PayPal button problem

[farmboy]

I have PayPal payment buttons on a number of different sites, all leading to one PayPal account.

When creating a button PayPal gives you the option of designating a page where the customer will be sent after completing the payment PROVIDED the customer clicks on the "Continue" link.

I find that a significant number of customers don't click on that link after completing payment which leads to more time for me on customer service matters.

I think the "Continue" link, however it's worded, is not intuitive to users, causing many to close the page after purchasing rather than clicking on the link.

Unless/until PayPal changes this, does anyone have a suggestion for increasing the percentage of customers who click on the link and return to my site?

Note: I realize PayPal has an option to automatically send customers to a page after payment, but that's of little value when you need to send different customers to different pages/sites.

farmboy

[pp_rb]

If you enable Auto Return in your account's Profile, you can still specify a different return URL for each payment. The URL you provide in your Profile is the default, but the return URL you provide in the payment button will override that value and the customer should still be automatically redirected to the URL.

[farmboy]

...but the return URL you provide in the payment button will override that value and the customer should still be automatically redirected to the URL.

Thanks for the information but since you used the word "should" I need to ask if this is something you have personally done and seen it work or if this is a guess. If I set up Auto-Return and PayPal buttons expecting this to work and it doesn't, it could cause a lot of headaches in dealing with customers.

I see no mention of this feature on the information for Auto-Return nor on the information for button options.

farmboy

[farmboy]

On a related note, if you have activated the "PayPal Account Optional" feature, AutoReturn will not work.

farmboy

[pp_rb]

Okay, I went ahead and tested it:

1. Enabled Auto Return in my Premier account Profile and set a default URL.
2. Created a payment URL and made a payment from my Personal account to my Premier account. I was returned to the default URL automatically after the payment.
3. Created another payment URL, this time with a "return" variable set to another URL. I made a payment from my Personal account to my Premier account, and was automatically returned to the URL specified in the return variable (not the default URL).
4. Refunded both payments to get my fees back. :)

Note for testing purposes - there appears to be a filter on the allowable return URLs, so you can't use a popular auction site as your return URL. ;)

When a customer uses the Account Optional checkout, they will not be automatically returned, but a "Return to Merchant" button will be displayed and they can return to your site by clicking that button. If your customers log in to an account to pay, they are automatically returned to your site.

[jwolthuis]

The problem you're experiencing has been "corrected" somewhat with PayPal Express Checkout.

Funds are not captured until the user successfully returns to your site, reviews the order, and approves it at your site, not Paypal's.

[farmboy]

Okay, I went ahead and tested it:

I downloaded the PayPal Payments Guide and the section on Auto Return confirms what you found in your test.

It does indicate the return variable needs to be in the HTML form in this format:

<input type="hidden" name="return" value"url">

When I use the Payment Button creation feature I designate a return URL destination. However, I also select the encryption option which hides the return value in the HTML, so I guess I have to accept on faith it is included in the HTML....or delete the PayPal cookie and make a purchase from myself to test.

FarmBoy

[pp_rb]

You can test with the Sandbox, though you would have to set up an account there so it might take some effort to create an encrypted button to test.

If you send a payment to your account to test it, you can refund it afterward and the fee will be refunded to you as well.