403 Not Authorized error when the API caller or the payee does not have permission. Review the common causes and how to fix them.
If an issue persists or you have further questions, contact PayPal Support.
PAYEE_ACCOUNT_NOT_VERIFIED
| Cause | Impact | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| - The payee did not verify their PayPal account. - 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. - Help them remove account restrictions or limits. Have them 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 doesn’t have the permission you need. - 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 the wrong sandbox login info 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 login info 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. |