PayPal Hacks

Desciption:

If you've bought or sold items through eBay, or through hundreds of other online sites, then you're familiar with PayPal, the online payment service. With PayPal, a valid email address, and a credit card or bank account, you can easily send and receive payments online. Not a bank or financial institution itself, PayPal describes its service as one that builds on the financial infrastructure of bank accounts and credit cards, and using advanced propriety fraud prevention systems, creates a safe, global, real-time payment solution. Put simply, PayPal provides the means for people to conduct financial transactions online, instantly and securely.

But there's more to PayPal than meets the eye. PayPal Hacks shows you how to make the most of PayPal to get the most out of your online business or transactions. Authors Shannon Sofield of Payloadz.com and PayPal evangelist David Nielsen guide you through the rigors of using and developing with PayPal. Whether you're building an ecommerce site using PayPal as a transaction provider, or simply trying to pay for an eBay auction without getting burned, PayPal Hacks will give you the skinny on this leading global online payment service.

The collection of tips and tricks in PayPal Hacks shows you how to find or even build the right tools for using PayPal to buy and sell on eBay or as a transaction provider for ecommerce on your own site. Written for all PayPal users, from those just starting out to those developing sophisticated ecommerce sites, this book begins with the basics such as setting up your account, then moves quickly into specific tips and tools for buyers, sellers, and developers.

With PayPal Hacks, you can:

• Learn extra steps to help protect yourself while buying or selling on eBay
  
• Save time and money with advanced tips and undocumented features
  
• Learn dozens of easy-to-follow procedures to help you request and receive payments and fill orders
  
• Use PayPal to handle subscriptions, affiliate systems, and donations
  
• Create and customize your customers checkout process
  Effortlessly integrate PayPal s shopping cart system into your own website
  
• Implement digital fulfillment with Instant Payment Notification (IPN) and Payment Data Transfer (PDT)
  
• Develop and distribute ecommerce applications with the PayPal API
  

Each hack consists of a task to be accomplished or a creative solution to a problem, presented in a clear, logical, and task-oriented format. PayPal Hacks provides the tools and details necessary to make PayPal more profitable, more flexible, and more convenient.

 

Table of Contents:

Credits  

Preface  

Chapter 1. Account Management 

      1. Create a PayPal Account  

      2. Verify Your PayPal Account  

      3. Confirm Your Mailing Address  

      4. Pay When You've Forgotten Your Password  

      5. Restore Your Account if It Has Been Limited  

      6. Create a Separate Login for Each Employee  

      7. Access Member Information  

      8. Manage PayPal Email  

      9. Get Help from PayPal  

Chapter 2. Making Payments 

      10. Send Money to Anyone  

      11. Choose How to Fund Payments  

      12. Use Your PayPal Funds Anywhere  

      13. Pay from a Cell Phone  

      14. Pay Seller Fees when Buying  

      15. Send Money Without Creating a PayPal Account  

      16. Dispute Merchandise Payments  

Chapter 3. Selling with PayPal 

      Introduction

      Upgrade to Business Class

      Set Your Payment Receiving Preferences

      Identify Yourself to Your Customers

      17. Request Money the PayPal Way  

      18. Ask for Money in Your Own Way  

      19. Request Money Without an Account  

      20. Get Your Money  

      21. Refund a Payment  

      22. Quick-Link to Transaction Details  

      23. Lower Your Seller Fees  

      24. Protect Yourself from Buyer Fraud  

      25. Protect Yourself from Chargebacks  

      26. Avoid Chargebacks on Digital Goods  

      27. Handle Merchandise Disputes Effectively  

Chapter 4. Payment Buttons 

      28. Create a Buy Now Button  

      29. Use a Custom Button Image  

      30. Create a Purchase Button for Services  

      31. Create an Auction Payment Button  

      32. Provide Purchase Options with Drop-Down Listboxes

      33. Include More Than Two Option Fields  

      34. Override Shipping and Handling Preferences  

      35. Build Notification Tracking  

      36. Hack-Proof Your Payment  

      37. Hack-Proof Your Buttons with Encryption  

      38. Include Payment Buttons in Email Messages  

      39. Hide Your Email Address from Spammers  

      40. Accept Donations  

      41. PayPal-Enable Your Flash  

      42. Get More Out of Dreamweaver and PayPal  

      43. Provide Options with ASP.NET Web Controls  

      44. Try Accepting Payments in a Bogus Currency  

Chapter 5. Storefronts and Shopping Carts 

      45. Hack Shopping Cart Buttons  

      46. Create Shopping Cart Links  

      47. Specify the Size of the Shopping Cart Window  

      48. Deal with Design and Layout Issues  

      49. Put Both Cart Buttons in One Form  

      50. Integrate a Third-Party Shopping Cart with PayPal

      51. Customize Checkout Pages  

      52. Display the Merchant Transaction ID on Your Return Page

      53. Remember Your Customers  

      54. Create a Dynamic Storefront  

      55. Add Dynamic Storefront Details  

      56. Insert Dynamic Images  

      57. Build an Order-Tracking Page  

      58. Offer Discount Coupons  

      59. Increase Search Engine Exposure  

      60. Sell Digital Goods with PayLoadz  

Chapter 6. Managing Subscriptions 

      61. Sell Subscriptions to Your Online Content  

      62. Offer Tiered Subscriptions  

      63. Time Your Subscriptions to End on Specific Dates

      64. Manage Subscription Passwords the Easy Way  

Chapter 7. IPN and PDT 

      Introduction

      What IPN and PDT Are

      How IPN Works

      Advantages of PDT

      65. Receive Instant Payment Notifications  

      66. Troubleshoot Instant Payment Notifications  

      67. Send a Purchase Confirmation Email with IPN  

      68. Process Shopping Carts with IPN  

      69. Use IPN with eBay Listings  

      70. Track Your eBay Products with IPN  

      71. Deliver Digital Goods with IPN  

      72. Deliver Digital Goods with a Return Page  

      73. Implement Price Checking with IPN  

      74. Provide an Order Summary with IPN  

      75. Upsell Your Customers  

      76. Enable Multiple IPN Pages  

      77. Use Mass Pay to Create an Affiliate System  

      78. Manage Your Inventory with IPN  

      79. Display Donation Goals on Your Web Site  

      80. Display a Recent Donor List  

      81. Capture Customer Information with IPN  

      82. Insert Payment Details into a Database with IPN 

      83. Insert Cart Details into a Database  

      84. Track Google Referrals  

      85. Process Payments like a Credit Card with PDT  

      86. Synchronizing PDT and IPN  

Chapter 8. The PayPal Web Services API 

      Introduction

      Create a Developer Account

      87. Set up the Sandbox  

      88. Make Your First API Call  

      89. Create a Wrapper Class for Your API Calls  

      90. Use the PayPal API Wrapper Class  

      91. Refund Payments with the API  

      92. Handle Transaction Errors within the API Wrapper

      93. Retrieve Transaction Details with the API  

      94. Search for PayPal Transactions  

      95. Hack the API Wrapper  

      96. Issue Payments en Masse with the Mass Pay API  

      97. Pay Affiliates and Suppliers on a Schedule  

      98. Search eBay for Listings that Accept PayPal  

      99. Test IPN and PDT in the Sandbox  

      100. Go Live  

Index