We’ve deployed a new PayPal integration designed specifically for marketplaces. This change only affects people who use or wish to use the “Direct to you” payout mode.
The old API we used to handle “Direct to you” payments has been closed off by PayPal for many years now. Although we were continuing to let people use it, recently we’ve been seeing more and more failures & issues with payments handled through it. Including issues like stuck payments, missing payment options, and instantly refunded payments. It’s been downright broken for many sellers. For this reason, we’ve integrated PayPal’s new Marketplaces API to allow you to continue to sell directly into your PayPal account. The legacy API may be fully closed down in the future so we’re asking all sellers to migrate to the new system if they are using the legacy PayPal integration.
In late 2017, we also disabled “Direct to you” for PayPal for all new accounts, leaving it available only for people who had already activated it. Starting today, all accounts can use “Direct to you” with PayPal once again!
Set up your payment processors here →
The requirements for using this new PayPal integration have changed, it is no longer possible to just type in a PayPal email address to receive payments. You must complete an onboarding process with PayPal, and it will most likely require you to have a business PayPal account (no longer, see below). There may also be regional restrictions. We’ve opened this thread so you can give feedback about the process, and tell us if you encounter any issues.
We’re still keeping the older system running during the transition phase if you are unable to migrate at this time, but please plan to migrate as soon as possible. If you continue to use the old system it’s very likely you will experience issues with payments failing, and the checkout flow is limited in a way that will negatively affect your conversion rate.
To close up, here’s a quick recap of the two payout modes itch.io supports:
- Direct to you – Each transaction is handled directly through your PayPal or Stripe account. You are the merchant of record
- Collected by itch.io, paid later – itch.io’s Stripe and PayPal accounts handle all transactions, you can request a payout to collect you earnings in bulk at a later time
Note: there are now two different ways to connect a PayPal account to itch.io for each of the payout methods. With “Direct” you are connecting to the new PayPal for Marketplaces system, with “Collected by itch.io” you are doing only a basic connection that reveals your account information but does nothing else.
Learn more about the payout modes →
Note 2: If you need to contact us about any private account information please use our support page.
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