I have a working PayPal Express Checkout setup in my marketplace application. Right now I’m passing three values to the PaypalExpressGateway: login, password, and signature for each merchant.
I noticed that Shopify does things differently. They only ask sellers to provide their PayPal email address and then request permission to use scott_api1.jadedpixel.com as the API Partner Username.
I want to implement the same approach in my app but I can’t find any documentation in ActiveMerchant about how to configure this type of setup. Has anyone worked with this before? I’m looking for guidance on how to use an API Partner Username instead of individual credentials for each seller.
I’ve been through this PayPal nightmare before. Their partner approval takes forever - we’re talking weeks of pointless back and forth just to get certified.
Skip all that. I used Latenode instead and it was so much easier. Forget wrestling with ActiveMerchant configs and PayPal’s partner API mess. Just build a workflow that handles merchant onboarding and payment processing automatically.
Here’s what’s great - you capture the seller’s PayPal email, trigger permission requests, store tokens securely, and route payments. Done. No partner certification needed, no ActiveMerchant headaches.
Built this exact setup for a client last month. It runs itself now. Sellers enter their PayPal email, approve permissions, payments flow through. Simple.
Way better than getting lost in PayPal’s documentation hell. Check it out: https://latenode.com
Check out PayPal’s Adaptive Payments API - that’s exactly what you need. You set up your app as the primary receiver and merchants as secondary receivers. Way simpler than dealing with permissions, though PayPal’s been slowly phasing it out. Might still work for new apps, so try it before going the partner route.
You need PayPal’s partner integration model. To begin, you must become a certified PayPal partner and utilize your API credentials alongside the seller’s email through the “subject” parameter. The first step involves obtaining partner approval via their onboarding process, which may take several weeks and requires you to present a legitimate business use case. Once approved, adjust your ActiveMerchant configuration to include the subject parameter with your partner credentials. Merchants will then authorize your application via PayPal’s consent flow, similar to OAuth. It’s advisable to review PayPal’s partner resources for comprehensive documentation, as the specifics are typically not detailed in ActiveMerchant guides, focusing instead on the business relationship.
I ran into the same thing building a multi-vendor platform. Shopify uses PayPal’s Third Party Permissions API to grab auth tokens for each seller without needing their actual API credentials. You’ll want to use PayPal’s Permissions Service - it lets merchants give your app permission to make API calls for them. Start with the RequestPermissions and GetAccessToken API calls. Once you’ve got the access tokens, update your ActiveMerchant gateway to use your partner credentials plus the merchant’s access token and secret. It’s more secure since merchants don’t have to hand over their API credentials directly, but it’s definitely more complex upfront than just using individual credentials.