Configure your store's payment methods

How to enable Stripe, PayPal, and manual payments, and write the instructions customers see on manual orders

The Payment Gateways tab under Store Configuration is the one place where you decide how customers pay on your store. From this screen you flip online payments on or off store-wide, enable Stripe and PayPal individually, switch either from Test mode to Live mode, and write the instructions shoppers see when they pick a manual (offline) payment method like bank transfer. A fresh-launch setup takes about 15 minutes once you have your Stripe or PayPal account keys in hand.

What is this for?

The Payment Gateways panel is your checkout-payment configuration screen. Its job is to hold the credentials and toggles for every way customers can pay on your store. You reach for it when you are setting up payments for the first time, when you are moving from Test to Live mode before launch day, when you are adding a second payment option alongside your existing one, and whenever you update the wording of your manual-payment instructions (for example, when your bank account changes).

When you save on this screen, the changes are live on the next shopper's trip through checkout.

Good use cases

Example 1: Launch-day Stripe setup. Your store is going live tomorrow and you are selling the Canvas Tote Bag, Brand Book, T-Shirt, and Sticker Pack. Open Payment Gateways, flip Enable Online Gateways on, flip Enable Stripe on, leave Mode on Test while you confirm the flow, paste your Stripe test publishable and secret keys, copy the Webhook URL shown on screen into your Stripe test webhook configuration, paste the webhook signing secret back into Webhook Secret (test), and save. Run a test purchase on the Sticker Pack with a Stripe test card — the order appears in your Orders list and in your Stripe dashboard. When you are ready to go live, flip Mode to Live, paste your live keys, add a matching live webhook in your Stripe dashboard, paste that signing secret into Webhook Secret (live), and save.

Example 2: A small shop taking bank transfers only. Your workshop only accepts bank transfers for now — no card payments. Flip Enable Online Gateways off. Paste your bank details into Manual Payment Instructions. Save. Every checkout now shows "Bank Transfer" as the only payment option, and every order confirmation email includes those instructions so customers know how to pay.

Example 3: Adding PayPal alongside an existing Stripe setup. Customers keep asking for PayPal as an alternative to cards. Keep Enable Stripe on and flip Enable PayPal on as well. Paste your PayPal Sandbox client ID and secret, leave Mode on Sandbox while you run a test order. Once the test goes through, flip PayPal Mode to Live, paste your live client ID and secret, and save. Checkouts now show Card (Stripe) and PayPal as side-by-side options; shoppers pick whichever they prefer.

Example 4: Pausing Stripe to switch API accounts. Your business is changing Stripe accounts. Flip Enable Stripe off temporarily so nobody pays to the old account during the migration. Orders during this window fall back to manual payment (make sure your Manual Payment Instructions include interim bank details). Once the new Stripe account is set up, paste the new keys and flip Stripe back on.

What NOT to use this for

• Do not use the Payment Gateways panel to process a refund or look up a past transaction. Refunds and transaction history live in Store Management → Orders. This panel is configuration only.
• Do not paste your Stripe Live keys while Mode is still Test. Live keys only activate when Mode is flipped to Live. Pasting them while on Test is safe (they are stored, they just do not fire), but it also means you will not catch a typo in your live keys until you flip modes.
• Do not leave the manual-payment instructions empty if you are disabling online gateways. Shoppers will see "manual payment" as the only option with no guidance on how to pay. Always fill in your bank details, cheque instructions, or pickup/cash-on-delivery terms before switching off online gateways.
• Do not treat the Webhook URL field as editable. It is generated for your store; copy it into Stripe's dashboard as-is. Typing a different URL there does nothing useful.

How this connects to other features

• Your public checkout — Stripe, PayPal, and manual payment appear as shopper-selectable options at /checkout based on which toggles are on here. If no method is enabled, /checkout shows an "online payment is unavailable" notice.
• Orders — every order records which payment method was used (Stripe / PayPal / Manual). The Manual Payment Instructions text is copied into the order-confirmation email so customers have your bank details after they close the checkout.
• Webhooks and your Stripe dashboard — Stripe sends webhook events (payment succeeded, refunded, disputed) to the Webhook URL shown here. You need to configure that URL in your Stripe dashboard once, paste back the signing secret, and save.
• General store settings — the Require Login for Checkout setting in the General tab controls whether shoppers must sign in before checkout. Payment configuration applies regardless of whether they are signed in.

Before you start

• You are signed in to SGEN as an Administrator or Site Owner.
• For Stripe: you have a Stripe account with test keys and (for launch) live keys. Your test keys are in your Stripe dashboard under Developers → API keys with Test mode selected.
• For PayPal: you have PayPal Sandbox and (for launch) Live developer apps created at developer.paypal.com, with their Client ID and Secret.
• For manual payments: you have the exact wording of your bank or payment instructions ready to paste.

Where to go

1. Open the left navigation in your SGEN admin.
2. Click Store Management → Configuration → Payment (or open /sg-admin/ecommerce/configuration/payment directly).
3. The Payment Gateways panel loads with three cards: Payment System, Stripe, PayPal.

Steps — Payment System

1. Flip the master Online Gateways switch

The Enable Online Gateways toggle at the top is the master switch for Stripe and PayPal together. With it off, neither Stripe nor PayPal appears at checkout regardless of the individual toggles. Leave it on for any store that takes online payment; flip it off only if you are running manual-payment-only.

2. Write your manual payment instructions

The Manual Payment Instructions textarea accepts multiple lines of plain text. Fill in whatever a customer needs to pay you offline: bank transfer details, cheque payable to, pickup or cash-on-delivery terms.

Steps — Stripe

3-7. Enable Stripe, pick mode, paste keys, copy Webhook URL into Stripe dashboard, save

Flip Enable Stripe on. Pick Test mode for setup. Paste your pk_test_/sk_test_ keys. Copy the Webhook URL shown to your Stripe dashboard (Developers → Webhooks → Add destination), pick events payment_intent.succeeded and charge.refunded at minimum. Paste the signing secret Stripe gives you back into Webhook Secret (test). When ready for launch, flip Mode to Live, paste pk_live_/sk_live_ keys, add a Live webhook in Stripe, paste that secret into Webhook Secret (live). Click Save Settings.

Steps — PayPal

8-11. Enable PayPal, pick Sandbox/Live mode, paste credentials, save

Flip Enable PayPal on. Pick Sandbox for setup, Live for launch. Paste Client ID and Secret from your PayPal developer app. Click Save Settings.

Save and verify

12. Run a test purchase

Open your store in a private browsing window, add the Sticker Pack to your cart, and go to checkout. Confirm the payment methods you enabled appear as selectable options. Pay with Stripe test card 4242 4242 4242 4242 or PayPal Sandbox buyer account.

13. Verify the order appears in your Orders list and in Stripe/PayPal dashboards

Open Store Management → Orders in the admin — the test order is there. In your Stripe dashboard, the test charge is visible under Payments — same for PayPal Sandbox activity.

What success looks like

• The green Ecommerce configuration has been successfully updated! message appears after you click Save Settings.
• Running a test purchase through each enabled gateway creates a matching order in your Orders list.
• Test Stripe charges appear in your Stripe dashboard Payments list.
• Test PayPal orders appear in your PayPal Sandbox dashboard.
• Manual-payment orders show your Manual Payment Instructions on the confirmation screen and in the confirmation email.

What to do if it does not work

• No payment options appear on checkout. Confirm Enable Online Gateways is on (the master switch), then confirm at least one of Enable Stripe or Enable PayPal is on. Save after any toggle change.
• Stripe payment fails with "Invalid API Key." Confirm your Mode matches the keys you pasted — pk_test_/sk_test_ for Test mode, pk_live_/sk_live_ for Live. Keys from the wrong mode will fail.
• Stripe test order goes through but my Orders list shows Pending forever. Your webhook is probably not configured. Revisit Step 6 — copy the Webhook URL into your Stripe dashboard, paste the signing secret back into Webhook Secret (test), and save.
• PayPal Sandbox redirects but then errors on return. Confirm the Client ID and Secret you pasted match your Sandbox developer app (not a Live app).
• Manual-payment instructions appear blank on order emails. Confirm the Manual Payment Instructions textarea has content, save, and place a new test order.

Next step