When a customer places an order, our fulfillment partner (Gelato) charges your PayPal account to cover production and shipping costs. If that charge doesn't go through, the order goes on hold.
Good news: your store and the order are fine—it's just a payment settings issue, and usually a quick fix.
How to Fix This Issue
Step 1: Make sure your PayPal account is verified
PayPal may block charges if your email address isn't confirmed.
- Log in to PayPal and go to Settings → Account
- Under "Email," make sure your primary email shows Confirmed
- If it says "Unconfirmed," click it and follow the steps to verify
Step 2: Set up your payment method for Gelato
- Go to Automatic Payments in PayPal
- Find Gelato ASA in the list (you may need to click "See more")
- Click into it and choose how you'd like to pay for orders:
Option A (recommended): PayPal balance Set to "Use PayPal balance first." This way, when you receive payment for an order, the funds to cover fulfillment are already there.
Option B: Bank account or debit card Select your linked bank account or card. Make sure funds are available—some banks may need you to approve recurring charges.
Step 3: Retry the order
Head back to your orders page in the Direct control panel, find the failed order, and click Retry order. We'll try processing it again and get it on its way to your customer.
Note: If you have multiple failed orders, you only need to do this once—we'll automatically retry all of them 24 hours after the initial failure.
Still stuck?
If the order keeps failing, double-check:
- Your PayPal email is confirmed (Step 1)
- Your funding source has enough funds
- Your bank hasn't blocked recurring payments
You can also reach out to PayPal support directly.
Want to understand how Direct payments work behind the scenes? How Do I Get Paid for Direct Sales →
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