made this super easy to understand. Thanks my man. As you say....sweeet...haha Thanks again!

[@simongondeck]

for sure man haha! Glad it was helpful :)

[@PartyGalardiPodcast]

Any chance you can look over my site and let me know what you'd fix/change/tweak? www. ThinkLikeAnExecutive.com

[@beps4440]

oh thank you mate!

[@simongondeck]

Thanks for watching!

[@road2riches6]

You're amazing

[@simongondeck]

Thanks for watching!

[@kyriacosh4569]

great video thanks

[@simongondeck]

Glad it was helpful!

[@destinliburd5455]

total excellence

[@simongondeck]

thanks for watching!

[@CellCartoons]

Thanks for the useful video. The only feedback I have is that sometimes your head is in the way to see where exactly you clicked on.

[@simongondeck]

Good call! I will work on that :)

[@EbedMNotus]

Thank bro. Was frustrated with how to set up that.

[@simongondeck]

glad it was helpful!

[@genesly]

Thank you so very much!

[@simongondeck]

Glad it was helpful!

[@genesly]

@@simongondeck I was able to work out all of the bugs. Thanks again!

[@simongondeck]

@@genesly great to hear!

[@melsantonil]

big thanks bro!

[@simongondeck]

Spak Santonil thanks for watching!

[@41dhir]

After I checkout with paypal using sandbox in my orders section I got one payment as "processing" and the other one as "On Hold" . Should I worry about this or go forward with editing sandbox crendentials with live ?

[@bcastromusic]

Nice job, easy to follow. Same procedure works if doing paypal checkout (vs paypal standard).

[@simongondeck]

Yes, exactly! FYI, here is the link to the tutorial-How to setup PayPal Express Checkout on WooCommerce: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a5TOdHiMaa9nhbs

[@simongondeck]

I updated the title of sandbox video as well. Thanks again!

[@magikarp2063]

Everything is different now yay

[@shareejones1610]

*Sweeeeet!

[@ImNotSoll]

Good tutorial! Thanks. Do you know how to change the settings so the PayPal order complete page automatically takes the customer back to the website without pressing 'Return to Merchant' ?

[@YourEnergyDoctor]

I've always relied on webmasters. This is my first time working with WooCommerce on my own. I feel so fortunate to find you. Watched 2 videos, thumbs up and subscribed. I'll be back for sure. QUESTION: Once you complete your test product order in Sandbox (which I completed successfully thanks to you) is there any reason to check other products or does that one test confirm that all settings are correct? Thank you for your detailed easy to follow videos on what can be a very complicated subject. You are an amazing teacher/instructor Simon! One more thing... I assume you just go back and delete out the test transaction in WooCommerce orders. 2ND QUESTION: Do you have a video on how to test to see what the buyer receives. I have digital products that I want to make sure are showing up for my customers.

[@simongondeck]

Hi Dr. Thompson, Thank you for your kind works. Compliments like this are why I continue to enjoy helping WooCommerce users. See my responses below. Question #1: Once you complete your test product order in Sandbox (which I completed successfully thanks to you) is there any reason to check other products or does that one test confirm that all settings are correct? ANSWER #1: I always try to do as many test transactions as possible, but there is no need if you have a fairly basic store setup. Scenarios where I do many test transactions would be if some products are taxable, but some non-taxable, subscription products, etc. Question #2: Do you have a video on how to test to see what the buyer receives. I have digital products that I want to make sure are showing up for my customers. ANSWER #2: I do not have a video from the customers POV, but I would do many test transactions using multiple test emails, so you can create another personal PayPal Sandbox account as well as receive the order confirmation email from WooCommerce. Let me know if you have any additional questions!

[@m0th.shroommm]

Thanks for the videos man. Do you need to setup the paypal standard before you can set up Sandbox?

[@simongondeck]

Not required but helps if you have a site on a dev or staging server and want to test transactions without using your own credit card or live PayPal account.

[@proonty]

nice content. todopoint

[@simongondeck]

Glad it was helpful Alfian!

[@qwiktalk]

super sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet

[@41dhir]

After I checkout with paypal using sandbox in my orders section I got one payment as "processing" and the other one as "On Hold" . Should I worry about this or go forward with editing sandbox crendentials with live ?

[@dengjohnny]

I have same issue. Wonder if you have found a solution

[@adriansawyer8346]

I have the same problem

[@dengjohnny]

@@adriansawyer8346 I solved the problem by using the email PayPal provides on PayPal Standard payment setup page in WordPress, where says "PayPal email" and "Receiver email." Also, I believe that the status will remain as "processing" if you are selling a physical product that needs to be shipped. You will have "complete" if you are selling something digital/subscription, etc.

[@jtrenda333]

@@dengjohnny This solved my issue as well...not sure why Simon didn't mention this or why he didn't have this issue on his end, but this worked for me. Thanks.

[@xrookie]

Hi, I got a question: in the payments tab you got a "PayPal" button and below it a "PayPal Checkout" button as well. Your toturial shows to enable the "PayPal" alone button. What happens if I got both of them enabled? Also, when I finished up setting up my sandbox account after doing a testing, in the checkout area I got two PayPal options, one that says "Pay via PayPal; you can pay with your credit card if you don’t have a PayPal account. SANDBOX ENABLED. You can use sandbox testing accounts only. See the PayPal Sandbox Testing Guide for more details." and the one below says Paypal, so basically I got two paypal radio buttons to choose from. How can I get rid of the sandbox enabled option and just leave one Paypal radio button please?

[@guntherwallendorf769]

Great tutorial thank you, after setting my Paypal express account I am getting the following error. Is there a solution to this problem? 10605 error - Receiving country does not support the transaction currency.

[@RajeevKumar-pv8re]

sweeeeeeet

[@trigonometria1618]

Hello, thanks for your video. I have a question, I hope you can answer it. It turns out that my country is not listed, neither in personal nor on the business accounts. Do you think it is important when testing the process? Thank you!

[@simongondeck]

Hey Carlos, if possible I would try to use the same country. However, if just testing transactions you could use another country as well. Here is a post I found that goes into more detail if your country is not listed: www.paypal-community.com/t5/Sandbox-Environment/my-country-nigeria-not-listed-in-sandbox-account/m-p/1621520/highlight/true#M2889

[@trigonometria1618]

@@simongondeck Hi, thank you for the info :)

[@simongondeck]

Carlos Acosta Rea for sure!

[@isntlifebetter]

im confused why does he have to create multiple accounts.

[@simongondeck]

Good Question. You need to create 1 Sandbox account for your store to process payments, and 1 Sandbox account for the customer to process their payment. For example, I started a Ecommerce Store called "Sam's Shoes" and it is based in Orlando, Florida. I need to create 1 Sandbox account for my store "Sam's Shoes" so I know I will receive payment when a customer makes an order. I need to create 1 other Sandbox account to simulate a customer (let's say Katie from Phoenix is making a purchase for some Yeezy's), so I can test that the customers PayPal account will work properly. Does that make sense?

[@emiliajager6803]

Your videos are the best for a new beginner like me :) Just one question- I successfully made the test payment with sandbox, but when I went into my woocommerce Orders it said the status is "pending payment". The payment definitely went through before so not sure what this means. Can you help?? Thank you !

[@simongondeck]

Hi Emily, did you make sure to complete the order as well in WooCommerce? For example, I haven noticed that sometimes “Pending Payment” is triggered in the WooCommerce Order Status back-end, even when an order is NEVER completed. WooCommerce Order Status: “Pending Payment” 1. WooCommerce Checkout page 2. WooCommerce Checkout page > Payment Options > Click “PayPal” > PayPal Popup 3. ?? 4. ?? WooCommerce Order Status: “Processing” 1. WooCommerce Checkout page 2. WooCommerce Checkout page > Payment Options > Click “PayPal” > PayPal Popup 3. WooCommerce Checkout page > Click > Order Now 4. WooCommerce Order Confirmation Page

[@abrahamhernandezmunoz2546]

@@simongondeck i have the same problem, can i contact you to send you the images?

[@cristianstortoni2088]

same problem how have you resolve this?

[@cristianstortoni2088]

@@abrahamhernandezmunoz2546 same problem how have you resolve this?

[@bambanx]

its possible test with real email so you can see the invoice received? Ty

[@cuongnguyenviet]

I think you should move your personal image live to the right corner and smaller. Thanks

[@simongondeck]

Thanks for the tip

[@jameslanman]

I found this video super helpful. Unfortunately in sandbox mode I'm getting "Payment pending (unilateral). Order status changed from Pending payment to On hold." and it isn't changing to "processing". Is this normal? I used the sandbox business api credentials and the personal to make the order.

[@jameslanman]

Just solved this issue. You have to change change the receiver email and the Paypal email in WooCommerce > Settings > Payments > PayPal to your Sandbox business address. This was what was causing issues on my end. Apologies if this was in the video, I might have missed it. I wish WooCommerce would clear that field once Sandbox is checked to avoid this unnecessary confusion. Hope this helps someone.

[@simongondeck]

Make sure your Sandbox account is setup properly, as the order should end up on Completed if everything is setup properly. Please remember that when setting up your Sandbox account here: developer.paypal.com/ it will give you a different email and payment information for the sandbox buyer. You’ll need to make sure you use that buyer information along with the payment card number and expiration date it gives for that buyer profile (or the Sandbox PayPal account login details they give) in order for the payment to go through. I just ran a test order on my site using Sandbox mode to make sure there aren’t any bugs, and it worked fine, setting the order status to Completed upon payment.

[@achivellwp]

Thanks for the awesome explanation. Works for me but once the order is placed, i get an On Hold status on the order even though the sandbox payment went through successfully. I have a PayPal Identity Token set up as well but still only get On hold. Is there something else i might be missing?

[@simongondeck]

Hey Andre glad this was helpful! In regards to the 'on hold' status, did you create a separate 'personal sandbox account' in your PayPal Developer account and used those credentials when doing your test checkout? This is separate credentials from your 'business sandbox account' credentials that are in your WooCommerce PayPal settings in your WordPress backend. Also, I did not mention in my video, but can you go to your PayPal dashboard and set the Account in "Review sandbox payments before they are completed." to Off. Any luck?

[@achivellwp]

@@simongondeck Thanks for this. Seems to be working as expected now.

[@simongondeck]

@@achivellwp great to hear!

[@ZamirGomeh]

@@simongondeck Hi Simon Thank you so much for excellent guidance I encountered the same problem - the order status shows "On Hold" state - in the woocommerce settings I entered the business account information as you did - and in the purchase information the personal account information. - I checked the 2 accounts in Paypal and in the setting tab in the Review line sandbox payments before they are completed - the situation is Off ... What am I missing here?

[@andrew-isac]

Does paypal standard allow credit card option ?

[@valthorens7373]

This might be obvious, but do you have to remember to go back and uncheck Enable Sandbox after the test transaction?

[@simongondeck]

Hey there! Yes after doing a test transaction make sure to go back to your WooCommerce settings and uncheck Enable Sandbox to turn sandbox mode off.

[@lucaslee6160]

thanks for the video, but all my order status are On hold, with a message saying "Payment pending (unilateral). Order status changed from Pending payment to On hold." I've checked everything, such as PayPal email, IPN, API, and everything is correct. still have no idea why this is happening, and I wasted half-day trying to resolve this issue. could you help me with this issue? I'd really appreciate it! thanks!

[@simongondeck]

Lucas, When you were checking out using PayPal Sandbox, did you enter in the "sandbox" email and password that you created at developer.paypal.com/developer/accounts/?Make sure your Sandbox account is setup properly, as the order should end up on Completed if everything is setup properly. Please remember that when setting up your Sandbox account here: developer.paypal.com/ it will give you a different email and payment information for the sandbox buyer. You’ll need to make sure you use that buyer information along with the payment card number and expiration date it gives for that buyer profile (or the Sandbox PayPal account login details they give) in order for the payment to go through.

[@lucaslee6160]

@@simongondeck I checked it multiple times, but the problem still exists. Yet, I tried using PayPal Express instead of the standard one, and worked perfectly! Anyway, thanks for the reply!

[@JKTCreation]

Thanks for the great video. I have gone through the setup and after payment checkout, my WC order shows as Processing. Does this mean seller has received the payment automatically?

[@simongondeck5762]

Hi Jackie, yes that is correct. Whether you are in "sandbox" or "live" environment, if customers payment was successful the order status will be "processing". If the payment was not successful the order status is "pending", "failed", "on hold", etc.

[@noahriding5780]

So... when you test sand box mode... how do you do this when your site is already getting traffic? What I mean is, if people are on the site or try to go to the site to buy stuff when you are in sandbox mode, what happens? Will they be blocked from buying then? I realized later after looking at this that most people doing the sandbox testing are going to be people without any traffic yet. But some of us already have traffic coming in. Thank you.

[@simongondeck]

What I recommend is using sandbox mode on a dev or staging site. If you use quality hosting provider such as Kinsta it has one click staging environments so you can easily copy your live site to a staging site (that doesn’t get traffic) and do your testing there. What hosting provider do you use right now?

[@Angelosts]

When I turn sandbox mode on I get a 500 Internal Server Error ....

[@nurinaaziemah4286]

hey. is it possible to send transactions receipt thtough gmail using sandbox paypal?

[@rvcwest]

Hello! Question, when I did the test payment thru sandbox and went to woocommerce orders, it showed payment "on hold" instead of "completed", is that going to be a problem on live transactions? Thanks for the tutorial! BIG HELP!

[@had2blunts960]

hey have you solved this issue

[@bryandelacruz9066]

Hi do you have a tutorial too for setting it live? thank you

[@simongondeck]

Hi Bryan, check it out here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZKwhYpqp8iKZqM

[@bryandelacruz9066]

@@simongondeck Thanks man, your tutorials are really helpful.

[@jcprangue9070]

having on hold status after buying my personal sandbox account pleas help. Thanks

[@simongondeck]

Hi Christopher, when you were checking out using PayPal Sandbox, did you enter in the IDENTICAL "sandbox" email and password that you created at developer.paypal.com/developer/accounts/?

[@VickyLatorreArt]

In my case when I went back to woocommerce orders it said "On Hold" under "Status". I noticed yours said completed. Does this mean mine didn't go through? Thanks for sharing.

[@had2blunts960]

have you found any solution to this

[@phoenixbluex]

Isn't it easier to just create a 1 cent item and use my Paypal account to purchase it and see if it works? Or is that not a good method?

[@simongondeck]

Yes creating a 1 cent or $1.00 item works too!

[@jaiprakashrajaram1985]

Hi, I followed your script as you mentioned for setup paypal standard and sandbox. In paypal standard I guess everything is good. I am testing the setup via sandbox and I am getting a problem... On the Woocommerce order page, my status goes to Payment pending (unilateral). Order status changed from Pending payment to On hold ---- If I log into the account of the sandbox buyer, the order is created but it says "Pending Payment" - referring to my live paypal account id "hasn´t accepted payment yet". Everything is in sandbox mode...… Any help would be great ?

[@simongondeck]

Hi Jaiprakash, did you create two separate PayPal sandbox accounts? The first PayPal Sandbox account as a "BUSINESS ACCOUNT" where you add the API credentials in the PayPal Standard payment settings in the WooCommerce backend under "sandbox mode". The second PayPal Sandbox account as a "PERSONAL ACCOUNT" that you use when going through the Checkout?

[@Chronoire]

​@@simongondeck I´m having the same problem. In Woocommerce my order is also put on hold. Not sure if my paypal standard works either because of this.

[@simongondeck]

@@Chronoire Make sure your Sandbox account is setup properly, as the order should end up on Completed if everything is setup properly. Please remember that when setting up your Sandbox account here: developer.paypal.com/ it will give you a different email and payment information for the sandbox buyer. You’ll need to make sure you use that buyer information along with the payment card number and expiration date it gives for that buyer profile (or the Sandbox PayPal account login details they give) in order for the payment to go through. I just ran a test order on my site using Sandbox mode to make sure there aren’t any bugs, and it worked fine, setting the order status to Completed upon payment.

[@syedaeraj9349]

I have in sandbox how to send it back to my PayPal

[@iliakaplan]

can i use sandbox to "buy" real products instead of the dummy cheap $1 one?

[@simongondeck]

yes you can buy real products using sandbox mode :)

[@iliakaplan]

@@simongondeck thank u

[@Golem1988]

Why do my orders get stuck on Pending Payment status (altho they are marked as Virtual goods)?

[@had2blunts960]

is it solved now

[@rainan1376]

hey. is it possible to change sandbox currencies?

[@simongondeck]

The Country/Region will determine the currency of your sandbox account, which should match your site’s currency. For example, if you want to use British pounds you would select your Country as "United Kingdom" and then update your WooCommerce > Settings > General > Currency > Pound Sterling. Or, if you wanted to use US Dollar, you would create a sandbox account as "United Stats" and update WooCommerce currency to United States dollar.

[@andrewgragasin5093]

will it work in my country? Philippines?

[@simongondeck]

Yes! If you go to developer.paypal.com/ you have the option to choose your country as the Phillipines.

[@tambikadamu6763]

All thanks to Wyatthacks on Instagram who got my set up perfectly

[@SuppanReviews]

Sweet, saved me many hours

[@simongondeck]

glad it was helpful Suppan!