Testing payments
Always run a test purchase before you tell customers about a paid file. Each gateway has a test mode that uses fake money.
Use test keys first
Under Payment Settings, each gateway has Test and Live key fields (for example Test Public Key, Test Secret Key, Live Public Key, Live Secret Key). Enter your test keys, save, and run the purchase with the gateway’s test card or test account details from its documentation.
Test checklist
- Open the page with the paid file’s shortcode in a private window.
- Complete the form with an email address you can read.
- Pay with the gateway’s test card.
- Confirm the success screen shows and the download works.
- Check your inbox for the payment email.
- Open Orders and Transactions and confirm the order is paid.
- Check Recent Webhook Activity for a successful entry.
- Open the lead and confirm any tags, scores and sequence enrollments your automation rules should have applied.
Test a failure too
Use the gateway’s declined-card test to see the failed path. Your Payment Failed automation and the buyer’s message should behave the way you expect.
Going live
- Enter your live keys (and for Stripe the live webhook signing secret).
- Register the webhook address in the live gateway dashboard.
- Make one small real purchase and refund it from the gateway.
Cleaning up
Test orders appear in your list like any other. Ignore them, or use the retention settings and gateway filters to tell them apart. See Data retention.
If a test does not confirm, see Payment not confirmed.