Connect PayPal to collect payments for direct bookings and to send payment requests, which work for all bookings, including bookings from OTAs. To also charge guest credit cards and OTA virtual cards automatically, use Stripe.
Prerequisites: a PayPal account.
Quick Guide
- In Settings > Payments > Payment Gateways > Paypal, change Enable / Priority and enter your primary PayPal email address.
- In your PayPal profile, enter the Beds24 notification URL in Instant payment notifications (IPN) and enable IPN messages.
Step 1: Connect PayPal in Beds24
- Go to Settings > Payments > Payment Gateways > Paypal.
- Change the setting for Enable / Priority.
- Enter the PayPal email address that should receive the funds. If you have several email addresses in PayPal, use the primary one.
Step 2: Turn on payment notifications in PayPal
- In your PayPal account, go to your profile. The Instant payment notifications setting is usually under Seller Preferences.
- Enter this notification URL and set IPN messages to enabled:
https://beds24.com/api/paypal/paypal.php
Expected result: Beds24 is notified when a payment succeeds, so payment collection is fully automated.
Note: If Non Payment Booking Status (deposit collection) is set to cancel unpaid bookings, new bookings stay cancelled until PayPal's IPN confirms the payment. The emails confirming the booking are also only sent after that confirmation.
Note: If your booking page is in an iframe or on WordPress, browser security settings stop it from redirecting the guest to PayPal. Go to Settings > Booking Engine > Property Booking Page > Page Design > Behavior and set Open in New Window to On secure payment. See Paypal Redirect Does Not Work.
Use PayPal
- Collect a deposit for direct bookings at the time of booking: see Deposit Collection.
- Send a payment request: set up an Auto Action with a PayPal payment request, see Send Paypal Payment Request.
Troubleshooting
| Issue / Error | Likely Cause | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| The guest paid, but the booking shows cancelled | Non Payment Booking Status in Settings > Booking Engine > Deposit Collection Direct Bookings is Cancelled, and Beds24 wasn't told about the payment: the IPN isn't set up (correctly) in PayPal, or the email address in Beds24 isn't your primary PayPal email. | Fix the IPN or the email address in Settings > Payments > Payment Gateways > Paypal (click Help there for more instructions). For this booking, set the status to Confirmed manually and enter the payment in the booking. |
Payment disputes
PayPal lets buyers dispute a purchase. PayPal may refund the funds to the buyer if the buyer opens and wins a dispute case.