Not authorized
The Orders v2 API returns a 403 Not Authorized error when the API caller or payee does not have the required permissions to complete the request. Review these common causes, impacts, and resolutions for NOT_AUTHORIZED errors.
If an issue persists or you have further questions, contact PayPal Support.
PAYEE_ACCOUNT_NOT_VERIFIED
| Cause | Impact | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| - The payee skipped PayPal account verification. - The payee ignored account restrictions or limits. - The payee did not verify their email address. | PayPal stops the payment and blocks the transaction. This slows the purchase. | - Tell the payee to check their email, link and confirm a bank account or card, and send required documents. - Remove account restrictions or limits. Resolve any issues or contact PayPal support. - Tell the payee to follow the steps in the PayPal email. |
PAYEE_NOT_CONSENTED
| Cause | Impact | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| - The payee did not give permission to the API caller. - Another account used its info to make the request for the payee - The payee did not agree to let the API caller finish the payment. | - The payee blocks the helper account from processing payments. - Customers cannot finish PayPal payments on the website. | - Enter the payee account in the payee field in the purchase_units object of the Orders API request. Enter correct info and give the API caller permission. - For PayPal Complete Payments, give the API caller consent to collect partner fees for the payee. Add PARTNER_FEE during sign-up. - If you already added permission or this issue persists, contact PayPal support. |
PERMISSION_DENIED
| Cause | Impact | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| - The API caller skipped required permissions. - The PayPal account lacks permission. - The API caller used expired or invalid OAuth access tokens. - The account tries things it is not allowed to do, like a personal account using business tools. - The API caller uses sandbox credentials in a live environment or the other way around. | The payment stops, and the customer cannot finish the order. This can cause lost sales. | - Make sure the resource ID belongs to the PayPal account making the API call. If not, give the right permission. - Use credentials for the correct sandbox or live environment and get it from the PayPal Developer Dashboard. - Ask for the right access when making tokens. - Renew access tokens often and handle token expiration in the PayPal Developer Dashboard. - Use the correct API endpoints for your environment. For sandbox, use https://api.sandbox.paypal.com. For live, use https://api.paypal.com. - Make sure the PayPal account supports the requested API operations. Some features only work for business accounts or special integrations, like payouts. |