Paypal IPN issues

[spottedhaggis]

hi all.

OSCMAX and OSC I believe have an issue with regards the use of Paypal IPN. When if a client does not return to the cart after a purchase from paypal, the stock quantity is not updated.

There would seem to be no resolution to this apparent issue, and my client is suffering from it, and it is a real problem.

I am moing her over to Zencart for this reasn, however can anyone confirm if this will fix the issue or if there is nothing that can be done about it?

[DrByte]

Aha ... the whole premise behind the "PayPal IPN" is "Instant Payment Notification" ... whereby regardless of whether the customer follows through clicking back to your site, payment notice is sent to your store, and their order is activated.
This is done via PayPal Website Payments Standard (formerly called IPN). PayPal's server talks to your server in the background and releases the order. The customer is not a bottleneck on this.

So, as long as your site is configured correctly, and PayPal's servers are running right, things tend to run along fine.
Here's a setup document with some tips and troubleshooting guides, which you could also use to verify that various prerequisites are in place for your server, such as open firewall access to the right ports, etc. You should talk to your host if uncertain about the requirements:
http://www.zen-cart.com/wiki/index.php/PayPal