This is basically the same thing as http://drupal.org/node/779820 "Solutions for using WPS and multiple subscription products." but would have to be implemented specifically for WPP and would not work for WPS.

GOAL 1: Support multiple recurring paypal subscriptions in a single order
GOAL 2: Support easy modification of existing subscriptions (adding/editing/removing pieces)

We would be willing to fund/sponsor development of this feature. I have researched what would be required and it sounds like the way to go is to integrate support for "Reference Transactions"...

I've seen a vendor of ours who used this successfully with a custom cart and it is very slick.

Here is what is required to be able to use the feature:

1. A Paypal "Business" account
2. Upgrade to WPP (Paypal Payments PRO)
3. Risk Approval from Paypal for access to "Reference Transactions" feature
4. Support in the cart that allows scenarios like:
a. multiple subscriptions
b. multiple product types
c. removal of pieces of the order while maintaining the subscription (with adjusted recurring fee)
d. addition of new order pieces into the same subscription ID (with adjusted recurring fee)

The "Reference Transactions" API seemed to make these operations fairly straightforward. You are basically reading in the pieces of the order, removing/editing/adding, and then writing out a new order as the subscription. That's my understanding of it anyway. Feedback welcome! :)

Thank you,

Brandon
http://www.shrinktheweb.com

Comments

univate’s picture

univate commented
Priority: Normal » Minor

Sounds fine, although nothing special as those features are already support in gateways like Authorize.net CIM and uc_securepayau

Since the focus on this modules is on the actual recurring payments interface, that is where I am putting my time and energy. If you would like to support a specific gateway the correct place in really in the gateway module. In the case of ubercarts core gateways I am willing to accept patches into this project to get that code accepted/integrated easier. The Paypal code is getting large enough that I would consider it may warrant its own module that lives in contrib.

puravida’s picture

puravida commented

Hi univate,

Thank you for your response and sorry for my ignorance on the best places to post. Are you suggesting that I should post here: http://drupal.org/project/issues/ubercart for this type of request?

Also, I noticed that the Paypal Express Checkout does not support recurring. Is that something that I would post under uc_recurring issues (as a bug) or would that also go under the main ubercart gateway issues (as a feature request)??

Thanks for your assistance!

Brandon

univate’s picture

univate commented

No if you post patches here, I will commit them along with the existing paypal code we have. But as maintainer of this module my interest is in developing the recurring features and less on the individual gateway which I am leaving up to people who are actually using those gateways.

Didn't know Paypal express supported recurring payment.

puravida’s picture

puravida commented

@univate

Upon closer inspection, I believe that Paypal Express Checkout does not support recurring. Since you mentioned it, I ran a test and do not see that ability. I was actually looking at WPS, so I have updated a related ticket with some notes and a request.

Thanks for your insight.

-The Brandon

univate’s picture

univate commented
Status: Active » Fixed

Status: Fixed » Closed (fixed)

Automatically closed -- issue fixed for 2 weeks with no activity.

puravida’s picture

puravida commented
Priority: Minor » Normal
Status: Closed (fixed) » Active

Just opening this because it was never really clarified by myself. Now I have more information.

For WPS to become usable for us, it would need to support multiple recurring in a single order. However, we are told that the PP API doesn't allow for this. Instead, the only way around it is to use "reference transactions", which come only by way of WPP.

So, unless "reference transactions" are supported for WPS, it sounds like WPS will never become a viable option for us --aside from coding some sort of hard block and forcing users to remove all but 1 recurring before checking out.

univate’s picture

univate commented
Priority: Normal » Minor

The reality is Paypal provides very restrictive options in its products. Not to mention all the horror stories I've heard of people losing large amounts of money. I personally would not recommend them for anything other then very basic sites with low turnovers.

There may be hacks we can try to overcome some issues (like combining recurring fees together) but this would have to be the lowest priority for me. Its just far more pleasant working with gateways that don't restrict you in these ways.

myregistration’s picture

myregistration commented

I am using the PayPal gateway and would like to use Reference Transactions. I would like to allow customers to optionally store their credit cards accounts to be used for future checkouts and processed via Reference Transactions while being PCI compliant.