FAQ for the PayPal Storefront Widget
Q: When I click the "Create new storefront" button, all I see is a blank page.
A: One common reason for this problem is when the latest version of Flash is not installed. Please go to the following Adobe webpage to verify whether or not you have Flash properly installed in your browser: http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/welcome/.
Q: How do I add my first product to my storefront?
A: To make it easier to add your first product to sell, we provide a sample item for you to modify. Simply modify the fields in the "Details" and "Inventory" tabs of the sample item with your product's information (see RED box below).
Q: How do I add subsequent products to my storefront?
A: To add subsequent products, simply click the "+" button (see GREEN box below). Doing so will make a copy of your previously selected product so all you need to do is modify the fields in the "Details" and "Inventory" tabs with the new product's information.
Q: How do I add a picture of my product?
A: We do not currently host photos, so you will need to provide a URL to a web location where your image resides (i.e. Photobucket, Flickr, your own web server, etc). Paste the web location into the "Picture of product" textbox and then click the "arrow" button (see RED box below). If you store your photos on a image hosting site like Photobucket, Flickr, etc, make sure that the URL you are using passes back just your image and NOT a webpage. To get the URL for just the image, you may need to do the following:
  1. Go to the Photobucket/Flickr/Picasa/etc webpage that contains your image
  2. Right-Click on the image
  3. If you are using Firefox
    1. Select "Copy Image Location"
    2. This will give you the actual Image URL to use for your product/logo image in the PayPal Widget
  4. If you are using IE
    1. Select "Properties"
    2. There is a field called "Address URL" where the value contains the actual Image URL to use for your product/logo image in the PayPal Widget
Q: I am having trouble loading my product photo which resides on Photobucket/Flickr/Picasa/etc.
A: Please ensure that the URL you are using passes back just your image and NOT a Photobucket/Flickr/Picasa/etc webpage. To get the URL for just the image, you may need to do the following:
  1. Go to the Photobucket/Flickr/Picasa/etc webpage that contains your image
  2. Right-Click on the image
  3. If you are using Firefox
    1. Select "Copy Image Location"
    2. This will give you the actual Image URL to use for your product/logo image in the PayPal Widget
  4. If you are using IE
    1. Select "Properties"
    2. There is a field called "Address URL" where the value contains the actual Image URL to use for your product/logo image in the PayPal Widget
Q: How do I remove a product from my storefront?
A: To remove a product, first select the product you wish to remove in the area outlined in BLUE (see BLUE box below) and then click the "-" button (see GREEN box below). Doing so will mark your product for deletion. If you mistakenly chose to remove the product, you can restore the product by clicking on the photo of the product. The permanent removal of your product will occur when you publish/update your store in Step 2.

Q: How do I use the product options?
A: Options give you the flexibility to sell items with multiple parameters, without creating a separate item in the storefront for each parameter. For instance, if you sell t-shirts, you may assign up to 2 options to your t-shirts: size and color. You will define the inventory for the t-shirts by size and color. By default, the storefront assumes that you have 0 inventory. If your inventory is unlimited, select the infinity sign.

You also have the ability to apply a surcharge to the item options, for instance, size XXL t-shirts may be priced higher than other sizes.
     

Q: What currencies are supported with the storefront?
A: You must specify a currency for your storefront, and 17 currencies are supported:
  • Canadian Dollars
  • Euros
  • Pounds Sterling
  • U.S. Dollars
  • Yen
  • Australian Dollars
  • New Zealand Dollars
  • Swiss Francs
  • Hong Kong Dollars
  • Singapore Dollars
  • Swedish Kronor
  • Danish Kroner
  • Polish Zloty
  • Norwegian Kroner
  • Hungarian Forint
  • Czech Koruna
Q: What are customer reviews?
A: Your customers may rate their buying experience and review your storefront, assigning stars and adding comments. Customers must provide a unique invoice ID, which is provided in the buyer's purchase confirmation email from PayPal, in order to enter a review.
Q: How do I publish my storefront to my personal website or TypePad blog?
A: If you are creating a new storefront, in "Step 2 - Publish your storefront" you are given the choice of auto-inserting into TypePad OR grabbing the HTML to manually paste into your blog:
If you are editing an existing storefront that you have published in the past, in "Step 2 - Update your storefront" you simply need to click the "Update Storefront" button and your previously published storefront will automatically be updated to reflect your latest edits.
If you are editing an existing storefront that you have NOT published in the past, in "Step 2 - Update your storefront" you will need to click on the "re-publish your storefront" link which will then display a page where you are given the choice of auto-inserting into TypePad OR grabbing the HTML to manually paste into your blog:
Q: When I publish my storefront to TypePad, it doesn't fit in my sidebar. How do I re-size my storefront to fit in the sidebar?
A: Currently the PayPal Storefront Widget is not able to be re-sized. However, there is one of two things you can do to get the widget to fit in your TypePad blog:
  1. TypePad created a theme/template specifically to fit our storefront widget which you can switch to. It is called the Asterisk Wide theme.
  2. TypePad has provided documentation on how you can manually re-size the width of your column by using custom CSS. Please see the documentation on TypePad's Support Knowledge Base
Q: Where is the html on my clipboard?
A: Your clipboard is a virtual area where content is stored when a "copy" action occurs. When you choose the "Just provide the HTML and I'll publish it myself" option in "Step 2", we automatically perform the "copy" action for you which places the HTML into the virtual clipboard. To paste the contents of your clipboard, simply press "ctrl-V" if you are using Windows or "command-V" if you are using a Mac.
Q: When do I need to update my storefront?
A: You will need to update your storefront in "Step 2 - Update your storefront" whenever you are ready to have your modifications (i.e. adding or removing products, changing inventory quantities, updating photos, etc) reflected on your published storefront.

If you are not ready to have your modifications reflected on your published storefront and would like to continue editing at a later time, your changes will be automatically saved so that you don't lose your work. Once you are ready to have your modifications reflected on your published storefront, you will need to update your storefront in "Step 2 - Update your storefront."

Q: How do you control the shipping charges on the storefront?
A: The storefront widget does not currently calculate shipping costs, but this is a feature that we are considering for a later revision of the widget. In the meantime, we suggest that you list items at a price that includes shipping costs. You can make buyers aware of this ahead of time by placing the information into your Store Policies page under Shipping Information.
Q: How can I temporarily close my store if I am unavailable to ship items?
A: To temporarily close your store, you can configure the setting in Step 1, "Store open or closed". You have the option to accept orders while your store is closed.
Q: How do I delete my storefront?
A: Deleting a storefront is not yet supported. Instead, if you do not want to display your storefront, you can:
  • Delete the storefront HTML code from your page
  • For TypePad bloggers, you can remove the widget from display
Q: Is the storefront supported on MySpace and Facebook?
A: The storefront widget is supported on Myspace but it is currently not supported on Facebook.