PayPal offers many options for creating an online checkout experience to get paid for your services or products. At this writing you can still create a PayPal Buy Now button, but it’s considered a legacy feature.

For Squarespace websites, note that you must be paying for at least a Squarespace Business plan to be able to add the custom PayPal button code to your website.

Disclaimer: I'm not a PayPal expert and have only tried creating some basic buttons, but I wanted to share what I know about this option because I think it's helpful for small businesses or non-profits that don't need a powerful online purchasing experience.

You need a free PayPal business account

With a free PayPal business account, it is surprisingly easy to create button code that adds a Buy Now button to your website. Your visitors don't even need a PayPal account to make their purchases; they can pay with a debit or credit card too. As you're setting prices, you'll want to be aware that PayPal makes its money by charging you a fee for each transaction (3.59% and 49 cents for each transaction in the U.S. as of July 2023. For the most current fees, see their website).

Non-profits get a discount on fees

If you are a nonprofit, you should register yourself as a non-profit to get a discounted rate on PayPal fees.

Do you need a PayPal button?

Adding PayPal buttons to your website gives visitors a way to purchase physical or digital products and services with a credit or debit card. Use PayPal buttons sparingly (for just a few items you want to sell) because they are more difficult to maintain and change on your website than if you use eCommerce programs that are built for selling many products. If you already have an online store or are taking online payments through a scheduling program, you don't need to use this technique.

The Buy Now button is the simplest button

If you believe a PayPal button is the right solution for you, read on to learn how to create a Buy Now button with the settings I recommend. This is the simplest button to create.

There are other types of buttons with more features

PayPal seems to be phasing out Buy Now and other legacy buttons, but is introducing new ones. I encourage you to browse through the buttons that are available to you.

Opening the PayPal Button Tools page

You need a free PayPal business account to be able to access the button tools. You can go to the PayPal Buttons page directly or through your Account Settings:

Log in and go directly to your PayPal Buttons page.
According to this article from PayPal, after logging in, you can also click your name in the upper right corner and select Account Settings. Then select Website payments and next to PayPal buttons, click Update.

After logging in, click the type of button you want. This example uses the Buy Now option.

If you don’t see the Buy Now option, it may only be available to businesses who already have saved PayPal buttons from the past. The PayPal Buy Now button and some others are reportedly being discontinued as legacy features.

PayPal button tools — PayPal Button options; some of these are legacy features that are deprecated

Setting up a basic Buy Now button

After clicking Buy Now from the tools page, the Buy Now button window opens with default settings.

PayPal Buy Now button settings — The default Buy Now button settings

Leave everything as you see it, except for adding the product name and price and optionally a Product ID if you have several products using buttons.

PayPal button product name and price — Example of adding a product or service with a price

Click Save and Create Button.

PayPal shows the code generated for the button. The code is unique to this button and will generate a working button on your website. Click Copy Code to copy the code to the clipboard.

PayPal Buy Now button - Copy Code — Copy the button code to the Clipboard; you will paste this in a code block on your website

Adding the PayPal button code to your website

Moving to another browser window with your website editor open, go to the website page and section where you want to add the button.

Add a Code block (on Squarespace, with a Business Plan or higher). If you use another website builder, add the equivalent Code container design element.

Paste the copied PayPal code, replacing any default code that comes with the Code block.

Save the changes.

Copy PayPal button code to your website — Example of a Squarespace code block with the copied PayPal button code

Testing the button

To see if the button worked, log out of PayPal. Log out of your website editor.

Open your website as a visitor would. Go to the page where your button is located and click the button to show the PayPal window.

Pro Tip: When I work with clients, I usually add a test button of a very low-cost amount first. Alternately, you can proceed with a regular purchase to test the button and then refund the purchase after the test. You’ll need to log in to PayPal with another account to complete the transaction (such as a personal account).

Many more complex coding options are available through the PayPal Developer API or Smart Buttons, but creating a Buy Now button may be all you need to offer a few items for sale directly from your website.

[Updated July 29, 2023]

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