PayPal is the safest way to send money, online payments, receive money, or set up your merchant account. There are two types of PayPal accounts — Standard and PayPal Express Checkout. Don’t get confused though. Shopify only integrates with PayPal Express. Regardless, we’ve prepared a PayPal comparison to differentiate the two.

What is PayPal Express Checkout?

PayPal Express Checkout is developed for online sellers. It provides convenience for shoppers whenever they buy goods or services because they won’t be needing input their shipping and billing information every time they checkout on Shopify or an e-commerce store. 

With this, the shopper’s personal information and payment details will be stored securely in the online shop. It’s also an advantage for online businesses as this makes online shopping more seamless easier.

Comparison: PayPal Standard vs PayPal Express

PayPal Standard

PayPal Standard transactions are processed on PayPal’s website and allow buyers to pay thru their PayPal balance or credit card. From your checkout page, it will be sent to PayPal and a standard transaction fee will be charged for these expenses, which is usually 2.9% + USD0.30 per transaction. After completing the PayPal Checkout, customers are redirected back to your site. Volume discounts are also given to buyers who processed over USD3000 in transactions with PayPal every month.

Checkouts are completed on PayPal’s website. With the standard type, online sellers rely on PayPal’s notification for payment success and failure using the Instant Payment Notification (IPN). The use of IPN can sometimes be defective, wherein orders are not being completed correctly on your store, making it a shortcoming of using PayPal Standard.

PayPal Express Checkout

PayPal Express is almost the same as PayPal Standard — a 2.9% + USD0.30 per transaction will also be charged with no setup or termination fees. The difference between PayPal Express and PayPal Standard is the checkout flow.

PayPal Express evades the IPN issues that are common with PayPal Standard. Shoppers will be directed to the payment gateway from your e-commerce or Shopify website, although the checkout is not completed on Paypal’s site. Shoppers confirm the purchase at PayPal, then get redirected back to your site with a token.

This token is only used by your site to make the final payment to PayPal itself. When a customer finishes placing an order it directs the token back to PayPal together with the final order details.

Paypal Express is a more reliable payment method than PayPal Standard. The checkout is completed on your e-commerce site, then the payment is processed on PayPal’s servers once the token is brought back to PayPal.

Need help setting up and integrating your PayPal Business Account for Shopify?  Contact us to get started.