> Take PayPal on a Plandalf checkout, add the buyer to a Mailchimp audience, tag them and fire an event that starts a Customer Journey. Notes on refunds included. Source: https://plandalf.com/apps/paypal/integrations/mailchimp Last modified: 2026-10-26 Native integration # PayPal + Mailchimp integration A PayPal payment on a Plandalf checkout can add the buyer to your Mailchimp audience, tag them and start a Customer Journey. [Start your 14-day free trial](https://admin.plandalf.dev/signup)[Jump to the setup](#setup) No credit card required. No coding required. **PayPal** **Mailchimp** ## Does PayPal integrate with Mailchimp? Plandalf connects them; Mailchimp does not read PayPal. PayPal takes the payment on a Plandalf checkout, and a sequence then runs native Mailchimp steps: add or update the contact, add tags, or record an event a Customer Journey starts from. Purchases arrive as events, not as Mailchimp orders, and PayPal refunds do not remove tags on their own. ## What moves between PayPal and Mailchimp Event From and to Through What happens Checkout completed Plandalf (paid via PayPal)Mailchimp Native step Add Tags to Contact creates the contact in the audience first if needed. The docs describe one completion path for PayPal and card payments, so this sequence should fire for both; a PayPal sandbox payment will show it. Invoice paid Plandalf (paid via PayPal)Mailchimp Native step Record Event sends a custom event such as `bought_course` with properties like `{{trigger.line_items_summary}}`. Mailchimp events carry no revenue, and Plandalf does not write to Mailchimp's ecommerce orders. Contact subscribed MailchimpPlandalf Native step Plandalf adds a webhook to the audience when you save the trigger. It also fires for subscribers Plandalf itself adds, so point a purchase sequence and a subscribe-triggered sequence at different audiences so they do not loop. Refund in PayPal PayPalMailchimp By hand Remove Tags from Contact is the step that undoes the purchase, but Invoice Refunded is documented for Stripe refunds. After a PayPal refund, remove the tag in Mailchimp or run the step from a sequence started by a Webhook Trigger. ## Tag PayPal buyers and start a Mailchimp Customer Journey You need PayPal connected to a Plandalf offer and a Mailchimp login that can open Extras, then API keys. 1. ### Switch PayPal on for the offer Connect PayPal in Plandalf and add it as a payment option on the offer you sell. Leave card payment available beside it, and connect the sandbox environment to test. 2. ### Create a Mailchimp key In Mailchimp open your profile menu, then Extras, then API keys, and click Create A Key. Copy all of it, including the data-centre ending such as -us21, or Plandalf cannot reach your account. 3. ### Connect Mailchimp In Plandalf go to Automation, Marketplace, find Mailchimp under Available now and click Connect. Paste the key into API Key. 4. ### Tag the buyer Create a sequence on Plandalf, Checkout Completed, for your offer. Add Mailchimp, Add Tags to Contact: pick the Audience, set Email Address to `{{trigger.customer_email}}` and add a tag such as Paid. Leave Status for New Contacts on Subscribed only if buyers agreed to marketing email; otherwise choose Transactional. 5. ### Record the event Add Mailchimp, Record Event with Event Name `bought_course` and a `plan` property of `{{trigger.line_items_summary}}`. In Mailchimp build a Customer Journey on the same audience that starts from an event with that exact name. 6. ### Test with a sandbox payment Approve a PayPal sandbox payment, check the Events view and the contact in Mailchimp, and turn on Run on test purchases in the sequence settings if nothing ran. Switch it off afterwards. ## What sellers do with PayPal and Mailchimp ### A paid webinar with reminder emails A webinar host lets registrants pay by PayPal or card. The Paid tag keeps them out of the sales emails, and the event starts a Customer Journey that sends the joining link and a replay email. ### An international shop that wants a wallet option A seller with buyers in several countries adds PayPal beside cards on one offer. One tag and one event name in Mailchimp cover everyone, so the journey does not need a PayPal version. ## Limits and gotchas - Purchases reach Mailchimp as custom events on the contact. They do not appear as Mailchimp orders or products, and the event carries no revenue. - The API key must include the part after the dash, such as -us21. A key without it is rejected when you connect. - Invoice Refunded is documented for refunds that succeed in Stripe, so a PayPal refund leaves tags and journeys as they were. - New contacts get the status you choose in Status for New Contacts. Existing contacts keep theirs, so a step never resubscribes someone who opted out. - Merge fields must already exist in the audience. Mailchimp does not create one the first time a value is sent. ## PayPal and Mailchimp: common questions Does PayPal integrate with Mailchimp? Plandalf links them rather than the two apps syncing. PayPal pays for the order on a Plandalf checkout, then a sequence adds the buyer to a Mailchimp audience and tags them. Look at Mailchimp's own integrations list for a PayPal route that does not use Plandalf. How do I connect PayPal to Mailchimp? Enable PayPal on a Plandalf offer, connect Mailchimp with an API key under Automation, then build a Checkout Completed sequence with Add Tags to Contact or Record Event. Mailchimp PayPal integration: will buyers show as Mailchimp orders? No. Plandalf records a custom event and tags. It does not send orders to Mailchimp's ecommerce API. Can a PayPal payment start a Customer Journey? Yes, through the Record Event step: use the same event name as the journey's starting point. Confirm it with a PayPal sandbox payment first. ## Guides for this pair - [Plandalf with PayPal](https://plandalf.com/platforms/paypal) - [Plandalf with Mailchimp](https://plandalf.com/platforms/mailchimp) - [PayPal on a Plandalf checkout](https://plandalf.com/docs/platforms/paypal) - [Mailchimp setup guide](https://plandalf.com/docs/integrations/mailchimp) - [Automations overview](https://plandalf.com/docs/integrations/plandalf) [Start your 14-day free trial](https://admin.plandalf.dev/signup) ## More from PayPal and Mailchimp - [**PayPal + Thinkific**Buyers who pay with PayPal on a Plandalf checkout can be enrolled in the Thinkific course or bundle they bought, with a sign-in email from Thinkific.](https://plandalf.com/apps/paypal/integrations/thinkific) - [**PayPal + Tolt**A PayPal-only seller cannot use Plandalf's documented Tolt steps, which need Stripe product IDs. This page says what that means and what to do instead.](https://plandalf.com/apps/paypal/integrations/tolt) - [**PayPal + Vue**A Vue 3 button opens your Plandalf checkout, and PayPal shows up there as a payment option beside cards.](https://plandalf.com/apps/paypal/integrations/vue-app) - [**Mailchimp + HubSpot**Mailchimp keeps the newsletter, HubSpot keeps the sales record, and a Plandalf checkout can write the buyer to both.](https://plandalf.com/apps/mailchimp/integrations/hubspot) - [**Mailchimp + Klaviyo**A Plandalf checkout writes the buyer to Mailchimp natively and to Klaviyo through its API, so both lists fill while you decide which one wins.](https://plandalf.com/apps/mailchimp/integrations/klaviyo) - [**Mailchimp + Slack**Slack hears about Mailchimp subscribes, unsubscribes and new buyers, and Mailchimp is updated from the same sequence.](https://plandalf.com/apps/mailchimp/integrations/slack) Checked October 26, 2026 against Plandalf's own setup guides.