Premium Enhanced Recurring Payments with PayPal

Discussion in 'Payments processing' started by onthehudson, Jan 19, 2011.

  1. onthehudson

    onthehudson New Member

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    Hello,

    Could you please clarify the process of how aMember works with regards to recurring payments using PayPal which no longer require a PayPal account ?

    1. Is this functional -- if so, what plugin is configured for this (paypal_r ?).
    2. If a member wishes to Cancel recurring, where does this display in aMember as they do not need a PayPal account to do this.

    Thanks.
  2. alexander

    alexander Administrator Staff Member

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    1. yes it should work by default with paypal_r plugin. such functionality will work on paypal side.
    2. Cancel link in amember just redirect user to paypal site. I'm not sure how this work on paypal itself when user who pay by CC want to cancel subscription.
  3. sstark

    sstark New Member

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    Issue with Paypal cancellation

    When I tested this, pressing the cancel link in aMember takes you back to paypal. However, it ask you to sign in. Not sure how that is gonna work when a user pays by credit card and doesn't want to set up a paypal account.

    Any ideas on where to go for this? Do I need to talk to Paypal? Or, is this something in the setup of the link in aMember?
  4. alexander

    alexander Administrator Staff Member

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    Can you try to create a membership as regular user and check all emails that you will receive from paypal(there may be info about how you can cancel)
    Or contact paypal support and ask how user can cancel in this situation. I will update cancel link in plugin then.
  5. microvb

    microvb Member

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    I contacted PayPal support, and unfortunately, there is no way for us to notify PayPal through the API of a cancellation of service.

    You must use PayFlow or Website Payments Pro + Recurring in order to have this ability.

    For now, there are only two ways a customer may cancel their account:

    1. When the customer subscribes (without a PayPal account), they get a link in their e-mail which if they click, it will take them to PayPal. If they create a new account from this link, then the subscription will be bound to that new account and they can go through the normal steps to cancel the subscription from within PayPal.

    2. Pre-generated buttons. Using the button generator inside PayPal, you can create both a subscribe and an unsubscribe link. (Maybe alex, you could whip up a cool idea on how to integrate those with the sign-up form in aMember so we can get the best of both worlds ^.^ . PayPal will still send notification of Payment through the IPN).

    Hope this helps everyone.

    Dan.
  6. alexander

    alexander Administrator Staff Member

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    Dan,
    Can you try to generate such buttons and post example to this thread?
    May be we can to work out something from buttons code .
  7. bischofb

    bischofb New Member

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    I just got an email from a member who was very upset that he has been trying to cancel his membership and can't do it b/c he isn't a Paypal member. Of course, he threatened to sue me and what-not.

    I found this thread and I can't believe that there isn't a way for him to cancel his membership without joining PayPal. I'm really shocked that this has gone on so long without a resolution. Not only that, how am I supposed to tell my members how to cancel their memberships? Email me and hope that I'm not on vacation when they do so? I hope there is a way to resolve this.

    Brian
  8. sstark

    sstark New Member

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    I agree! This is going to be a huge issue. I just launched and did not think cancellation would be an issue. I am unable to find where to make the unsubscibe buton. If I am able to get this button will I have to change the susbcription process? I have also had an issue with coupon. I cannot get the coupon to work through the paypal interface.

    Also, none of the emails comes with a cancellation link or button unless the user i a paypal member.
  9. microvb

    microvb Member

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    Just so that this is clear for everyone.

    1. The cancel problem is not within aMember. The problem is that with the Website Payments Standard + Enhanced Recurring feature does not offer an API for aMember (or any software) to connect to which can modify subscription status. aMember can and does handle subscription activations and suspensions quite nicely. It can not force PayPal or another merchant service to terminate an agreement if there is no interface from that merchant service to do so. PayPal does offer such an API for this only through their Website Payments Pro + Recurring subscription.

    2. As it stands, if you use the Subscribe/Cancel button generator from within PayPal, this would completely bypass aMember and as such, member accounts would not be created. If there is enough interest (and a fair price), and PayPal can still notify via an IPN when someone has made a payment, I could develop a plugin/hack that would integrate with the Generated Buttons. This would mean that the aMember account that would be created would be based solely on the information filled out at PayPal.

    3. sstark --- According to my conversations with various PayPal representatives, when someone subscribes using this method for re-occurring billing, if they do not have a PayPal account, they get a link in their e-mail which upon clicking they must create a NEW PayPal account -- meaning if they simply login to an account they may already have, it still will not attach the subscription. For existing PayPal members who choose to use their PayPal account at the time of purchase, it shows inside their PayPal account and can be canceled normally from there. If the member did not receive this e-mail, they should check their spam filters/junk box, and/or wait a bit as they should have received one. Normal PayPal members will simply receive a message saying they have subscribed, and paid XYZ amount.

    4. sstark -- The coupons created from aMember do not work on the PayPal payment screen. They only work as per generated for the product(s) and options you have selected from within aMember's signup page. To be fair, I am not exactly sure why there is a coupon box on PayPal anyway, unless it has something to do with the shopping cart system that is hosted by PayPal.

    In a nutshell. The problem doesn't reside with aMember, but there are options open so you can still have the best of both worlds.

    I hope this information helps, and that maybe alex would be so kind as to grant me a free license to aMember ^.^
  10. sstark

    sstark New Member

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    quicklinks - Thank you for the information. I realize the problem does not lie within aMember. The fact remains that I need a usable work around or I need to upgrade to Website Payments Pro which will add $30.00/month to my costs. aMember does do a nice job with the subscriptions and the software is great for my needs. I really don't want to modify my entire site to customize buttons that no longer use the aMember side to collect the account data.

    It really makes no sense that PayPal creates "PREMIUM ENHANCED":mad: recurring payments so subscribers can purchase a membership with just a credit card and no PayPal account but then force them to create an account to cancel. Customers are going to feel duped and the site using the service will suffer. Unfortunately there are people who will not, under any circumstances, create a PayPal account. That's the whole reason for having the option to bypass and pay with a credit card. Sorry, I don't mean to be difficult I just don't like any of these options and I don't think I will get anywhere with PayPal.

    Regarding the coupon issue. I should clarify. I was not trying to set up a coupon in PayPal. I have a coupon code set in aMember which is set to allow users free access for 3 months. I applied this to an existing product and when I go through the process of trying to subscribe it goes to PayPal and throws back an error. I assume I am not setting this up correctly.
  11. alexander

    alexander Administrator Staff Member

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    quicklinks, can you post example of these buttons? Also are you sure that user can cancel subscription using that buttons and will not be required to create an account?
    Btw paypal plugin in aMember already can create users from IPN.
    sstark , Can you contact me in helpdesk in reagrds to coupon issue. Will check product/coupon settings.
  12. khasner

    khasner New Member

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    Alexander, here is a quick unsubscribe button I just created with paypal. There is not much to the code. But I think it is going to simply ask you to login to your paypal account to unsubscribe anyway.

    <A HREF="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_subscr-find&alias=email%40yoursite%2ecom">
    <IMG SRC="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_unsubscribe_LG.gif" BORDER="0">
    </A>
  13. khasner

    khasner New Member

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    Paypal Behavior

    After some Paypal testing:

    If your product is configured in Amember as a recurring billing PayPal will force you to create an account which of course will then mean you have the capability of canceling your subscription at any time.

    So the question is how many potential users will you lose because they do not want to create PayPal account.

    If product is configured without recurring billing PayPal will bring you to an entirely different screen with option to pay with CC and not create PayPal account.
  14. microvb

    microvb Member

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    Alex, I apologize as I am in Canada and do not personally own a Enhanced Recurring account, else I would post in a heart beat. It does look like someone else posted the code already for the unsubscribe button ? -- which if thats the case, then there seems to be no way out of this except to sign up a new paypal account to unsubscribe.

    That is good to know that aMember can support account creation through the IPN only. I would like to see how that works and how you identify the product to assign to the account based on the information from the IPN.
  15. alexander

    alexander Administrator Staff Member

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    aMember do the same thing. It redirect user to above url when user click cancel link, and this will require to create an account.
  16. alexander

    alexander Administrator Staff Member

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    This functionality available in last version.
    Product will be identified by item_name from paypal button.(Should be set to the same value in Product Settings)
  17. sstark

    sstark New Member

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    So there is no way around this?
  18. alexander

    alexander Administrator Staff Member

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    No as far as I know.

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