Valentina Akpan: Founder, Rellatech. Admin and technical virtual assistant for businesses and startups with teams.
PayPal is the payment method most Keap owners already have set up somewhere else, so plugging it into Keap looks like a five-minute job. It is not. The default settings send confusing receipts, skip the tag that fires your fulfillment automation, and quietly double-charge people who click twice.
Here is the setup I use on every Keap account that takes PayPal.
Before you start
- ●You need a PayPal Business account, not personal
- ●You need admin access to Keap and access to the PayPal API credentials
- ●Decide up front whether PayPal is your only processor or a second option next to Stripe or WePay. The setup differs
Step 1: Connect PayPal inside Keap
- ●In Keap, go to E-commerce > Payment Processing
- ●Click 'Add New Merchant Account' and pick PayPal
- ●Choose PayPal Smart Payment Buttons if you are on Keap Pro or Max, or PayPal Payments Pro if you are on Keap Max Classic and need hosted forms
- ●Paste your PayPal API username, password, and signature (Max Classic) or complete the OAuth handoff (Pro and Max)
Step 2: Set the right currency and country
Keap will default to the currency of your primary merchant. If you sell in USD and CAD, add PayPal twice, once per currency, and give each connection a clear name like 'PayPal USD' and 'PayPal CAD'. Order forms let you pick which one to use.
Step 3: Fix the receipt
- ●PayPal sends its own receipt by default. So does Keap. Customers get two receipts and it looks unprofessional
- ●In PayPal, turn off 'Merchant Notification' for order confirmations and let Keap handle the receipt
- ●In Keap, edit the default receipt email under E-commerce > Settings > Orders so it includes your business name, tax info, and the order line items
Step 4: Add the tag that fires your fulfillment
This is the step most people forget. A PayPal purchase goes through a different action set than a Stripe purchase in Max Classic. Open your product, click 'Action Sets', and confirm that every payment method applies the same tag (for example 'Purchased: Course A'). If the tag is only on the Stripe path, PayPal buyers never enter your onboarding campaign.
Every Keap account I audit has at least one broken fulfillment path where the tag was added on one payment method and forgotten on the other. Test both.
Step 5: Turn on IPN and test
- ●In your PayPal profile, enable Instant Payment Notifications (IPN) and point them to the Keap IPN URL Keap provides
- ●Run a live one-dollar test purchase using a real PayPal account, not the sandbox, unless you have a reason to sandbox
- ●Confirm three things: the contact is created in Keap, the order shows up under the contact, and the fulfillment tag is applied
- ●Refund the test through PayPal and check that Keap marks the order refunded
What breaks after go-live
- ●Someone changes the PayPal password and forgets to update Keap. Orders start failing silently
- ●A new product is created and 'Apply tag on payment' is not copied from the template. Fulfillment stops for that product
- ●PayPal changes API endpoints and old signature-based Max Classic connections stop working. Migrate to a token-based method when Keap supports it
FAQ
Work with Rellatech
Keap and Infusionsoft (Keap Max Classic) work is a regular part of what I do. If any of the above sounds like your account, a short call is the fastest way to see whether it's a fit. Scope and pricing live on the Keap & Infusionsoft Consultant service page.
Contact MeNot ready for a call? Take the free operations assessment and I will send you a written breakdown within 24 hours.
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