Change PayPal Subscription - Payment Standard

Question

So, I have fully implemented PayPal in my system. The system runs on custom “packages”, all at set prices. Each user has a subscr_id assigned to them (installed by PayPal), as well as information about the package they bought.

I need to change the subscription so that the user can select a different package. Essentially, I just need to be able to change the quantity and the “custom” field (this contains information about the package, coupons used, etc.).

I would think and hope that it would be easy to show the user a different form with hidden fields for "change", "subscr_id", "custom" (new value) and "amount" (new value), Unfortunately, I can not find anywhere on the Internet, and the PayPal documentation is so monolithic that I am around circles for hours at a time.

My IPN is configured and working fine, I just need to create a form that allows me to set the variables "quantity" and "custom" to something new ... the bit that I thought would be easy! Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

After a short search, hopefully this helps:

https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=developer/e_howto_html_subscribe_buttons#id09A7G0502UI

If you became a PayPal Merchant after October 15, 2009, you can change your customer subscription profile.

As a subscription provider, you can change the customer’s subscription profile on the "Edit Profile" page. Use this page to update customer information, adjust pricing or subscription cycles, and specify how to handle missing or failed payments.

Answer 2

I studied this recently. You can create a “Change Subscription” button to change your subscription information, such as quantity and period. When the user clicks on this button, they log in and see the old subscription data and new subscription data and must approve / save it for it to take effect. One of the main problems is that you can increase the subscription amount by only 20% over a 10-day period.

To create a change subscription button, simply use the regular HTML subscription button with the new required parameters and add the additional parameter “modify = 2” (2 = change only, 1 = change or register).

I also think that the field of the custom variable does not change, even if you change the subscription, but I'm not 100% sure about it.