Not authorized

When your authorization fails due to permissions issues, you might encounter these problems.

Note: If an issue continues or if you have questions, contact paypal-techsupport.com.

PAYEE_ACCOUNT_NOT_VERIFIED
This appears when processing payments.

Cause
Your PayPal account hasn't been verified, which is needed to process payments. This could be because: Your account has restrictions, you haven't verified your email address with PayPal, or your account needs further verification.

Impact
The payment gets declined and doesn't process. This can delay completing sales.

Resolution
Verify your PayPal account by confirming your email address, connecting and confirming a bank account or credit card, and providing any required ID documents. Check if your account has any restrictions and fix them. Make sure your email address is verified with PayPal by checking your inbox for a verification message and following the instructions.

PAYEE_NOT_CONSENTED

Cause
The account making the request doesn't have permission from your account to process the payment. This happens when a different account tries to process payments on your behalf without proper permissions.

Impact
The other account can't process payments for your business until you give permission. Without this, you may lose customers trying to complete PayPal transactions on your website.

Resolution
Make sure the correct account information is being used and that you've given proper permissions to any partner helping with your payments. For PayPal Complete Payments merchants, ensure you've given consent for partners to collect fees. When setting up, make sure to include PARTNER_FEE permissions during the sign-up flow. If you've already done this but still have problems, contact PayPal support.

PERMISSION_DENIED
This appears when processing payments.

Cause
The PayPal system shows this error when your account doesn't have the right permissions for the payment action. This might happen because: Your account lacks necessary permissions, your login credentials are expired or invalid, you're trying to do something not allowed for your account type (like using personal account features meant for business accounts), or you're using test account information in the live environment (or vice versa).

Impact
The payment stops, preventing your customer from completing their purchase. This can result in lost sales if not fixed quickly.

Resolution
Make sure you own the payment account or have proper permissions if working with a partner. Check that your login credentials are correct and current. Verify you have the right permissions for your PayPal account. Renew any expired login tokens. Use the correct payment processing links (test links for testing, live links for real sales). Confirm your account type supports the features you're trying to use - some features only work with business accounts.