Requirements for the Subtotal

 

A subtotal is the total amount for the products before taxes and shipping and handling charges are added. The subtotal for a transaction must be greater than zero. If the subtotal is less than or equal to zero, PayPal declines the transaction.

To calculate the subtotal, PayPal does the following:

1	Identifies the items for which the product code is not handling_only, shipping_and_handling, or shipping_only.

2	Multiplies quantity * unit price for each item identified in step 1.

3	Adds the values that were calculated in step 2.

 

Example 1

Items That Cause PayPal to Decline a Transaction (NVP)

item_0_unitPrice=10.00 item_0_quantity=1 item_0_productCode=Beverages item_0_productName=Fancy Cola item_0_productSKU=B4859 item_0_taxAmount=10 item_0_productDescription=Description for Fancy Cola! item_1_unitPrice=5.00 item_1_productCode=shipping_only item_2_unitPrice=10.00 item_2_quantity=1 item_2_productCode=coupon item_2_productName=Discount item_2_productSKU=D1000 item_2_productDescription=1000th customer discount

 

Example 2

Items That Cause PayPal to Decline a Transaction (XML)

<item id="0">    <unitPrice>10.00</unitPrice>    <quantity>1</quantity>    <productCode>Beverages</productCode>    <productName>Fancy Cola</productName>    <productSKU>B4859</productSKU>    <taxAmount>10</taxAmount>    <productDescription>Description for Fancy Cola!</productDescription> </item> <item id="1">    <unitPrice>5.00</unitPrice>    <productCode>shipping_only</productCode> </item> <item id="2">    <unitPrice>10.00</unitPrice>    <quantity>1</quantity>    <productCode>coupon</productCode>    <productName>Discount</productName>    <productSKU>D1000</productSKU>    <productDescription>1000th customer discount!</productDescription> </item>