PayPal Hacks (Paperback)

~ (Author), Dave Nielsen (Author), Dave Burchell (Author)
Key Phrases: web services, payment buttons, button factory, Shopping Cart, Account Management, Request Money (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

If you've bought or sold items through eBay, or through hundreds of other online sites, then you're familiar with PayPal, the online payment service. With PayPal, a valid email address, and a credit card or bank account, you can easily send and receive payments online. Not a bank or financial institution itself, PayPal describes its service as one that builds on the financial infrastructure of bank accounts and credit cards, and using advanced propriety fraud prevention systems, creates a safe, global, real-time payment solution. Put simply, PayPal provides the means for people to conduct financial transactions online, instantly and securely.

But there's more to PayPal than meets the eye. PayPal Hacks shows you how to make the most of PayPal to get the most out of your online business or transactions. Authors Shannon Sofield of Payloadz.com and PayPal evangelist David Nielsen guide you through the rigors of using and developing with PayPal. Whether you're building an ecommerce site using PayPal as a transaction provider, or simply trying to pay for an eBay auction without getting burned, PayPal Hacks will give you the skinny on this leading global online payment service.

The collection of tips and tricks in PayPal Hacks shows you how to find or even build the right tools for using PayPal to buy and sell on eBay or as a transaction provider for ecommerce on your own site. Written for all PayPal users, from those just starting out to those developing sophisticated ecommerce sites, this book begins with the basics such as setting up your account, then moves quickly into specific tips and tools for buyers, sellers, and developers.

With PayPal Hacks, you can:
Learn extra steps to help protect yourself while buying or selling on eBay
Save time and money with advanced tips and undocumented features
Learn dozens of easy-to-follow procedures to help you request and receive payments and fill orders
Use PayPal to handle subscriptions, affiliate systems, and donations
Create and customize your customers checkout process
Effortlessly integrate PayPal s shopping cart system into your own website
Implement digital fulfillment with Instant Payment
Notification (IPN) and Payment Data Transfer (PDT)
Develop and distribute ecommerce applications with the
PayPal API

Each hack consists of a task to be accomplished or a creative solution to a problem, presented in a clear, logical, and task-oriented format. PayPal Hacks provides the tools and details necessary to make PayPal more profitable, more flexible, and more convenient.

About the Author

Shannon Sofield began creating PayPal solutions more than 3 years ago, using his original database-driven PayPal purchase system that integrated with Macromedia Dreamweaver UltraDev. Since then, he's implemented unique fixes for common e-commerce problems using PayPal. Shannon has also written several tutorials and articles, as well as spoken on the topic of using PayPal

Nielsen is a Technical Evangelist within the PayPal Developer Network, a member of SDForum's Executive Council, and the founder of the Web Services SIG of Silicon Valley.

Burchell got his start with computers by programming the Radio Shack TRS-80 in BASIC and the Commodore 64 in 6510 assembly. Currently, his favorite programming languages are Perl and XSLT.

Product Details

• Paperback: 343 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1st edition (September 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596007515
• ISBN-13: 978-0596007515
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #690,472 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This item is part of The O'Reilly Hacks Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you need to know to work with PayPal, December 27, 2004

By	Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is basically a book on how to get the most out of PayPal. Whether you are trying to make a purchase, sell and item, or setup a complete e-Commerce solution based on PayPal you will find the information on how to do it here. Some of the information in the book includes how to create an account, what to do when you forget your password, how to get things fixed if your account has been limited, how to pay from a cell phone, dispute a payment, receive money, upgrade your account, lower seller fees, hack-proof your payment buttons, and even encryption. It even has information on the PayPal webservices API and putting a PayPal payment button in an email.

This is an excellent and detailed course on how to use the intricacies of PayPal. PayPal Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools is highly recommended to everyone who shops or sells on the Internet as well as anyone who programs sites to use PayPal.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For small merchant operations, September 16, 2004

By	W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Paypal has been one of the few successful ideas on the Web. Ranking with Amazon, eBay and Yahoo. So much so that eBay bought Paypal in its entirety a few years ago.

Since then, as the authors show in several hacks, Paypal is now deeply embedded into eBay as a very convenient payment scheme. A few hacks show how to use Paypal from the standpoint of a single user.

But a broader lesson of this book is that the integration of Paypal into eBay is by no means exclusive. If you maintain your own website and want to sell items on it, that have absolutely nothing to do with auctions, then many hacks discuss how to use Paypal to facilitate this. Including integrating third party shopping carts with it. Indeed, there is an entire chapter devoted to these tasks.

Also, the authors describe how even if you are competing in the online auction space with eBay, you can still use Paypal. It appears that eBay is going to careful lengths to have Paypal treat its merchants equally. Certainly, the authors point out that Paypal is used with eBay's main competitors' auctions, like uBid, Yahoo and Amazon. Reassuring if you have a small operation and are contemplating Paypal.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful for all kinds of PayPal developers, September 23, 2004

By	Angela M. Hey (Portola Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I create websites as a volunteer for a few small groups. Enhancing a website by adding a PayPal button, can save time in collecting dues and event payments. You can add a simple button using PayPal's online tools, but if you want to do more this book can tell you how to do it. Code samples are supplied in HTML, VBScript, ActionScript, C#, JavaScript and more. It covers security using OpenSSL.

Like the other O'Reilly Hacks books, pushpins and screws mark tips and warnings, respectively. These marks enhance the clarity of the writing, which is already lucid and concise.

Thermometer icons indicate the difficulty of a Hack. Easy Hacks include (a) Quick-Link to Transaction Details (b) Custom Designed Buttons (c) Sending money to someone with an account without setting up one for the sender. Moderate Hacks include (a) Tracking website visitors (b) Receive Instant Payment Notification (IPN) (c) Insert Payment Details into A Database.
Advanced Hacks cover (a) Refunding a Payment without Logging Into the PayPal site (b) Issue Payments En Masse Using the PayPal API (c) Pay Affiliates and Suppliers on a Schedule.

These and 91 other little tricks can make PayPal a really productive environment for collecting and processing payments. The book helps you navigate PayPal's website, telling you where to find scripts and code.

Some of the Hacks are for PayPal users. It shows how to create an account and verify it. I have met many online shoppers who have found the PayPal user experience frustrating and this book can help them. The book goes beyond a mere programmer's guide, it offers solid business advice. For example, it explains how the PayPal Mastercard debit card can be used.

Advanced programmers won't need the easy tricks. They can find .NET Hacks that add PayPal functionality to Windows DLLs, not just websites. There is even a Hack for Dreamweaver, Adobe's web development tool.

I like the book because even a novice PayPal Hacker can find value in this thorough and comprehensive reference book.