National Consumer Panel: Accepting Members!
I posted about the National Consumer Panel previously and wanted to let you know that they’re once again accepted new members! The National Consumer Panel focuses on measuring consumer attitudes and behavior. As a panel member, they will provide you with a hand-held scanner. Every time you or members of your household shop, you’ll use the scanner to scan the barcodes on all of your purchases. Then, once a week, you’ll send them your purchase information. As a reward for doing so, you’ll earn gift points that are redeemable for name-brand merchandise, including electronics equipment, jewelry, household items, toys, and more!
If you’re interested in becoming part of the Consumer Panel, you’ll want to go on over here and sign up. Please be aware that not all areas need Panel Members at this time. So you may or may not get accepted. Let us know!
(Thanks, The Freebie Blogger!)
I love the consumer panel. I got accepted when you first posted about it back in the summer. I’ve almost earned enough for my first prize. My kids also like helping with the scanner, so it’s actually been a fun family activity. Thanks, Hip!
That sounds so cool! None in my area though! 🙁 Maybe next time. I bet they wonder what the heck is going on when a couponer is stock piling and scans 20 boxes of pasta in one week. LOL
Im still on the waiting list from last time….. Dunno if I’ll ever get that scanner 🙂
They dont need one in my area 🙁
After filling it out it says, “Thank you for registering with the National Consumer Panel.
Your household will be placed on our waiting list, and we will send you a scanner as soon as a spot on the National Consumer Panel becomes available for a household like yours. We look forward to your participation!”
I have been on the list for like 8 months. I read somewhere that it is random. 🙁
I was a member previously and it is a lot of work! It’s very time consuming to input all of your data from every single shopping trip, every single item, every coupon, etc. I didn’t last long before I had to send it back because I couldn’t be the type of consumer they needed me to be ~ I just didn’t have the time! Make sure you know what you’re getting into before taking on this task! I’m sure for some it’s a great way to earn prizes, unfortunately it just wasn’t for me. Good luck to all that want to give it a go!
I agree! I was on the waiting list for a few months but have currently been a member for about 4 months. I have often debated sending it back. It is a lot of work, and the scanner is not the most intuitive piece of equipment. For a couponer, entering all of the coupons can be tedious and time consuming.
For each store you have to scroll down the list of available stores and choose the one you have shopped at. Then you have to indicate who the primary shopper was, as well as any additional shoppers that accompanied you. Then you indicate whether the store doubles or triples coupons. Next you scan each item. Most of the time the store prices are in the system, but some stores are not so you have to type in price. You also have to enter quantity, whether the item was purchased with a store sale, store coupon, MQ or other and the value of any coupons. If the item is produce or meat you scan the corresponding barcode from a sheet and enter the amount spent.
So far I have received a few tchotchke items as prizes… a plastic thingy that helps open cans, a letter opener, etc. all stamped with NCP. I have participated in all available polls, but will not likely earn even the most basic reward for a few more months. There are some neat rewards on there, but I am guessing it would take a substantial amount of time to accrue that number of points.
HTH anyone considering joining!
I was a memeber too. Got so excited when I was accepted. Then I read how much I had to hand enter for each transaction. Huh…. was it worth it. I tried hard for almost 5 months and never got anything extra for it. All polls and survery done also. I calculated it would take me a year to get enough points for a decent prise that I could go buy on sale for 40.00. I shop at least 10 trips a week and will all my coupons it was taking me hours to enter all the info. I sent it back. My time is better spent reading this blog, cutting coupons, and tellin Collin how much I love her!!!!!
I COMPLETELY AGREE with you, as if you took the words right out of my mouth:) I only lasted about 2 months and said heck with this!
Wow, you guys are way better than I was! After the first week of entering each and every coupon used, which I rarely buy a item without a coupon, and realizing how much time involved to earn a tiny prize I sent mine right back the next week.
Now if your not a couponer it would be easier and less time consuming and then maybe worth it.
i did it for a couple of months before i gave up. it was just a pain to scan EVERYTHING you bought or did (eat out, buy gas, etc.). i don’t have a good memory, so i would totally forget to do it, which isn’t what they want. so i sent mine back with a “thanks for the opportunity.”
I have been a member for several years now… and YES I still am. NCP is great to work with. I just scan all of my purchases while I am watching TV. It is a bit of work, but it is about so much more than hjust the prizes. By scanning my items and reflecting the coupons I use I am showing the manufacturers that indeed their coupons are used and NEEDED! It is a voice to be heard. If those that coupon shop did not represent then it is very possible the coupons we receive would not be as plentiful. This gives feedback to the companies letting them know that this form of advertising is working. My grocery stores do not need prices to be entered, but all the other stores do need to be hand entered. But for me it has become sort of automatic and I can quickly punch the numbers and be done with it. I do a LOT of stockpiling and RR deals at Wags so it akes a bit of time. It is NOT a get rich (via prizes) program. However when I received my dvd/vcr combo that I cashed in for and found that all of Samsung products have to have a set top box to work, I was devestated and thought I had lost all of my points. I tried all thes avenues before even looking at NCP’s site to see what I could do to return it. I did discover that I could call NCP and return the product within 30 days time. By then it was past. 🙁 I explained to them what I had done to rectify the situation etc… and they were gracious enough to allow me to still return the product and receive my points back! They were great through the whole process. I still need a few more points to get the SONY one, but will be there shortly. 🙂
If you do it, do it for many reasons, not just for the free prizes or you will be disappointed~
I actually tried this out for a while but decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. The stores in my area weren’t programmed with their prices so I had to manually type in the price of EVERYTHING I bought and then I also had to type in whether or not I used a coupon and how much it was for. It would end up taking me over 30 minutes to look up and type in a small shopping trip.
For everyone else who enjoys it…what is your secret? How do you make it fun?
I did this for Shoppers Hotline for the past 5-6 years. They recently closed shop and I think National bought them out. They are calling Shoppers Hotline people, but I did sign up with them a couple of months ago when Collin posted it. I received my call last week and my scanner is on it’s way. My oldest daughter was a Shoppers Hotline scanner too, but has not received a call yet. The lady told me that she would though. I love scanning my purchases!
CAn you post the actual web site address? I am unable to get there from the link above.
Thanks
signed up – hope i get in!
I read on another website you must have a landland phone to partipate. I’m on the waiting list too, I wonder how long the wait will be.
Yeah, they denied me for not having a landline phone! Cell is so much cheaper here!
You need the land line to transmit the information. There is no way for a cell phone to be connected to the scanner at this time.
I was on it and didn’t have a landline, I transmitted online. It was way too much work and wasn’t even fun – more frustrating than anything else. The screen is small and I use too many coupons/buy too much stuff to make it worth anything.
I already have my scanner and it is a lot of work but you just have to find a way to make it fun. My kids love to help me scan and enter prices. At first it took me a long time to do it but now I am more aware of prices and can remember most of them so it goes a lot faster now. Usually I just take out my receipt and go down the line. I’m hoping to have enough points to get my boys something for Christmas.
What kind of stuff do you get for all your work? Is it worth the effort?
For me it wasn’t. I did it for over 2 years and the points I ended up with were enough for a $50 toy. I calculated about $2 a month for a lot of work. I actually stayed a couple of extra months so I could get enough for the toy so at least I would get something I wanted. They do have some sweepstakes kind of things too, but I never won any. I too had to enter almost all the prices, coupons etc and scan the item. I was a pain to have to scan the frozen refrigerated items in the summer. Either you put them away and then keep opening the fridge to scan, or you leave them out longer when they are already thawing while you did it. It probably didn’t help that I usually went to the grocery store for a cartload, not a basketload. It may have changed (its been about a year since I sent it back) but for me it was absolutely not worth my time. They wanted every single purchase (gas, online, coupons, manually enter coupon values, tell them if something was on sale or not etc). I contacted them to explain my opinion and suggest that they provide users with some sort of report/synopsis of the info we sent them, and for me it would be more worth my time, but they said no.
BTW, at the time I ordered the toy (Cozy Coupe) they had it on sale somewhere for less than $50 (about $35) but I like to tell myself I got about $2 a month (6-7 cents a day) for doing it instead of less. Anyways, if you don’t use a lot of coupons, and you don’t shop alone with little ones, and the store you shop at has prices loaded on there (you don’t have to enter each price and tell the scanner if it was on sale), and you don’t buy too many items at once, etc. then it might be worth it :). I also bought snacks and stuff sometimes for the kids and had to save the wrappers to scan them when we got home. Its not just groceries (or it wasn’t when I did it). All my online purchase, clothes, gas, prescriptions, take-out, etc. It might work out for some people, and I don’t want to be ungrateful for the toy, but anyways, I was just trying to answer the question honestly. I do wish I would have saved myself some stress several times and returned it sooner and found some other way to save/make $2 a month.
Now, you can always try it out, see if the stores you go to have preloaded prices, see how it works for you, and send it back no problem if you don’t like it. I know several people that have done this.
I’ve been on the panel for a couple years now, it seems like a lot of work at first, but once you get used to it, it becomes second nature. I just scan stuff as I put it away. So far I’ve gotten a fisher price water table, a samsung DVD player and Wii play (wii game) plus remote. You don’t get as many points for transmitting the first year or so, so it takes awhile to add up points, but now I get more points for transmitting plus I’m on 2 panels (extra surveys) so I rack up points pretty quick. The thing I like about them is that their surveys usually take less than 5 minutes, and that’s about all the time I have with 2 little ones at home.
I did it for many years. The only thing I ever got was an exersaucer for my baby. I eventually quit scanning and sent the scanner back. I have VOIP and they only do landline. I don’t miss all the work. Good luck for those of you with the time.
I agree with others…this is way too much work for the tiny prizes you earn after like a year…I am sending my unit back…there are very few stores were you can just scan…you have to go back through your reciept and enter what price you paid and what the value of the coupons were…too much for me:(
THANK YOU so much everyone for reporting your experiences. Doesn’t sound like it’s worth it to me…
I did not like this one – to much work – then if I forgot to scan for a few weeks they were calling me. Then when I did not scan for a month due to work and vacation they sent a very rude letter telling me they were going to send me to collections for not sending back their scanner right away – I sent back the scanner and guess what I still got a collection letter – thank goodness I had Del confirmation on my box. sometimes I just had issues getting them to receve my scans which sometimes caused me to spend to much time on it. I think it takes way to much time to earn a prize. I am used used to the very easy stuff – once you get into the HABIT i AM SURE ITS FINE. good luck!
I got my scanner last week and so far haven’t had any problems entering in my purchases. My kid like to help line everything up and this makes it easy for me to zip through. I do use coupons and entering them in has been tricky, but I like the idea of telling the manufacturers what coupons are needed and used. I’m sticking with it as long as I can.
Thanks, Collin. I signed up this week through Swagbucks. I’ve done one survey.
I have been doing this now going on heck almost 2 years. When I first started out my wife was doing all the scanning but now I am a nice hubby and I help out. Some days it can be a real pain in the “you know what” but over the course of time we have cashed out 4 times. Even tho the prizes might not be the greatest it is something free for items I have already purchased. So In my opinion its not to bad. I multi task alot anyway believe it or not I am noramly playing world of warcraft while I am scanning. lol. So everyone keep your heads up it does get easier the longer you do it. At least for me and my wife it did.
I just received my scanner today and find it very confusing. It says to scan every single item but when you go to a fast food restaurant there is no barcode on the food you order. How are you supposed to scan the food items you buy when there is no barcode for you to enter? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Hey,
Thanks so much for telling us about this! We where selected and the scanner is being shipped! We also where selected for the Star Wars Clone Wars house party this week!!! Wow!
Thanks agian
and God Bless,
Jacki Brwn
I just got my scanner over the weekend. I grocery shopped last night and just plugged in the scanner ready to scan and I have to wait an hour to charge the darn thing. We will see how it goes. Thanks for all of the advice.
Awful. I got the equipment and decided I didn’t have time so I sent it back. Now they are harrassing me and threatening to send me to collections for the equipment which I already returned and which was received by them over 2 weeks ago!