# Paypal - Instant Payment Notifications **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [July 25, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/paypal-instant-payment-notifications/99814 "2006-07-25T18:20:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jh100000](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/b2d939/32.png) [@jh100000](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jh100000)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/paypal-instant-payment-notifications/99814/1 "2006-07-25T18:20:51Z")
Has anyone any experience of getting the Paypal plug in to work? I’ve set myself up on the Paypal sandbox, I’ve setup my sending and receiving accounts, i’ve got the Paypal button on my view, I can go and make payments ok, but I can’t get the Instant Payment Notification part to work. At the end of the payment process the user is left in a paypal screen with seemingly no way back to my app and the paypal\_ipn action Cheers, John ---
**Author:** ![jh100000](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/b2d939/32.png) [@jh100000](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jh100000)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/paypal-instant-payment-notifications/99814/2 "2006-07-26T20:06:01Z")
> I’ve set myself up on the Paypal sandbox, I’ve setup my sending and > receiving accounts, i’ve got the Paypal button on my view, I can go and > make payments ok, but I can’t get the Instant Payment Notification part > to work. At the end of the payment process the user is left in a paypal > screen with seemingly no way back to my app and the paypal\_ipn action Have you turned on the IPN in your PayPal profile? Also, to have PayPal redirect you back to your site, you need turn on Auto Return and set the url you want to return to. HTH, Jord ---
**Author:** ![jh100000](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/b2d939/32.png) [@jh100000](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jh100000)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 8:21pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/paypal-instant-payment-notifications/99814/3 "2006-07-26T20:21:47Z")
Jordan E. wrote: > > I’ve set myself up on the Paypal sandbox, I’ve setup my sending and > > receiving accounts, i’ve got the Paypal button on my view, I can go and > > make payments ok, but I can’t get the Instant Payment Notification part > > to work. At the end of the payment process the user is left in a paypal > > screen with seemingly no way back to my app and the paypal\_ipn action > > Have you turned on the IPN in your PayPal profile? Also, to have > PayPal redirect you back to your site, you need turn on Auto Return > and set the url you want to return to. > > HTH, > Jord Thanks Jord, I don’t think i’ve done any of those things so I shall try that tonight… Do you know where I tell Paypal the URL? Presumably its the url to the controller task that deals with the IPN? –John ---
**Author:** ![jh100000](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/b2d939/32.png) [@jh100000](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jh100000)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/paypal-instant-payment-notifications/99814/4 "2006-07-26T21:53:21Z")
jh100000 wrote: > Do you know where I tell Paypal the URL? Presumably its the url to the > controller task that deals with the IPN? There are 3 hidden form variables you can use to set the values in the form that posts to Paypal… heres an example: Regards, Dave > **[Favorite Run](https://favoriterun.com/)** > > The Gift of Running  ---
**Author:** ![jh100000](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/b2d939/32.png) [@jh100000](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jh100000)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 10:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/paypal-instant-payment-notifications/99814/5 "2006-07-26T22:47:08Z")
Many thanks Dave and Jord. I’ve managed to get IPN! Cheers guys –John ---
**Author:** ![jh100000](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/b2d939/32.png) [@jh100000](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jh100000)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/paypal-instant-payment-notifications/99814/6 "2006-07-27T01:05:22Z")
My Paypal payments are coming though perfectly now. I’m very impressed. However, one small problem… I seem to get 3 notifications for every payment. Is this normal? –John ---
**Author:** ![jh100000](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/b2d939/32.png) [@jh100000](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jh100000)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/paypal-instant-payment-notifications/99814/7 "2006-07-27T17:04:28Z")
> However, one small problem… I seem to get 3 notifications for every > payment. > Is this normal? I’m not sure, but I think you need to acknowledge the IPN post from PayPal. If you don’t I think PayPal will continue to send IPNs to you. Maybe the sandbox is limited to 3 tries? ---
**Author:** ![jh100000](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/b2d939/32.png) [@jh100000](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jh100000)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/paypal-instant-payment-notifications/99814/8 "2006-07-27T18:24:08Z")
Jordan E. wrote: > > However, one small problem… I seem to get 3 notifications for every > > payment. > > Is this normal? > > I’m not sure, but I think you need to acknowledge the IPN post from > PayPal. If you don’t I think PayPal will continue to send IPNs to > you. Maybe the sandbox is limited to 3 tries? Thanks Jordan, I’ve got it sorted now I think there was some sort of handshake that wasn’t working properly - but it now is working spot on! I’m very impressed! –John