PayPal approval for upsells

If your customers pay with PayPal but never see your post-purchase offers, this article is for you.

Shopify only shows post-purchase offers to PayPal customers if your PayPal account is approved for Automatic Payments (also called Reference Transactions).

Why PayPal needs a special approval

When a customer accepts a post-purchase offer, they are charged with one click, without re-entering payment details. For PayPal to allow this follow-up charge, your account needs permission to run so-called reference transactions. Shopify requests this approval from PayPal on your behalf. You cannot apply for it manually inside PayPal.

Your customers will not notice anything unusual: the approval works in the background, and there is no extra consent screen added to your checkout.

Step 1: Make sure PayPal is set up correctly

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Payments.
2. In the PayPal section, make sure PayPal is connected and your PayPal account is fully verified (business account, email confirmed, bank account linked).

Step 2: Set your post-purchase app

1. Go to Settings > Checkout.
2. Scroll to the Post-purchase page section.
3. Select Post Purchase Upsell Hero and click Save.

That is all you have to do in this step. As soon as Shopify detects an app that charges customers automatically, it sends the Automatic Payments request to PayPal for you. There is no separate form to fill out.

Step 3: Check your approval status

1. Go to Settings > Payments.
2. In the PayPal section, click Manage.
3. Look for the Automatic Payments line:

• Approved: you are done. PayPal customers now see your post-purchase offers.
• Pending: Shopify has sent the request and PayPal is reviewing it. This usually resolves within a few business days.
• Not approved / no status: see the next step.

Step 4: If you are not approved

PayPal reviews every account before granting Automatic Payments. Newer accounts or accounts with a chargeback history are sometimes declined. If your status stays on Pending for more than a week, or you were declined:

• Contact PayPal Merchant Support directly and ask about the status of your Reference Transactions / Automatic Payments request.
• Make sure your PayPal business account is fully set up. Incomplete verification is the most common reason requests stall.
• If PayPal confirms the approval but offers still do not show, contact Shopify Support to confirm the approval is reflected on Shopify's side.

ℹ️ Note: this applies to regular PayPal payments in the checkout. Orders paid via the PayPal Express button do not show post-purchase offers at all. See Which payment methods show upsells?.

Related articles

• Which payment methods show upsells?
• Setup guide: from install to first funnel