How do I integrate PayPal?

Guests can pay you through PayPal in two separate ways: as a payment method at your Booking Engine checkout, and as a PayPal.me button on the invoices you send. The checkout connection needs a free PayPal developer app; the invoice button only needs your PayPal.me name. This article sets up both.

Before you start

You need both of these for the checkout connection:

• A PayPal account. The developer app is created with your normal PayPal login.
• Your Booking Engine set up on your website, so there is a checkout to offer PayPal at. See .

The two PayPal options are separate

The checkout connection and the PayPal.me invoice button are two different features, set up on two different pages in Smoobu. Connecting one does not switch on the other. Set up the checkout connection if guests should pay with PayPal while booking; set up PayPal.me if you want a pay-now button on your invoices; set up both if you want both.

Steps

To offer PayPal at your checkout:

1. Go to developer.paypal.com, PayPal's developer site, and log in with your PayPal account.
2. Switch the mode from Sandbox to Live. Sandbox is PayPal's test mode, and an app created there can't take real payments.
3. Create a new app for Smoobu. Give it a name you recognize (for example "Smoobu") and choose the Merchant type.
4. Copy the app's Client ID and Secret. PayPal shows both on the app's page.
5. In Smoobu, open Configuration > Booking Engine, go to the Booking System Settings tab, and click the link "click here for PayPal settings" next to the PayPal method. Paste the Client ID and Secret there and save.
6. Back in Booking System Settings, tick PayPal as a payment method and save.

Check it worked

The PayPal option in Booking System Settings is active instead of greyed out, and PayPal appears as a payment choice at your checkout. Make a test booking to confirm the payment goes through ().

Add a PayPal.me button to your invoices

PayPal.me is a personal payment page at PayPal, and Smoobu can put a button to yours on every invoice. Register a PayPal.me name at paypal.com if you don't have one yet. Then open Smoobu's PayPal.me settings page: you find it under Marketplace, filtered by Payments (a separate page from the PayPal checkout settings above). Enter only your PayPal.me username, not the full link and not your PayPal email address, choose your currency, and save. Whether the button is added to your invoices is controlled by the Add PayPal.me payment link to the invoice option in Configuration > Invoice Settings. Guests who click the button land on your pre-filled PayPal page and pay there.

Common problems

Guests see "Error occurred try it later or check the form" when paying

Your developer app is still in Sandbox (test) mode. Smoobu accepts the credentials and shows the connection as active, but real payments are rejected. Delete the app at developer.paypal.com, switch to Live, create the app again as a Merchant app, and paste the new Client ID and Secret into Smoobu.

The connection fails and PayPal says the problem is on Smoobu's side

In most of these cases the credentials entered in Smoobu are the actual cause. Check that you copied the Client ID and Secret completely, from the Live version of the app, with no spaces around them. If they're correct and it still fails, contact Smoobu Support.

PayPal isn't offered for extras in the Guest Guide

PayPal is not available for Guest Guide purchases. Guests buying extras there can pay via Stripe or by invoice only. See for how extras and their payment work.

Related articles

Still stuck?

If these steps didn't fix it, contact the Smoobu team: open the Help menu to open a ticket or book a call slot, or use the chat bubble in the bottom-right corner. To get the fastest answer, please include:

• Your Smoobu User ID (in the profile-icon menu, top right).
• The property name or ID, if it's about one property.
• The Booking ID, if it's about one booking (Bookings, then View more).
• The channel name, if it's about channel sync (Booking.com, Airbnb, Vrbo, and so on).
• A short step-by-step: what you did, what you expected, and what happened.
• Screenshots or a short screen recording of the problem.
• Your browser and operating system, if something looks wrong on screen.