I am trying to buy a file from my symbio stock site. I've signed up as a user and use a friend's paypal so I experience the whole thing as a user. After paying on Paypal I have to click on a link that says return to site (is this correct?) and then when I arrive back on the site I receive this:

Items still in your cart, and not in your download area?
Wait a few seconds and refresh the page. Sometimes paypal takes a few minutes to notify us. If you still have problems, please contact us.


What is wrong?

I get the money in paypal, it's just the user (which in this case was me as well) doesn't get to download the file. What is wrong?

Hi Cathy.

I don't have any security plugins installed, and I've looked through a bunch of other posts, but have yet to find the issue.

Could it be some settings at Paypal?

Also do I have to manually create the folder symbio_ipn ?

I too got this email

Please check your server that handles PayPal Instant Payment Notification (IPN) messages. Messages sent to the following URL(s) are not being received:

http://myawesomestocksite.com/symbiostock_ipn/

If you do not recognize this URL, you may be using a service provider that is using IPN on your behalf. Please contact your service provider with the above information.

Could it be that I put in the wrong notification URL on Paypal? Right now it's just www.mysite.com

If you have a personal paypal account you dont have to put anything in the blank on paypal. SY will send the correct ipn when the user checks out. If you have a business paypal account, maybe someone will jump in with the exact settings you need for paypal. I had the exact same problem as you and created a thread about it because it even affects early SY-ers who entered settings in paypal that were changed in a later theme update. Check out that thread, it has more specifics.


http://www.microstockgroup.com/symbiostock-technical-support/
how-to-set-your-paypal-ipn-information-in-sy-theme-and-in-paypal/

(Sorry, copying and pasting on ipad doesnt work well here)

Cathy:

I have a business paypal account and when I try to delete to URL I put in the box, it doesn't let me.
The URL I have entered on Paypal is the my site.com/symbiostock_ipn/ is this correct?

Cathy:

I have a business paypal account and when I try to delete to URL I put in the box, it doesn't let me.
The URL I have entered on Paypal is the my site.com/symbiostock_ipn/ is this correct?

You don't NEED to enter any URL in your Paypal admin area. Only if you want to redirect the customer after the purchase to a certain page of your website (like the customer area) then you may set an auto return URL. If you're not sure about this stuff, just leave it alone for now.

You will however need to set the Paypal IPN directory URL inside your WP -> Symbiostock -> Settings -> Email and Payment Process Communication to http://yourdomain.com/symbiostock_ipn/ . And make sure the radio button is set to "Live" when you actually want to process real payments.

Hi guys. I have done all of the above mentioned things. It's still a negative from here I'm afraid. I wonder why this is?

Have you removed the IPN settings inside your Paypal admin area?

What exactly is not working? Your purchased file isn't available for download or what is the issue?

Hi guys. I have done all of the above mentioned things. It's still a negative from here I'm afraid. I wonder why this is?

I wish I could help more but I use a personal account so don't exactly know what the settings should be.

You said you were using a friend's paypal account. Could that be the problem? Do you have the account name correct in the SY settings? Attached is a screenshot of mine. So the Paypal email should be the paypal email of your friend's paypal account. That's about the only other thing I can think might be wrong. If you have that entered correctly, I am stumped.

If you are arriving back at your SY site, then the only other thing might be that you don't have the correct URL of the page you need to return to, and you are returning to a wrong page or a duplicate page you created. The page you want to return to is:

yoursite.com/customer-licence-and-file-management-area/     <---unless you changed the name of the page. I did, because Licence is mispelled. Then it should be what your permalink is for that page.

(Christine mentioned in her post above)

I have the PayPal redirect on the PayPal site set to the Customer license and file management page.  Whether that works or not I'm not sure I wasn't able to perform a test purchase yet.

Your PayPal settings in your SY theme the email needs to be your PayPal email.

But the OP is not using his/her own paypal account, they are using a friends account. So the email should be the email for the Paypal account being used. But that creates a problem because unless the OP also has access to the friends' email account, he/she isnt going to get any of the notification emails at his/her own email. They will instead go to the friends. Because typically the email for the Paypal account IS the person who has the account's actual email address.

If I am setting up a SY website with the intent of selling images, I would just go ahead and set up my own paypal account. That's the part I'm not getting...why use a friend's account. That might get a little sticky, from Paypal's point of view.

I get the money in paypal, it's just the user (which in this case was me as well) doesn't get to download the file. What is wrong?

That's the OP's main problem. That doesn't sound like a Paypal issue anyway.

He's using his friends paypal account to purchase the file not to receive the payment.

You are right...I am confused. I am going to bow out of the conversation now. 

IPN = Instant Payment Notification.

Paypal posts the sale to the site's IPN area. In some cases its blocked or doesn't go through, and thus the problem with your download.

Hi guys. Thanks for taking the time to help me with my problem.

Off all the things you guys mentioned, the only thing I think could be the problem is on the Paypal side, in the Notification URL I've entered mysite.com/symbiostick_ipn - is this wrong? I've tried to delete it again, but Paypal doesn't let me leave it blank. Could this be the culprit?

I've checked my plugins, and can't find any of the aforementioned troublesome plugins.

 So, is it the URL entered on Paypal that's bugging me?