You can offer PayPal beside PayFast, or on its own. Payments go directly to your PayPal Business account. Kompdesk never holds the money. When both PayFast and PayPal are switched on, payers see both buttons and choose.
These accounts are also where families pay for event media sold per item, through the same connection.
What You Need
- A PayPal Business account.
- A REST app in the PayPal Developer Dashboard (Apps and Credentials). Each app has a Client ID and a Secret. PayPal gives Sandbox apps and Live apps separate credentials.
Connecting PayPal
- Open your event editor and go to Payment Details. In the Online fee payments panel, click Connect PayPal. (Ticketed events can also connect from the ticket payment settings. It is the same connection.)
- Paste the Client ID and Secret, and choose Sandbox or Live to match the app.
- Click Verify and Save. Kompdesk checks the details with PayPal before saving anything. If PayPal does not accept them, nothing is saved and you see why.
Your Secret is stored encrypted and is never shown again. To change it, paste a new one. If you change the Client ID you must paste that app's Secret too.
Rand Events: the US Dollar Rate
PayPal does not process South African Rand. If your event is priced in Rand, PayPal payments are charged in US dollars at a rate you set: how many Rands one US dollar is worth (for example 18.20).
- Set it in the same panel under Rands per 1 US dollar, for PayPal. PayPal stays unavailable to payers until it is set.
- Payers see the exact dollar amount before they leave for PayPal, and their fees are credited in Rand.
- The rate is saved against each payment as it starts, so changing it never alters a payment in progress. Kompdesk warns you when it has not been updated in 30 days.
- A South African PayPal account receives US dollars. Withdrawing to a local bank account goes through FNB and PayPal charges a currency conversion fee (about 2.5 percent), with an FNB withdrawal fee on top. Set your rate with that in mind.
Events priced in a currency PayPal supports (for example US dollars, euros or pounds) are charged in that currency, with no conversion. A few currencies cannot use PayPal at all; the panel tells you if yours is one of them.
Turning It On
- Entry fees: switch on Accept entry fee payments with PayPal in the Online fee payments panel.
- Tickets: tick PayPal in your ticket payment methods.
The smallest PayPal payment is 1.00 in the charged currency (USD 1.00 for a Rand event).
Watching Payments Come In
PayPal payments record themselves, exactly like PayFast payments: they appear in the payer's fee row with a PayPal badge, the Online payments panel shows a PayPal chip, and you get an email for each one. Paid tickets are released and emailed to the buyer automatically.
If a payer approves a payment at PayPal and closes the page before coming back, Kompdesk still collects it within about 15 minutes.
Check with PayPal
If a PayPal payment sits as Pending (fees) or Reserved (tickets), use Check with PayPal on that row. There is nothing to copy or paste: Kompdesk asks PayPal directly and records the payment if PayPal has it. If PayPal is still processing it, check again later.
Cancelling a pending PayPal payment also checks with PayPal first. If PayPal already has the money, the payment is recorded instead of cancelled.
Refunds
Refund in your PayPal account, then record the refund in Kompdesk the same way you would for any other payment.
Test Mode (Sandbox)
Connect a Sandbox app to try the whole flow with PayPal's test buyer accounts. Payers see a test mode notice and test payments are labelled SANDBOX. Connect your Live app before real payers pay.