Need advice on Account / Donations / Payouts / technical issues

[MatriXz]

Hi.. My issue is complicated, but I will attempt to explain this as well as i can.. Please bare with me..

I have made a website, to which people will come and Donate money, and some people will GET Donations payed out To them. (this is the goal).

Currently I have used braintree to create a payment system. I have also played around with the PayPal Payouts system, however I have a few issues with it.

Before the questions, lets establish definitions:

- Payment -> is User using their credit / debit card / paypal account to send money to my Website's bank account. 

- Payout -> the Website sending money from the Website's bank account to the User's debit / credit / paypal account. 

- My project is in sandbox mode atm. 

Questions:

1. Payouts. I have tested it and when sending the request I get a positive response saying it went just fine. Then when I go to my paypal account dashboard, It verifies that the transaction was indeed a success.  But the Email I used didnt receive anything. I was fully expecting an email that has a link or button, with the paypal logo, So I know that it was successful. OR a dialog that opens, like with the braintree payments gateway. Something to indicate that it actually succeeded. Is it a sandbox thing? How can I know that it will work in live mode?

2. Is there a way to use direct to credit / debit cards, with the paypal Payout?

3. The nature of the service I provide with this site, is 100% non-profit, therefore does not have an EIN, address or business credentials, its simply a service, made by me, for the end users. Is there a way to setup the payout without a PayPal Business Account? 

Mostly because I cannot go live, with a business account without Filling in the EIN, address, business credentials etc. So I am stuck. 

If not, then is there another way to set it up, so it is better suited to my needs ? 

Hope someone can help.

o/ MatriXz

[MTS_Jennifer]

Hello @MatriXz ,

Thank you for posting to the PayPal Sandbox Community. Payment notifications are generated for sandbox accounts, its just that it doesn't get sent to an email server. The notifications get sent to the PayPal Developer Dashboard.

As long as your sandbox account is associated with your PayPal Developer Dashboard you can view all email notifications within the Developer Dashboard.

Here is how:

• Log into the Developer Dashboard at https://developer.paypal.com
• Click on Testing Tools
• Click Sandbox Notifications
• You can see all notifications that were sent to your sandbox accounts

If your sandbox accounts are not linked to your Developer Dashboard, you can link the sandbox accounts:

• Log into the Developer Dashboard
• Click on Testing Tools
• Click Sandbox accounts
• Click "Link other sandbox accounts to this developer account"
• Log into your sandbox account
• Agree to link the sandbox account
• Return to the Developer Dashboard

Here are the requirements for getting a live account setup with Payouts:

https://developer.paypal.com/docs/payouts/standard/#link-payoutsprerequisites

The very first requirement is that the account must be a PayPal Business Account. The regulations for completing your account setup varies, and its based on the country that the account is setup in. You are not required to provide an EIN number if your business is a sole proprietorship, however, there may be other requirements based on the country and type of business that you have.

Here is the Guide to setup a non-profit with PayPal, which includes the requirements:

https://www.paypal.com/us/brc/article/how-to-set-up-a-nonprofit-account-with-paypal

The other requirement for Payouts is funds in your PayPal Account. The funds must cover the fees as well as the payout in the currency that you are sending.  Credit Cards cannot be used to fund payouts, only the funds in your PayPal Account. You can add funds from a bank account to your PayPal Account. Another option is you can receive donations via Credit Card, or PayPal, which can contribute to the funds in your PayPal Account.

Also if you need it, here is the Country and feature support for Payouts:

https://developer.paypal.com/docs/payouts/standard/reference/country-feature/

Here is the documentation on Payouts fees:

https://developer.paypal.com/docs/payouts/standard/reference/fees/

Thank you,

Jennifer

MTS

PayPal

[MatriXz]

Thank you very much for the highly detailed and helpful answer..

I'm not sure the following question was answered. The rest is fine.

Question:
Is there a way to Payout directly to a credit/debit card or bank account, instead of relying on the paypal account of the recepient? 

Scenario:

A random customer doesnt have a paypal account, and doesnt want to create one (regardless if its for free), but has money that is owed to him/her by my service. 

Reason:

In my experience, people dont want to create an account on any site they dont already use, in order to deal with money.

Point of view of the customer: "They Trust the bank they have, and anything else seems dangerous for them. Also installing an app on their phone for this purpose can for some people be annoying when they have a perfectly working credit/debit card. Also that other site they frequently use can use their bank card, why wouldnt mine be able to also".

Im sorry if its words that maybe offend a bit.. isnt my intent, Im just setting up the scenario, to explain my question better.

Anyways, thanks