PayPal - Express or IPN?

[jbottero]

There seem to be two main PayPal options:

Express Checkout

and

IPN - Website Payments Standard

---

Which is preferable, and what are the differences?

Thank you

[colemanpa]

There's three

IPN
Website Payments PRO
Express Check out

I find IPN to be the easiest, but you should go to the PayPal website to do your research for what best suits you!

[jbottero]

Well, the PRO is out for me right now because it's not "free".

But what I have been told, though am still trying to confirm, is that IPN allows non-PayPal account holders to pay w/ CC, while with Express the buyer has to have a PayPal account. Yes, no?

[DrByte]

I found this FAQ by searching on the topic: https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/index.php?article=28

[JinkyO]

I've read the FAQ and searched/read many discussions on the difference between the 3 PayPal options. Adding on to this message because I'm still a bit stuck.

I'm not ready for the Pro version yet but would love any feedback from people who might be using it.

Express sounds like it works all the time but confines you to PayPal account only payments. I would love any feedback from users using this option? Do your customers mind setting up a PayPal account to pay?


Standard is what I'm leaning towards but I'm leary because there are so many posts (and the FAQ warning) about orders possibly being left "in limbo" (I'll get paid and the payment shows up in paypal, but I may not get a detailed invoice or shipping information)


I'm having a hard time gauging if the problems with the Standard IPN are as wide spread as some of these "Help!" posts make out? Because posters rarely provide complete info I'm not sure if the limbo issue affected GoDaddy hosted sites only?


For what it's worth, this is my second Zen Cart build. The first was for a GoDaddy Hosted site using Authorize.net for downloadable problems. aside from the usual newbie learning curve, I got it all set up and running (going on 6 months now)


I'd like feedback for this new build, a physical/shippable product with PayPal. No SSL, I want all the transaction stuff to happen at paypal.com. I do need to, reliably get back a listing of what the customer ordered and where I need to ship it.


I'm hosted on Hostmonster (ZenCart approved hosting) and using
Zen Cart 1.3.8a
Database Patch Level: 1.3.8
PHP Version 5.2.8


I've also installed the local sales tax mod and the super orders mod.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can spare a few minutes and give me their thoughts on the best route to go with this.

[mamasylvia]

Just FYI, it isn't either/or. I also passed up Paypal Web Pro -- looked like higher cost for fewer features. But I have both regular Paypal and Paypal Express available as payment options. There was a problem a few months ago, and I had a couple of disappeared orders (which was frustrating) but it hasn't happened in a long time.

I also give instructions on my home page for customers who don't want to set up an account with me OR Paypal, you might want to check it out.

[DrByte]

I would interject to say that I disagree with mamasylvia's statement that "it isn't either/or".
Offering both Express and Standard simultaneously leaves your customers seeing multiple PayPal radio buttons on the payment page, and not understanding which one to choose.

The best strategy: choose one approach and run with it. Express is generally more reliable because it doesn't rely on your server being able to hear from PayPal's server in the background in order to activate your orders. Standard allows customers to complete purchase without making a PayPal account, but has its drawbacks, as outlined in the FAQ on the topic.

[mamasylvia]

In most cases, it doesn't matter which option they pick, and my customers don't seem confused by the options. So, for me (and possibly others), offering both has been a good choice.

[angst]

Im struggling with the same thing. I was going to use IPN (web payments standard) and am finding that it is not all I hoped it would be. I found that after the customer fills out all the info on your page and then are ready to pay with credit card they must then find this teeeny link on the next page.

Website payments Pro seems a bit steep at $30 a month for small operations like some of us have.
It may not be proper for people to recommend a particular payment processor since there a couple of specific processor sponsors of zencart, but I think a lot of us stumble through this choice by trial and error.
Perhaps a tutorial on what to consider when choosing a processor should/could be written?

[DrByte]

... they must then find this teeeny link on the next page.

Have you tested that with a customer who's never logged in to PayPal before? ... Because ... the screenshot you showed only appears when the person *has* used a PayPal account on *that* computer before.
Related FAQ: https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/index.php?article=29