- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
Hi, is there a way to create a one-time payment link of sorts? I have no website and would like to just send a link to a person to get their payment, just like it is possible to do with subscriptions. I have seen people use links like, for example this one: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=ADLQM8QEDLLYS . It works perfectly and I would love to have something like this. Thanks
Solved! Go to Solution.
Accepted Solutions

- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
Hello @vsz,
Thank you for posting to the PayPal Community.
We have two options for you, one option creates a URL link that can be used for social media posts, the other uses PayPal Standard to create an email link.
Below are the instructions for creating a social media post link:
- Log into your PayPal Account
- Click on Pay & Get Paid
- Click on Sell on Social
- Create your product
- Fill in all the information
- Add a picture
- Click Create
- Click Get Link
- Paste the link to your website, social media page, or send in an email
Below is the basic Buy Now button email link: [DEPRECATED]
- Log in to your PayPal Business Account.
- Click Pay & Get Paid.
- Click PayPal Buttons.
- Choose Buy Now or Add to Cart
- Enter your product or service information. (Do not use the drop-down menus)
- Click Create Button.
- Click on the Email tab
The 'Email URL' option is only available if you are not using any drop-down menus, text boxes, or user selections. If these selections have been made you will be required
Thank you,
Jennifer
MTS
PayPal

- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
Hello @vsz,
Thank you for posting to the PayPal Community.
We have two options for you, one option creates a URL link that can be used for social media posts, the other uses PayPal Standard to create an email link.
Below are the instructions for creating a social media post link:
- Log into your PayPal Account
- Click on Pay & Get Paid
- Click on Sell on Social
- Create your product
- Fill in all the information
- Add a picture
- Click Create
- Click Get Link
- Paste the link to your website, social media page, or send in an email
Below is the basic Buy Now button email link: [DEPRECATED]
- Log in to your PayPal Business Account.
- Click Pay & Get Paid.
- Click PayPal Buttons.
- Choose Buy Now or Add to Cart
- Enter your product or service information. (Do not use the drop-down menus)
- Click Create Button.
- Click on the Email tab
The 'Email URL' option is only available if you are not using any drop-down menus, text boxes, or user selections. If these selections have been made you will be required
Thank you,
Jennifer
MTS
PayPal
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
"Sell on social option is not present on the page which you described. As for the "email buttons", I have already tried that, but the issue is that I have no way of tracking who has purchased the subscription. I need to somehow pass a person's unique identifier as a url parameter and be able to see it in some kind of list. I thought of making an api call to https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v2/invoicing/invoices?total_required=true , but after the sandbox transaction using the email link I have not received the money. Moreover, there is no trace of this transaction on the business account. I have even checked the sandbox email where I clicked on the transaction id only to see "We are unable to find this transaction ID. Please check and try again". How to do this?
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
@MTS_Jennifer "Sell on social" option is not present on the page which you described. As for the "email buttons", I have already tried that, but the issue is that I have no way of tracking who has purchased the subscription. I need to somehow pass a person's unique identifier as a url parameter and be able to see it in some kind of list. I thought of making an api call to https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v2/invoicing/invoices?total_required=true , but after the sandbox transaction using the email link I have not received the money. Moreover, there is no trace of this transaction on the business account. I have even checked the sandbox email where I clicked on the transaction id only to see "We are unable to find this transaction ID. Please check and try again". How to do this?

- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
Hello @vsz
Thank you for advising that the sell on social option does not appear to be available in your region.
Creating and sending invoices is another option that may work for you:
https://developer.paypal.com/docs/invoicing/
The invoices would be specific to your buyers. You can create the invoices within your PayPal Account or via API:
https://developer.paypal.com/docs/invoicing/integrate/
Thank you,
Jennifer
MTS
PayPal
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
Okay, I will use a different option then. The subscription buttons. BUT there is an issue. I have created the subscription plan and copied the code for the buttons on my site, but whenever I click "pay with paypal", insert the login and password of the sandbox personal account and choose the payment method, I get the error: "Sorry, we couldn't set up your subscription using the payment method you selected. Please try another payment method". Why is that? The account has sufficient funds and I have even created a new one to test. Maybe there is another option like that?
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
@MTS_Jennifer Okay, I will use a different option then. The subscription buttons. BUT there is an issue. I have created the subscription plan and copied the code for the buttons on my site, but whenever I click "pay with paypal", insert the login and password of the sandbox personal account and choose the payment method, I get the error: "Sorry, we couldn't set up your subscription using the payment method you selected. Please try another payment method". Why is that? The account has sufficient funds and I have even created a new one to test. Maybe there is another option like that?

- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
Hi @vsz
Thank you for posting to the PayPal Merchant Community. Can you provide the sandbox personal account account id or the sandbox business account id?
I can check and see if the sandbox personal account has any issues on it.
Here is how to get your payer id:
- Log into the Developer Dashboard at https://developer.paypal.com
- Click on Testing Tools
- Click on Sandbox Accounts
- Click on the Personal Account email
- Under Sandbox account info you will see the Account ID
If you do not see your sandbox account in your developer dashboard, it is not attached. Here is how to attach your personal sandbox account, so you can get this information.
In the developer dashboard under Sandbox test accounts,
- Click on "Link other sandbox accounts to this developer account."
- Log into your sandbox personal account
- Click to link the sandbox account
- Return to the Developer Dashboard and complete the steps to view your Account ID
Usually if you have issues with setting up a subscription in sandbox its because there isn't any test funding sources in the sandbox account, or the email is not confirmed.
Thank you,
Jennifer
MTS
PayPal
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content

Haven't Found your Answer?
It happens. Hit the "Login to Ask the community" button to create a question for the PayPal community.
- Assistance Needed: Passing and Retrieving Custom Data in PayPal Webhook Payload in PayPal Payments Standard
- subscription_id has disappeared in REST APIs
- Recurring Payment issue in Braintree Client-side Integration (JS, iOS, Android SDKs)
- need to create separate payment with QR code that will split payment between the vendor and myself in Sandbox Environment
- PayPal Redirection Issue After Successful Payment in Photobooth Integration in Sandbox Environment