No Donor Data coming from PayPal

Hi ​@Cdn_Pete 

Help links for using PayPal in Zaps: https://zapier.com/apps/paypal/integrations#help

The sample data format provided in the Zap Editor doesn’t match live data.

There are times when the sample data from your PayPal Trigger, in the Zap Editor, will not match the live data that comes through when your Zap runs. This can be especially relevant if you’re trying to add a Filter step to only continue if the item sold contains specific text.

In order to get more accurate data, you can use PayPal’s IPN Simulator tool.

NOTE: you will have to log in to your PayPal account in order to use the tool, but you do NOT need a developer account.

Thank you Troy for the input. I’m not super technical but I’ve managed to use webhooks with Givebutter, but they are giving me a migraine with PayPal!

Here’s what I’ve managed so far, much of it based on some other threads in this community.

I started a new zap with a Webhooks by Zapier (Catch Hook) and copied the URL into the Webhooks Simulator at https://developer.paypal.com/dashboard/webhooksSimulator

I tried a few webhook simulations. The 1st was PAYMENT.CAPTURE.COMPLETED and did not include any donor data. The 2nd was PAYMENTS.PAYMENT.CREATED, which DID include donor data.

I ran that webhook simulation and a “John Doe” record hit Zapier, so I finished the config and tried a $1.00 donation. No luck.

With my limited technical abilities, I figured I needed to set up the webhook in my “Zapier” app in PayPal, but PAYMENTS.PAYMENT.CREATED wasn’t available, so I searched some more, and found CHECKOUT.ORDER.COMPLETED, which was available. I tried a small $1.11 donation, found it in PayPal, but it didn’t hit Zapier.

It’s getting late. I think I’ll resume in the morning. Hoping someone might chime in with the missing piece.

Thanks!

Hi there ​@Cdn_Pete 👋 

I saw we’ve got a feature request for a “Donation Received” trigger to be added to the PayPal app so I went and added your vote for that. Can’t make any promises as to when it might get added but we’ll be sure to send you an email notification when it does. 

In the meantime, did you have any luck with Webhooks here? 

That’s good news. I’d say it’s GREAT news if you said it’s coming next week.  :)

WRT the webhook, it works for a simulated transaction coming from the webhook simulator at  https://developer.paypal.com/dashboard/webhooksSimulator but not for any of the tiny donations I’ve made.

Where might I find those feature requests?

Thanks!

I can’t give an ETA on when it might get added ​@Cdn_Pete. The feature requests aren’t public-facing, so I can’t share a link to them but I’ll be sure to follow up here if and when it gets implemented.

With the webhook, does the donation page use the old style or the newer style of PayPal’s donate buttons? If you're not sure, the newer style uses code that would reference PayPal’s donate-sdk.

If the donation page uses the older style of donate buttons then you may need to add the unique webhook URL from the Zap into PayPal’s IPN settings for the Zap to be able to see the real donations.

If it’s using the newer style of button then you’ll want to make sure that the button code on the donation page has been updated to not use the sandbox data. PayPal has instructions on how to do that here: https://developer.paypal.com/sdk/donate/#5-go-live

Let us know how it goes!

Hi ​@SamB -- thanks for the info. I’ll dig into it now, but in case you can see from the page, here’s the donation page:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=X3JQHP84Z38ZW

I’ve had a quick look at what “Inspect” shows me and nothing jumps out at me, so I’ll check out the link you sent.

Thanks!