PayPal not sending correct item_number in IPN API call

Question

I have a hosted PayPal form setup for a Subscribe button.

I send the return URL like so:

<input type="hidden" name="return" value="http://myurl.com/returnurl" />

This works fine, upon payment the user gets redirected to this URL.

I also send the item_number parameter like so

<input type="hidden" name="item_number" value="{{uid}}" />

{{uid}} is a template tag and I have verified when viewing the source code it is being filled correctly. For testing I was using uid 15.

When the user clicks the PayPal Subscribe button it takes them to the PayPal gateway. I have verified by using Developer Tools in Chrome that the correct uid (15 in this case) is being sent in the HTTP headers.

The problem is that all IPN notifications have the item_number 1 (I'm checking in the IPN history of the PayPal website, where it lists the parameters sent for each message.)

Can anyone think of why item_number is being sent as 1, and not the correct value?

Thanks

Answer 1

It appears item_number isn't always a variable you can set. When setting up a product to sell in the PayPal control panel you specify and item description and an item number. I'd setup the item_number of 1 and so even though I was setting it in my HTML <form> it was being overwritten by the item number I'd already setup.

The solution was to use a different custom field.