PayPal IPN Delays

How instant is instant?

[julesn]

We've just started testing a system to allow us to import eBay sales into our main web order processing system.

Winning bidders checkout through eBay and pay by PayPal and we then get fed the details, through a third party system, into our order processing system.

In the few tests I've done, there can be a significant delay (a couple of hours) before it appears paypal send the IPN call to us - hardly "instant"!

Having avoided PayPal in the past, this is all new to me, could anyone kindly clarify whether the IPN call should really be instant as in seconds/monutes not hours?

Thanks

[Patrick Taylor]

In my experience the call is always made within five minutes or so.

[evaddnomaid]

Are you still seeing long delays? IPNs are usually quite quick, and almost always under 5 minutes. But the IPN system sometimes gets backlogged. The problem is usually resolved in a day or two.