These are techniques you can use to test the checkout process on your website.
PayPal Sandbox
We will use the PayPal SandBox for testing. This is a test server provided by PayPal which mimics the payment process without creating any real financial transactions.
To use it you must first log in to the PayPal Sandbox on the same computer as you are going to be testing from. You do this by going to the URL http://developer.paypal.com/ .
(If you haven't done so, sign up. Make your password the same throughout so you an remember it( in our example mypassword). make a note of the account login and password. Paypal will assign you two other accounts - a Business (you act as a seller) and a Personal account (you act as a buyer) for testing. Susbtitute the personal one in the example below)
When prompted use the Paypal login for testing (these are fictional values:
This will keep you registered for a certain length of time, I think about 20 minutes or so.
Checking Out
After adding items to your basket go to the check out page and make sure the Billing and Delivery addresses are present. Then click the 'Place Order' button.
You will be transferred to PayPal to complete the trasnaction. Note the PayPal Sandbox logo at the top of the screen. This means no money will change hands.
Pay the bill using the account, paypal_personal@mydomain.co.uk and the password, mypassword.
You will be returned to the Checkout page with a message about the order you have just placed.
Order Processing
Go to the Order Processing page and you will find the order you have just placed.