Accept Paypal as a payment method

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Accept Paypal as a payment method

Last updated October 05, 2026 19:02

Connect a PayPal account so customers can use PayPal to purchase products from your store.

Offer PayPal as a payment method at checkout by connecting a PayPal Business account to your site.

Can I use PayPal with Squarespace Payments or Stripe?

Yes, you can offer PayPal as a payment option with either Squarespace Payments or Stripe.

Am I eligible to offer PayPal as a payment option?

Select a tab below to review PayPal eligibility requirements for your payment solution.

Note: Ensure your products comply with Section 1.2 of our Product Specific Terms and meet PayPal's Acceptable Use guidelines.

  • Your location and currency must be supported. Review a list of PayPal’s supported countries and currencies.
  • You must have a PayPal Business account.
  • If Squarespace Payments is not yet available in your region, you can connect Stripe. To successfully enable this feature, you need to also meet Stripe's eligibility requirements. Stripe ultimately determines your eligibility, not Squarespace, Afterpay or Clearpay. The biggest factor affecting your eligibility is the merchant category code (or MCC) associated with your Stripe account. Only Stripe can change this code. If you have questions about your eligibility, contact Stripe.

Note: Ensure your products comply with Section 1.2 of our Product Specific Terms and meet PayPal's Acceptable Use guidelines.

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Step 1: Connect your PayPal account

To connect PayPal and accept it as a payment method:

  1. Open the Payments Settings panel.
  2. Click Connect PayPal.
  3. A pop-up window will open. Log into your PayPal Business account, upgrade a PayPal Personal account, or create a new PayPal account. You need a PayPal Business account to connect PayPal to Squarespace.

Tip: If a pop-up window doesn't open at this step, unblock pop-ups in your browser. For help, visit these guides from Google Chrome or Firefox.

Connect an existing PayPal Business account

If you already have a PayPal account:

  1. Enter the email address for your account and select your country. Click Next.
  2. Enter your login credentials. If prompted, follow PayPal's steps to upgrade to a free PayPal Business account and verify your identity.
  3. Click Go back to Squarespace after the confirmation message displays.
  4. To complete setup, you must verify your account and approve transaction fees.

Sign up for a PayPal Business account

If you don’t have a PayPal Business account, you need to sign up for one:

  1. Enter your email address.
  2. Click Next.
  3. Fill in your information, then click Agree and Continue.
  4. Enter your information to tell PayPal about your business. In the Product or service keyword field, enter the product type you sell and select a suggested product from the drop-down menu. If you don't select a product from PayPal's suggestions, the connection process might fail. Click Continue.
  5. Enter your personal information, then click Submit.
  6. When you see the “Thanks for signing up” confirmation message, click Go back to Squarespace.
  7. To complete setup, you must verify your account and approve transaction fees.

Step 2: Verify your PayPal account

Verify your PayPal account so you can withdraw your funds. To verify your account, follow the instructions in the “Confirm your email address” email from PayPal. If you can't find the email in your inbox, check your spam folder.

Step 3: Approve Squarespace transaction fees

We deduct transaction fees from the total sale amount when a transaction occurs. Follow these steps to sign a PayPal billing agreement and approve Squarespace Commerce transaction fees. After you accept the fee agreement, your PayPal connection is complete and you'll receive a confirmation email from Squarespace.

Note: Even if you’re on a plan without Squarespace Commerce transaction fees, you still need to complete this step. This ensures you can continue to accept PayPal without disruption if you change your plan or offer Digital Products.

To approve Squarespace Commerce transaction fees:

  1. In the Next Step window, review your plan's Squarespace Commerce transaction fee information, then click Agree & Continue.
  2. A pop-up window will open. Log in to your PayPal Business account to review the fee agreement, then click Agree & Pay.

What are PayPal's processing fees?

PayPal’s processing fees may vary by location. Visit PayPal’s documentation for details.

I'm having issues accepting PayPal transactions

If you’re having issues accepting PayPal transactions, reset your PayPal connection by disconnecting and reconnecting it.

My PayPal account was disconnected from my site

If you already accept PayPal and then switch to a plan that requires Squarespace Commerce transaction fees, or add on a subscription pricing plan, we disconnect PayPal from your site. If this happens, reconnect PayPal, and sign the billing agreement to accept Squarespace Commerce transaction fees.

Where will PayPal display as a payment option?

Customers buying your products will find a Continue with PayPal option at checkout. They can log into their PayPal account to complete their purchase.

Do customers need a PayPal account to check out?

Yes. To pay with PayPal, the customer must have a Personal PayPal account. When they select PayPal, they’ll be prompted to log into their account, or create a new one. If you prefer that customers already have a PayPal account, you can set this in your PayPal settings

Is there an order maximum?

Yes. A single PayPal transaction can’t exceed $10,000 USD.

How does PayPal handle disputes?

To learn how PayPal handles disputes, visit their documentation.

Can customers pay with Venmo?

Yes. Customers who check out on mobile will have the option to pay with Venmo if:

  • They enabled mobile web purchases in the Venmo app.
  • They're using a supported mobile browser to shop.

After clicking Continue with PayPal, they'll  find the option to Pay with PayPal or Pay with Venmo. For help enabling mobile web purchases in Venmo, your customers can visit Venmo's documentation.

How can I test PayPal transactions?

To test a PayPal transaction, use a different PayPal account at checkout, and then refund the order. You can’t use the same PayPal Business account connected to your site.

Can I connect multiple sites to my PayPal account?

Yes. You can connect one PayPal Business account to multiple Squarespace sites. However, each Squarespace site can only be connected to one PayPal Business account.

Can I accept transactions in foreign currencies with PayPal?

Yes. Payments made in foreign currencies convert automatically in PayPal, but if you see a hold on one of these payments, you may need to change your PayPal settings to accept them. You can’t refund a payment that's on hold.

Will my Squarespace store inventory sync with the PayPal POS app?

No. Your store inventory won’t sync with the PayPal POS app.

Can I offer subscription, installment, or other recurring payments options through PayPal?

No. You can’t offer recurring or installment payments through Squarespace's integration with PayPal. Customers can only use PayPal for one-time payments on physical products, services, and digital goods.

Disconnect PayPal as a payment method

You can disconnect PayPal at any time. To remove PayPal as a payment method:

  1. Open the Payments Settings panel.
  2. Click Manage underneath PayPal.
  3. Click Disconnect PayPal.

Why can't I withdraw funds from PayPal?

If you can’t withdraw funds, it might be because you’re not Verified with PayPal yet. After you verify your account, you can withdraw funds.

To verify your account:

  1. When you set up your account, you should have received an email from PayPal with “Confirm your email address” in the subject line. Follow the instructions in that email.
  2. After verifying your account from that email, you can withdraw funds from PayPal.

If you can’t find the email, check your Spam or Junk folder. If you already followed these steps, there might be a different issue with your PayPal account. For help, visit PayPal’s guide on getting money out of your account or contact their support team.

Who to contact for support

Squarespace Customer Support can help you with the following PayPal integration questions:

  • Connecting PayPal
  • Issuing refunds
  • Order management
  • Most checkout issues
  • General questions before signing up

For anything else related to PayPal, including declined charges, prohibited products, or required information, please contact PayPal or visit their documentation.

Troubleshoot PayPal error messages

Error message: We're sorry, we weren't able to set up preapproved payments at this time. Please try again later.

This message appears when your PayPal Business account email address is linked to a PayPal Personal account. The Personal account may have a billing agreement saved that shares credit card information with the Billing account. This can cause the connection to fail. To resolve this:

  1. Log into your PayPal Business account.
  2. Click Profile, then click Profile and settings.
  3. Click Update Email on the bottom-left corner of the page.
  4. Locate your personal email and click Remove.

Error message: You do not have permission to add social accounts to this site.

This means there may be an issue with your browser. To resolve this:

  1. Follow these troubleshooting steps to ensure your browser isn't the cause of the issue.
  2. If you still have trouble, contact PayPal.

Error message: Sorry that didn’t work. Please contact Squarespace.

This means there may be an issue with some of your PayPal account settings. To resolve this:

  1. Disconnect and reconnect your PayPal account.
  2. If you still have trouble, try these browser troubleshooting steps.

Error message: Refund Failed - Unable to refund payment.

This means the order is too old to be refunded. It's not possible to process PayPal refunds after 180 days. To refund an order after 180 days, Send Money in PayPal instead.

Error message: Sorry, we can’t complete your purchase at this time. Please return to the merchant and choose another way to pay.

This message appears when an error occurs with the card on file for transaction fees in your PayPal account. To resolve the issue, log into your PayPal Business account and update the credit card, then follow these steps to connect PayPal again. If your credit card is up-to-date and you're still seeing this message, contact PayPal for more help.

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Accept Paypal as a payment method