Overview to the PayPal Sandbox

The PayPal Sandbox is a self-contained environment within which you can prototype and test PayPal features and APIs. The PayPal Sandbox is an almost identical copy of the live PayPal website. Its purpose is to give developers a shielded environment for testing and integration purposes and to help avoid problems that might occur while testing PayPal integration solutions on the live site. Before moving any PayPal-based application into production, you should test the application in the Sandbox to ensure that it functions as you intend and within the guidelines and standards set forth by the PayPal Developer Network (PDN).

Get Started Quickly: Integration Center

PayPal’s Integration Center at https://www.paypal.com/integration has step-by-step details for getting started with the PayPal Software Development Kits (SDKs), Website Payments Pro, Express Checkout, Website Payments Standard, Authorization & Capture, Instant Payment Notification, and more.

Visit the Integration Center at: https://www.paypal.com/integration

At a Glance: Differences between the Sandbox and Live PayPal

The following table compares the Sandbox and Live PayPal. This is an at-a-glance view of the differences from the perspective of an in-house or third-party developer for a business.

You can also use this table as a checklist.

Table 1.1

Differences between PayPal Sandbox, and Live PayPal

	PayPal Sandbox	Live PayPal Website and API Service
Type of PayPal Accounts	Depending on the feature you want to develop and test, you need a Personal, Business, or Premier account.	Personal, Business, or Premier account
Site logos in upper left corner	https://www.sandbox.paypal.com	https://www.paypal.com
NVP API Servers	https://api.sandbox.paypal.com/nvp/	For API Certificate security: https://api.paypal.com/nvp/ For API Signature security: https://api-3t.paypal.com/nvp/
SOAP API Servers	https://api.sandbox.paypal.com/2.0/	For API Certificate security: https://api.paypal.com/2.0/ For API Signature security: https://api-3t.paypal.com/2.0/
Business roles	You fill all roles you need to test: merchant, buyer, and seller.	Real-world people fill these roles.
Company and people’s names and postal addresses	Completely fictitious. Before you begin working with the Sandbox, create the details for all the business roles you must fulfill. The Sandbox simulates verification of postal addresses and names.	Real companies’ and people’s names and postal addresses.
Email addresses and email inboxes	The Sandbox has a special-purpose email inbox for your testing, contained in the Sandbox itself.	Real email address and inbox for each business role
Bank account and credit card numbers	The Sandbox creates bank accounts, credit card numbers, and CVV2 numbers you need in order to develop and test; all of which are fictitious and only used within the Sandbox. The Sandbox simulates the verification of these numbers. Transactions do not affect real accounts and actual money is never exchanged.	Actual verification of bank account numbers, credit card numbers, and CVV2 numbers
Social Security Number for Billing Agreements	111-nn-nnnn	Real social security numbers
PayPal transactions	The Sandbox creates all fictitious bank accounts, credit card numbers, and CVV2 numbers you need for development and testing. The Sandbox simulates the verification of these numbers.	Live transactions, cleared by live PayPal processes
Fraud detection	Fraud detection is not enabled for the Sandbox.	Full protection through PayPal’s fraud detection
Digital certificates	After you request digital certificates for use with the PayPal Web Services API, the Sandbox automatically generates them. They are available for immediate downloading.	To safeguard your and your customers’ security, requests for digital certificates for use with the Live PayPal Web Services API must be verified by PayPal before they are issued. You are notified in email when your request has been approved.
PayPal Merchant Features supported	All features of the live PayPal website, except closing an account, auction features, monthly statements, shipping preferences, and PayPal Shops.