I'm wondering if it's possible to add a shipping cost to a Monthly Payment Plan. I'm using the PayPal API NVP and I have it working successfully for the Buyitnow button. I know this Website Standards HTML Variables page states that the shipping is only available for the Buyitnow and Addtocart buttons. Go to the developer site of PayPal and append the URL. I don't have enough points to submit a URL yet.
/webapps/developer/docs/classic/paypal-payments-standard/integration-guide/Appx_websitestandard_htmlvariables/#id08A6HI00JQU
But the PayPal API NVP page has a different variable:
L_OPTIONnSHIPPINGAMOUNTx - (Optional) The shipping amount to bill for the cycle, in addition to the base amount. It is a list of variables for each OPTION0NAME, in which x is a digit between 0 and 4, inclusive
The option variables work such as:
OPTION0NAME="Standard Package Services"
L_OPTION0SELECT0="3 Monthly Payments"
OPTION0TYPE="EMI"
L_OPTION0AMOUNT0="897"
L_OPTION0BILLINGFREQUENCY0="1"
L_OPTION0BILLINGPERIOD0="Month"
L_OPTION0TOTALBILLINGCYCLES0="3"
All the above options work but the shipping variable "L_OPTION0SHIPPINGAMOUNT0" does not work. Why does it not work?
L_OPTION0SHIPPINGAMOUNT0="19"
Here is the PayPal API NVP doc page. Append the URL to the developer PayPal site:
/webapps/developer/docs/classic/api/button-manager/BMCreateButton_API_Operation_NVP/
The PayPal API NVP doc does not state if the shipping option (L_OPTIONnSHIPPINGAMOUNTx) is only available for the Buyitnow and Addtocart buttons though. Can it work for the PaymentPlan buttons too?
I hope someone knows the answer here too though. I've posted to http://paypal.com/mts and created a ticket.
You could use the Express Checkout API and include the shipping parameters available in the CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile request.
If you're working with PHP you may want to check out my class library for PayPal. It would make setting up Express Checkout with recurring payments very quick and easy for you.