Magento includes the option to use the Order payment action for the PayPal Express Checkout payment method. When a store customer submits an order, having paid using the PayPal Express Checkout payment method, for which the Order payment action is set, the funds on the customer’s card are authorized. If the authorization times out before you capture all payment, the authorization is voided, and a new authorization and capture are conducted when you create an invoice. Only the amount equal to the invoice total is authorized and captured. The maximum number of these authorizations for one order, and the periods for which the first authorization and the order in general stay valid, depend on your PayPal merchant account settings. These parameters need to be specified in the Magento Admin Panel as well. Capturing can be done only from the Magento Admin Panel, by creating one or more invoices.

Situations in which using the Order transaction may be appropriate include the following:

• Back orders, in which available items are sent immediately, and the remaining part of the order is sent when available; this may include more than two shipments
• Split orders, in which ordered items are sent in more than one shipment, perhaps to different addresses, and you want to collect a payment for each shipment
• Drop shipments, which are shipments from other vendors for which you accept the payment

Using the Order payment action does not influence the checkout process for store customers.

Payment Action Set to “Order”

When the store customer submits the order, having paid using the PayPal Express Checkout payment method, for which the Order payment action is set, the order (with Processing status) is created in the Admin. Two transactions are created for this order: one with type Order and one with type Authorization.

The funds on the customer’s account are put on hold, and you can capture the payment only from the Admin. To capture, you need to create an online invoice. When you choose to create an online invoice, Magento determines whether the number of days passed from the first authorization exceeds the Order Valid Period value. If more days have passed, you cannot create an online invoice for this order.

If the order is valid, Magento determines whether the first authorization is valid, comparing the number of days passed with the Authorization Honor Period value. If the authorization is valid, the necessary sum is captured; the rest is left on hold, and the number of captures is not limited. If the authorization is not valid anymore, it is voided. A new authorization and capture are created, but for the invoice total (not the order total). From this moment, each time you create an online invoice for this order, a new authorization and capture will be conducted only for invoice totals.

Also, Magento will determine whether the number of the conducted captures is equal to the Number of Child Authorizations value each time. If the number specified there is already reached, creating online invoices for the order will not be possible.