As an eCommerce store owner with a PayPal account, getting everyone the money you owe them can be a bit of a headache. It’s a major time-suck, requires a lot of math, and isn’t a useful activity that grows your business. So, can you split payments automatically on PayPal?
Yes. CollabPay allows Shopify-based eCommerce stores to track and split payments between collaborators automatically. All you need is a Shopify Store with the app installed.
Below, we will give you some more detailed steps on what you need to do to split payments on PayPal.
What you’ll need:
You will need a few things for this process:
- Shopify, Squarespace, or WooCommerce store
- The CollabPay app
Splitting payments on PayPal effortlessly
1. Install the CollabPay app for your Shopify Store
Assuming you’ve already made a Shopify account, you can click the “Get app” button found on the CollabPay Shopify page. The app has handy features that work well when collaborating on different products:
- Automatically tracks split based on the rules you set
- Easily track how different products require different rules
- Automatically sends payouts to collaborators with no effort
- Calculates earnings for you, so you don’t have to
When owning a Shopify store, it’s important for you not to get lost in minor tasks. Automating and outsourcing these tasks is what will let you focus on growing your business. CollabPay automates all payments to those who need a cut of your store earnings.
After installation, CollabPay will begin tracking all of your Collaborators’ earnings.
Follow this tutorial to learn how to add CollabPay on WooCommerce. See the CollabPay WordPress plugin.
2. Invite Collaborators to earn
Next, you’ll want to go back to the top-facing menu and select “Collaborators“. From there, type in the collaborator’s name and their email address.
They will receive an email to create a free CollabPay account. Using this, the collaborator can track how much they have earned and see a breakdown of their orders.
3. Attach the Collaborators to products & set an earning amount
Attaching the Collaborators to the products is easy. Simply:
- Go to your Collaborator
- Click the “Connect to products” button
- Search for your products and assign a cut value
4. Set up automatic payouts (optional)
This isn’t crucial, but it will completely automate your workflow.
If you want, you can just go to your payouts inside CollabPay and mark them as paid. This means you can pay your Collaborators manually and use CollabPay as a calculation tool.
But this is what CollabPay was built for, to automate the payout process, so you don’t need to pay people manually.
To set up automatic payouts, you can two options – PayPal or Stripe.
Step 1 – Establish a PayPal Business account
To access features of PayPal that allow for automatic payouts, you’ll need a business account. PayPal businesses are given access to more features which include enhanced protections
To apply for a business account, you’ll need to go to your account summary. From there, scroll down until you see a briefcase next to the words “Upgrade to a Business account”.
If you don’t have a legal business name, you can enter your personal name. This is a DOA, or “Doing Business As” statement, which just means you are the name of your business.
A business account will also allow you to access necessary features for later steps in this process. Without a business account, you’ll only have access to sandbox tools. This allows you to test advanced features, but you won’t be able to leverage CollabPay fully.
Step 2 – Choose your payout system
Step 3 – If using PayPal, apply for PayPal Payouts
PayPal Payouts is PayPal’s mass payment system. In cases where you own a business that sends multiple monthly payments.
Without it, you won’t be able to send payments automatically via CollabPay. Clicking the “Get Started” found on the PayPal Payouts app page will get you started.
You will need to speak to PayPal support via their message centre in your account. You need to ask permission to get access to PayPal Payouts. This will enable you to use the automatic payouts feature on CollabPay.
Step 4 – Log into your PayPal & connect it with CollabPay
Only follow these next steps if PayPal has given you access to PayPal Payouts.
Next, you’ll need to:
- Go to CollabPay, then go to “Settings“
- Go to “PayPal Payouts“
- Click the “Login with PayPal” button
- Click “Agree and connect“
- Done!
Customise your CollabPay settings
How are discounts, tax & shipping handled?
- Tax: You can allow the commissions to be calculated before or after the tax has been deducted from the total
- Shipping: You can allow the commissions to be calculated before or after the shipping has been deducted from the total
- Discounts: Discounts are removed from the order total by Shopify before it arrives at CollabPay. CollabPay is informed by Shopify how much was removed, so CollabPay displays this on the order page.
Pricing & features:
| Freelancer plan | Startup plan | Business plan |
|---|---|---|
| $9/month | $19/month | £35/month |
| 3 Collaborators/vendors | 12 Collaborators/vendors | Unlimited Collaborators/vendors |
| 3 Payouts per month | Unlimited payouts per month | Unlimited payouts per month |
Video tutorial walkthrough
Wrap up
Payment splitting for eCommerce vendors can be time-consuming when manual. CollabPay allows you to save time and effort to ensure that you can focus on growing your store.
Entry-level sellers can get a 7-day free trial starting with as little as $9 per month. So check out CollabPay for your business today.
