Develop Reference

How do I add in-app purchase to a published app in play store and test it before going into production?

Before asking this question, I have read the developer notes on android developers site and also watched the Google IO video. I have also seen the question posted on SO. Since the question has been asked long ago and its answers are also pretty aged, it doesn't answer my doubts reason being Google has changed quite a few things related to In App Billing and its testing.
I am planning to add in app purchase to my app which I published long ago in play store. I wrote the code of in app billing V3 ytaking help from TrivialDrive example. I have few doubts on how do I proceed further for testing:
[Question]
I have read that I should upload the new apk which includes in app billing code and permission to play store's in-app products. Won't that make the upgrade available to all the users using previous version of app? Once I upload the new apk with in app billing feature, it would replace the older apk in production, right? If yes, how do I make sure the upgrade goes to production only when I am done with testing?
When I click on button for in-app purchase, it displays an alert dialog with following error:
Authentication is required. You need to sign in to your Google Account.

You can upload it to the Alpha or Beta channels first. Add yourself as a test user so you'll be able to make test purchases.
When the version on the Beta channel will be ready, you can make it the production version.
If you choose to upload it to the production, you can choose not to publish it, but save it as draft, and you'll be able to test it.

Authentication is required. You need to sign in to your Google Account error comes when you have not downloaded the app from playstore(i.e. you are testing via IDE).
You can test in app purchases via alpha beta channels from your dev console as told by Udi I.
Additional points:-
Keep in mind that for every real/succesful transaction/purchase Google takes 30% of the fee.
You can re-imburse/cancel the transaction to the user in the first 15 minutes.
User can restore the purchases within 15 Minutes, or the in app purchase amount credited to you will get deducted if the user immediately un-installs the app after doing the transaction.

Do I need to publish application to test in app purchases?

I was working on in app billing last time about 1 yesr ago. In that time to test in app billing I was need to setup tester account, upload application in draft mode and publish purchases.
Since then Google added "sandbox" mode (which allows to test purchases without money transactions) and I want to use it. I've read documentation but for me it's parts contradict each other.
Here it says that I only need to upload the app (nothing about publishing), add purchases and test accounts. Which is similar to the old mode. But it also says that alpha-testers WILL pay money for purchases.
Here it says that "draft" mode is unsupported so I need to publish my app to Alpha testing. Nothing about setting up alpha-testers list.
So my question is if I need to publish my app to alpha-testing mode to test purchases without money transactions?
P.S. Can I still use IABHelper from demo application? Examples in the documentation doesn't use it anymore.
UPDATE Docs says that purchases may be published before the app. But developer console says that purchases will be activated only after application is published.

You need to publish to alpha or beta (which won't be visible to the public). You do not need to publish to production
What I do is publish to beta with an .apk and install that same .apk on testing devices via side loading (no downloading and installing from the playstore when in beta)

You don't need to publish your app... you can keep it unpublished but you've to upload apk there..

In-app billing and license test accounts

I am very confused about this, both from the developer site and other similar questions.
I am trying to use V3 in-app billing. Seems to work with the static responses. Want to move on to testing with test purchases using license test accounts.
Basically - it is not working.
A signed app has been uploaded to the developer site (over 6 hours ago), and the app installed on the device, whilst not being signed with the same release key (it's a debug build and key), should work because Android Developers says "you only need to upload your application as a draft application. However, you must sign your application with your release key before you upload it as a draft application. Also, the version number of the uploaded application must match the version number of the application you load to your device for testing". Ie the code on the device apparently doesn't need the same key providing versionCode matches.
My developer console login is - say - a#googlemail.com, and I have a license test address registered (on the developer console) of b#gmail.com. The primary account on my phone is also a#googlemail.com. However I do have a secondary account on there of b#gmail.com. I do NOT want to have to reset my phone and change its one and only account to b#gmail.com.
Android Developers says "The only way to change the primary account on a device is to do a factory reset, making sure you log on with your primary account first" which seems to imply I might have to. It also then says "If the device has more than one account, the purchase will be made with the account that downloaded the app. If none of the accounts has downloaded the app, the purchase is made with the first account" which partially contradicts the first statement. Most of the text on the site appears to apply to pre-V3 code, OS 1.4 etc, so I am not sure how relevant it is.
I notice that Google Play allows me to select the account to use, and both the above show up in the list. Therefore, if I select that second (test) account in Google Play, should that be not sufficient to start testing with that test account?
What actually happens is, whatever account I have selected in Google Play, on starting a purchase I get a message "this version of the application is not configured for billing through Google Play".
Is this because I really do have reset the device and make the primary account b#gmail.com, or because of something else, possibly in the code?

I have some more information now, together with the answer above:
Once I loaded the device with the release signed key the message on a purchase attempt changed to "the publisher cannot purchase own item".
I tried logging in to Google Play with both my accounts and it made no difference. When logged in with the test account I also tried to find the app in the play store. Didn't show up even to the test account (draft app). (I hoped the test account could download it even as draft and therefore following the rules above about multiple accounts I could test purchase with the test account, but no).
Therefore I conclude:
Can only test on a device with an app signed with the same key as the one uploaded to the play store - whatever Android Developers might say.
The ONLY account that can test purchases on a device is the first set (primary) account.
Best therefore to have a completely new account as one's Developer Console account (bit late now).
Would be happy to hear if anyone can contradict the above.

Sign the app you upload to the device with a release key. As far as I know you can't test in-app billing without signing it properly. Actually, last week I tried it as written above and it works.
Hope it helps.

You can have multiple accounts on your devices -- as many as you want. But while testing the app, make sure you don't install it by the app Play Store on your device. Instead, go to Google Chrome, browse to its page on Google Play, and install the app from there. There's a button Install (or Installed).
I guess if you already install the app from account A, then the Android app Play Store will use that account to install next version (or reinstall current version) -- even though you're signed in as another account, like B for example.
However the Google Chrome will just install the app via the current signed in account. This could be a bug and it would be fixed some day. But it's working right now -- when I'm typing this answer. Android team is well known of being lazy for delivering fixes. I hope this "bug" will never be fixed :-)

User is not eligible for this purchase - in app billing

I'm getting
"User is not eligible for this purchase"
message from google play while trying to purchase as a test.
I've uploaded singed apk in google play, published the billing item(in app product), saved the apk as draft, still getting this error.
Also I was trying to purchase from test user device.

Edit:
The actual reason for this error:
If an unauthorized user try to purchase an item then this message
should appear.
So if the App is not published, a non test user should get this error while try to purchase.
I realized that, Google play takes time to update the changes in app store. So you can not expect the changes immediately. Rather you should wait, in my case it took average 2/3 hours.
Still there may be some unknown error, which I could not figure.
My Cases:
First I was trying to purchase from my test device still got this error, But after waiting some time I didn't get this error. So I think the time was reason here.
Secondly I was trying from a non test device, which was an unauthorized device as the app was not published.

You must use, only, Test Account for Testing purposes. You can not use market account or others for purchasing your app while Testing.
From Android Docs
The synchronous response for a CHECK_BILLING_SUPPORTED request provides a Bundle with a server response code. A RESULT_OK response code indicates that in-app billing is supported; a RESULT_BILLING_UNAVAILABLE response code indicates that in-app billing is unavailable because the API version you specified is unrecognized or the user is not eligible to make in-app purchases (for example, the user resides in a country that does not allow in-app billing). A SERVER_ERROR can also be returned, indicating that there was a problem with the Google Play server.
see details here

This error comes when everything you done is perfect, you have used signed APK with the proper product id, but you have to note that the account that you are using might don't have proper valid credit card details.
So whenever you want to buy any product even with test account, that account should have valid credit details.
You have to specify test account in Edit profile of your publisher account
Licensing & In-app Billing
Test Accounts box

There is a now an additional situation which can result in the "User is not eligible" message.
It comes down to this recent change in the licensing system:
The Licensing keys are now managed for each app individually. To see
the license key for an application, switch to the new design and go
to the Services and APIs for the application
You can no longer use the old "shared" license key when creating new apps. You must switch the Google play developer console to the "new design" and use the license key for each specific app from that app's Services and APIs section.
If you try to use the old shared key the behavior is as follows:
If app is not yet published, tester will receive "User is not
eligible for this purchase" message.
If app is published, user will go through purchase process and
be charged for purchase, but the app will not receive a "purchase success" message.
TL;DR: Make sure you are using the new per-app license key and that you have copied it correctly.

I had the same issue.
I fixed it by uploading apk via "Old Design" of Developer Console.
Steps:
rename application package.
create release build and sign it with your developer key.
upload it to the Developer Console Old Design. You will be asked about switching to the new design for getting public key. DON'T do it.
Perform all next actions from Old Design.
After creatind and publishing inApp content switch to the New Design and take your application security key.
Put new key to your application, rebiuld and resign.
Install your application to the device.
Wait 2-3 hours.
Profit.
lved it. There is some problem in the "New Design" of Developer Console. I deleted the apk and created a new app from "old design" and it worked. Price points(In-App products) got automatically added again as the app package name is exactly the same as old one I deleted.
Also make sured the new public key is used which is app specific now.

Make sure you fill in the #gmail.com address as a licensed test account. Other e-mail addresses associated with your Google account will NOT work.

For the "Unpublisched" app, enter your email account under "Account details" and "Gmail accounts with testing access" in Play Developer Console. Also one need to wait 24 hours.

The android:versionCode set in the Manifest must be the same as the one active in Google Play console

I met this problem and was bothered for one or two day.I delete the test device's gmail and added it again. After then it works.

How can I test in-app-billing with a non-published app?

I have an Android app that uses In-App-Billing to sell Account Managed Items.
I tested the app with the static response IDs and everything seems to work. I now want to test the app with real product Ids.
I created the app in the Google Play Store and uploaded a draft version of the app with the correct permissions. I now created an In-App-Billing item and published the item.
At the moment the app is unpublished. The item is created and published and I have a test account that is registered in the profile of the developer account and is the only account on the device that I use for testing. The app is signed with the same key as the uploaded draft. Edit:I'm testing with Android 4.1 && 4.03 at the moment
If I try to buy the item the Google Play Store pops up but shows a dialog with the following method: The item you requested is not available for purchase.
How can I test buying the item without publishing the app?

When you test the app, make sure you have exported and correctly signed it (not using debug key). Also make sure that you are using the correct Google account (registered test account) on the device.
Additionally, the registered test account cannot be the developer account.
Apart from this, it should work fine.
Note: Testing your own in-app purchases does require a valid credit card and actual payment.
And finally, it currently takes a few hours for market edits to propagate through the servers and show up.

It may take some time to reflect the changes on google play if you just uploaded the app and added the item there wait for some time near about 2 hr. it will be shown the item you want to purchase.

For others who reach this thread, Now it's not possible to test In-app billing with just a draft version of the app.
Draft Apps are No Longer Supported
Previously, you could publish a "draft" version of your app for testing. This functionality is no longer supported. Instead, there are two ways you can test how a pre-release app functions on the Google Play store:
You can publish an app to the alpha or beta distribution channels. This makes the app available on the Google Play store, but only to the testers you put on a "whitelist".
In a few cases, you can test Google Play functionality with an unpublished app. For example, you can test an unpublished app's in-app billing support by using static responses, special reserved product IDs that always return a specific result (like "purchased" or "refunded").
for details read https://developer.android.com/google/play/billing/billing_testing.html#billing-testing-test

You can test in-app billing by using options, look at this
Edit :
On the link I mentionned, you can see this :
Note: You do not need to publish your application to do end-to-end
testing. You only need to upload your application as a draft
application to perform end-to-end testing.
If you still can not test it, what you can do is to publish it and test it. If you think there might be bugs in your app's in-app billing, refunds are still a solution.
I'm thinking about something, on the dev site, you can see this :
Verify that your device is running a supported version of the Google
Play application or the MyApps application.
On what Android version are you testing on ?

You've to add the products(item sku) in you app product in your play store app account. The SKU you set In-App billine is not available. For testing, set the SKU androidtestpayment. Now you'll now get that error The item you requested is not available for purchase.