Is National Consumer Panel a Scam? Make Money Or a Waste Of Time?
Is National Consumer Panel a scam or legit? It’s yet another in a long string of paid survey platforms out there, but is this one any better? Is it offering anything different? Will you make more money than with the others? My National Consumer Panel review answers these important questions and more.
But before we dive right into this review, I just wanted to say well done on being here. It means you don’t just join something without thinking. You do some homework first, and that’s smart. Chances are you’ll never waste valuable time or fall for a scam.
Now read on to discover the truth about National Consumer Panel…
Company Name: National Consumer Panel
Owner: IRi and Nielsen
Price To Join: Free
My Rating: 5/10
~ National Consumer Panel Reviews ~
So many people look to the online world for new options to make some extra cash, or even to replace their day jobs. And why not? With a global market, we can literally make money any time of the night or day.
I know I do. These days I live the ultimate laptop lifestyle because all my income is made online, and now I’m here to help others do the same by finding legit options.
There is one very major downside to the internet though, and that it’s become a breeding ground for scammers who want to take our money and run. Their schemes always sound too good to be true because they aren’t true. We must therefore always be cautious.
Reading product reviews is one of the most effective ways of discovering what’s a scam and what’s legit, so you can make the right choices. That’s why I write so many reviews, because I want to help.
I’ve done some paid surveys in the past, so when National Consumer Panel came to my attention, it seemed like a good one to check out and write a review about.
So let’s now take a closer look at National Consumer Panel and see if it’s worth your time or not.
Platforms like NCP can be a waste of time. Click below for something way better…
What Is National Consumer Panel About?
National Consumer Panel is also know as Homescan, and the abbreviation of NCP. The platform is a joint venture operation between Nielsen and IRi. Both of these companies specialise in market research.
And that last line brings us to the very reason why so many survey platforms and market research platforms exist online these days. They aren’t there merely as a way for people to make some extra cash at home. They serve a very vital purpose.
Government departments, businesses and companies need market research of certain demographics for a whole host of reasons. Sometimes this research and data is gathered through surveys, sometimes product reviews, and in the case of NCP, the data is collected through the use of a barcode scanner as well as surveys.
National Consumer Panel is like the middleman in the operation. Companies need shopping data provided by the scanners, and NCP needs participants to provide this data.
Businesses pay NCP for access to their database of members, and NCP pays its participating members small rewards for their involvement in collecting data.
It works out to be a win-win situation for all involved.
Not only is there the barcode scanning of shopping receipts as a way to earn rewards, there are surveys to fill out as well.
While this is kind of a cool idea, you seriously won’t make much money with it. You are far better off giving what I do a try, because I’m making a fulltime passive income online now. Click here to learn more.
How National Consumer Panel Really Works
This isn’t like some other platforms that are out there, like a regular paid survey site or a GPT rewards site. In order to become a member of National Consumer Panel you must first meet all the necessary criteria to get accepted.
The NCP opportunity is only open to residents of the United States. That’s the deal, because they need local people to input their shopping data via the hand held barcode scanners.
Another important point to know is that even if you reside in the USA, you’re still not guaranteed a place on their research team, as usually they’re only seeking new people from certain locations and within certain demographics.
If you do happen to meet all the current criteria and live in the US, then you’ll receive an email from NCP and you’ll be able to create an account and set up your profile.
Now that you’re in, how it works is this:
National Consumer Panel will mail you a hand held barcode scanner to use. There is another, simpler option though. You can simply download their smartphone app and use that to scan barcodes instead.
Every time you go to the supermarket to do your grocery shopping, you’ll take your scanner, or smartphone, with you and scan every single barcode of every single item you purchase. Once a week you’ll send this information back to the team at NCP.
All this information enables NCP to help its retail partners learn more about the shopping habits of the participants. They then use this information to better organise their stores, improve product promotions, and perhaps even offer more price discounts.
Every time you transfer the data your account will be allocated small rewards for your time and effort. If you tell them how much you spend on your shopping, you’ll receive even more rewards points.
Along with the scanning of barcodes in the supermarket, National Consumer Panel also conducts regular paid surveys just like other survey platforms do. This gives you the chance to earn even more, although it won’t be much. But at least you have several options.
You’ll also earn bonus points the longer you’re a member, such as at the 3 month, 6 month and 12 month marks, as well as on your birthday.
How Much Money Can You Make On National Consumer Panel?
I can tell you right now that you won’t actually make any money by being an active member of National Consumer Panel.
Why?
Because they don’t pay out rewards in cash.
Instead, you can redeem your accumulated points for the following:
- A selection of gift cards
- Exchange for kitchen appliances
- Exchange points for other household items
- Donate to charity
- Weekly cash lottery prizes
- Buy entries into their quarterly sweepstakes contest for a chance to win $20,000
- Other perks and shopping discounts
Copy how I’m making more than a fulltime passive income online!
Redeeming Points For Rewards
We’ve already established that you won’t be getting paid any cash, not unless you win one of their lotteries or the sweepstakes.
In order to be able to redeem your points for gift cards or household items, you first need to reach a minimum of 8000 rewards points. And apparently this can take a long time to achieve at the rate they reward their participants for both surveys and barcode scanning.
The Downside To Doing the Paid Surveys
You just don’t earn very much for your time is the biggest complaint about doing surveys on any platform, and it’s the same with NCP. If you were getting paid in cash (which you’re not), and you could do surveys all day long for them (which you can’t), you would be lucky to earn the equivalent of a few dollars an hour.
Then there are all the screening questions at the start of each survey. If you get screened out, you earn nothing and waste even more time.
Some surveys glitch out too, meaning you can’t complete them to get paid your promised rewards.
Target Market
Obviously the very first target market here is people living in the USA, because no one else can participate.
This also sounds like it’s aimed at people who are newcomers to making money online, because once you’ve had a taste of it, people who have already started making some online cash will move onto bigger and better things.
Joining something like National Consumer Panel can be a good starting point, though.
What I Like
- Scanning the barcodes while shopping is a different idea
- You have the option of completing surveys for rewards as well as scanning barcodes
- If you can win the big sweepstakes it’ll be worth your time
- Nielsen and IRi are long time, very respected companies
What I Don’t Like and Red Flags
- You can’t earn actual money with NCP
- All participants have to reside in the United States to be eligible
- You must first meet certain location and demographic criteria to be accepted onto the panel
- It can be quite hard to get accepted
- Scanning all those barcodes is super time consuming
- You earn really small rewards for barcode scanning and completing surveys
- It can take forever to reach the cash out level of 8000 points
How Much Does National Consumer Panel Cost To Join?
National Consumer Panel is totally free to join. They don’t charge their members in any way, nor should they. The payoff is way too small to actually have to pay to participate.
Is National Consumer Panel a Scam Or Legit?
I don’t see anything dodgy going on with NCP at all. Everything is totally above board and the platform is run by two highly regarded market research companies.
Scanning barcodes while shopping, although a time consuming and laborious task, is at least something different to do to earn rewards.
Plus you have the option of filling out surveys for more rewards, as well as getting rewards bonuses on your birthday, and for particular membership anniversaries.
You don’t actually get to keep the hand held scanner. That always belongs to NCP. You don’t really need it anyway, as all you have to do is download the app to your smartphone and use that.
The biggest downside to this “opportunity” that I can see is the amount of time you’ll be spending in the supermarket scanning every single thing you plan to buy. Then at the end of the week you must spend more time transferring that data over to NCP.
Overall, not a great way to spend your time trying to make extra money.
Make Some REAL Passive Income Online!
If you want to make some pocket money, then platforms like NCP are okay for that. You’ll achieve your goal. If your aim is to make some real money online from home, then you’ll need to use your time online more wisely and give survey platforms and the like a miss.
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