National Consumer Panel Accepting New Users!

Veteran Hiffers may remember the Nielsen Home Scanner program from years past. They've since merged with another company and become the National Consumer Panel. New name, same money making opportunity!

As luck would have it, I'm a consumer who lives in a nation and loves being on panels, so I was happy to see the NCP is now accepting new applications where you can make money off your normal, everyday purchases!

Upon joining, you're sent a small, handheld scanner to scan the barcodes of all your purchases. Each item gives you points, which you redeem for prizes, gift cards, toys, and household items.

Cash Giveaways

Once you become a National Consumer Panel member, if you scan at least one item each week, you'll earn one entry into their Quarterly Sweepstakes where you can win a $500 Visa prepaid card. On top of that, for each week you send NCP purchase information, you earn one entry into NCP's Grand Prix Sweepstakes where you can win $20,000! Every quarter one lucky panel member wins!

In addition, every month, 20 members who sent in purchase information every week of the month will win a Visa prepaid card.

Hiffer tips, tricks, and loot scores

While scanning individual barcodes after a huge shopping trip might sound tedious, Hiffer Theresa sent in this ingenious tip – take the scanner to the store with you! Then all you have to do is scan items as you add them to your cart! Another idea is to scan items slowly instead of all at once. My friend scans a few items each night while watching TV and I've heard of others getting their kids to do all the scanning 🙂

If you're on the fence about joining, I looked through the comments of our previous NCP posts and found some cool stuff Hiffers reported getting!

The prizes you pick do not cost extra and they are nice. I have received dog beds, MP3 player speakers, really nice spoon measures, and similar stuff. – Doreen


I have done this for about 5 years now. I have gotten a couple of really good gifts. A stereo w cd player and a NICE crockpot. Right now I’m saving for a handheld GPS to go geocaching with. – Susan


I've gotten a toaster, phone and answering machine, hedge trimmer, some other stuff – Melissa


I've only redeemed points for a coffee maker so far, but they add up pretty quickly. – Amanda


I’ve gotten, over the years, mixing bowls, air popcorn popper, paper shredder, and even an upright KitchenAid appliance worth more than $200! – Bobbie


I have gotten 3 phone system, toys, deep fry, 2 dvr's, egg cooker and more. – Sherry

Have any Hiffers joined National Consumer Panel over the past few year since they changed from Nielsen. What are your thoughts on it? How long does it take to earn enough points for decent rewards? Let us know in the comments!

About the Author:

I'm a nationally renowned freebie finder & sample vetter, which I never imagined I'd be doing while getting my Bachelor's Degree in History almost 20 years ago. In my spare time, I enjoy launching my own space program and disproving the Coriolis effect.

72 comments on “National Consumer Panel Accepting New Users!”

  1. I’ve been a member of NCP for many, many years. It has gotten a lot easier to participate (they used to have a booklet of barcodes to scan with a handheld scanner for every item you purchase, but now you just use your phone camera and hover over the product UPC code and it registers for you). I have THOUSANDS of points at present and regularly get entered into contests for items I choose. I also have redeemed probably close to a dozen gift cards since joining and gotten free magazine subscriptions and donated some of my points to charities. It’s easy and fast and worth joining.

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  2. I am a member of NCP and have been for 7 years.
    I built up my points and recently redeemed my points for a printer and folding ladder. I am pleased with both products and the speed in which I received them.
    I would highly recommend this program for everyone.

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  3. I’ve been with them for five years. I use an app on my phone to scan. It takes a while to build up points, but it’s not bad. I use my points for Amazon gift cards.

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  4. I signed up and will be notified. But looking at the Facebook page, there were a lot of negative comments about the cumstomer service and equpment. I’m not sure if I want to be a part of this.

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  5. I have 88,000 pts right now. I’ve gotten a toaster, phone and answering machine, hedge trimmer, some other stuff I can’t remember. It’s been years. I have a scanner somewhere, but since I downloaded the app, I haven’t used it. The transmitting is automatic. No holding up against the phone, waiting for all the beeping,screeching noises, no retry-ing! It works every time instantly. One thing, after 10+ years you think I might’ve won some kind of prize.

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  6. NCP is not for someone who has to budget and doesnt spend much. I got my scanner less than 3 months ago and already will hit enough points by the end of the month to buy something I have been interested in. However, my husband and I shop all the time. Between grocery shopping, take out, dining out, grabbing cups of coffee or drinks after our morning walks or runs, getting gas, buying stuff for our household, buying products for our backyard, spoiling our pets with treats on a weekly basis etc. So one can see how those points can add up. They send out a decent amount of surveys as well. Maybe I will see by the end of the year if some of the people are right about it being a waste of time but so far my family and I are scanning away.

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  7. I’ve been a member for a couple years, and I don’t find it too time consuming. It takes a bit of time at the beginning, but once you figure out a system it’s not too bad. I’ve only redeemed points for a coffee maker so far, but they add up pretty quickly. Only missing a couple stores locally, but everything else has been fine. The surveys are generally quick, so those will get you lots of extra points.

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  8. I was accepted years ago and got my scanner. I scanned everything and always scanned each shopping trip. I participated for about 4 months and realized it’s a lot more work than it’s really worth. After scanning for 4 months I realized I still didn’t have enough points to get anything from the rewards catalog and it was so time consuming it just wasn’t worth it, so I sent the scanner back.

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  9. I just passed my 6 months. It wasnt easy at first, I had to get my routine going… I saw some posts saying the scanner didnt have their store… That is why you put “other soter” and then after you start sending in your scans, your scanner will have local stores on there as well. I mean I have Food City on mine and there arent many of those, RiteAid is more known than Food City. Anyway, you earn points every week you send your scan in, no matter how small the scan is. It is important to scan your stuff because they also have sweepstakes where your shopping trip is paid for. So if you only do the little ones, you wont get alot of money back since you didnt spend much on the “trip” you are winning for. I love it though, why not get points for nothing really. If your receipt is in the bag, just scan as u put them away

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  10. We’ve had our scanner for over ten years, and we use it every week after we go shopping. I can even scan my college textbooks that I get from Amazon, and it counts. The biggest reward we’ve gotten out of it is a Keurig Brewer (three cup choices), which we really like.

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  11. I’ve been a member for about 4 years. It is a lot of work for the rewards, but there are some factors that affect the amount of work it is. You get the same number of points per weekly transmission no matter how many shopping trips you’ve made, so a one-person household will do a lot less work than a multiple-person household. When you shop at big, national chains, they make you enter prices for every item, but when you shop at local chains or independent stores, you don’t have to enter prices, which saves a lot of time. Using coupons adds time because you have to enter the value of every coupon you use. Finally, the number of points you get for your weekly transmissions increases the longer you’re a member, so you earn points faster if you stick with it for a while.

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  12. I’ve been a member for more than 15 years. Am on my 2nd scanner since I wore out the first one ;-p It does take a little time/effort to scan, but you CAN save up for some great rewards. I’ve gotten, over the years, mixing bowls, air popcorn popper, paper shredder, and even an upright KitchenAid appliance worth more than $200! I’ve also won points.

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  13. The people who say this isn’t time consuming must not buy much or use coupons! They even expect you to put who shopped with you. Why is this important? It was just tooooo much work for the amount of points you got..If I would of put everything I bought, it would of taken me 2-3 hrs. (if not longer) to do it.I sometimes buy $200 worth of things at once and I don’t have time to enter 45 different things for each product. It sounded good at the beginning and I was accepted the first time I tried, but I was glad when they asked me to send back the scanner.I never was able to get anything. The time I did spend doing this amounted to a bunch of work for nothing! Unless you have a bunch of extra time, I would not recommend this to anyone!

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  14. I did it for some time a few years ago and like others who use coupons and don’t make many small shopping trips but rather shop every other week and buy a lot at one time- it was really hard to do. Many products to try and scan- often, the scanner wouldn’t work or had to manually enter things and then, add the coupon. Very time consuming and not worth the amount of time that it took . Then, most of the time when I would try to transmit over our phone it wouldn’t go through so would have to retry. Hopefully, they have made the program better than it used to be and worth the time it takes. I wouldn’t want to do it again unless it was very much improved.

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  15. I have been a member since 2007 and have gotten quite a few small items from the rewards catalog, and the biggest being a glass bakeware set and a nice dvd player. I still forget to scan sometimes and transmit the data every week, but the more you do, the faster you will earn the points. You get points for surveys too. I have never heard of transmitting the data via phone as some people are commenting, I transit via USB at my PC. I do not find it time consuming, but I do not usually have big shopping trips. Usually grocery stores you do not have to enter the prices of all the items either, just scan the barcode, so that saves some time. I plan on staying a member.

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  16. Yes!! When I saw this I decided I HAD to comment! I’m a good volunteer and thought I would love this program. After all we all should realize that companies create or keep products based on what we buy. It is a lot of time and the points are slow. If you happen to shop at a store that’s in their system, the scanning is quick. But I did the majority of my spending at Costco or sometimes Sams club and they aren’t in the system so can you imagine manually inputting a Costco shopping trip??? Too much. So when they complained that I didn’t do enough I sent it back, because I didn’t have time anyway. Never earned anythg although I did a lot of shopping!

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  17. I’ve been a member for probably 7-8 years. It only takes me a few minutes each time I purchase something. I’ve redeemed points for a few items for my kids as gifts, one of them being a nice toy track table that normally runs for about $100. I haven’t redeemed any points in a while because I’m trying to save up for something bigger. I have had a great experience with it. The longer you are a member, the higher your points go each time you scan. You also get points for completing surveys with them. I don’t plan on quitting any time soon.

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    • I AGREE WITH YOU, AUDRA!! I LOVE this NCP BUSINESS or PROMOTION -(whatever you may which to call it). All of the SCANNING, (after the purchasing of the PRODUCTS/ ITEMS/ GOODS) POINTS are given for each daily, weekly scanning and transmitting done). There are SURVEYS available and POINTS are given for them. POINTS are also given for the SIX-MONTHS & YEARLY MEMBERSHIP ANNIVERSARY (which amounts to a good bit)! There are LOTS & LOTS OF OTHER SWEEPSTAKES AVAILABLE FOR WINNING; AND “REAL MONEY” GRAND PRIZE OF $20,000 EVERY QUARTER!! ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS KEEP ON SCANNING & TRANSMITTING YOUR “STUFF” ON A “WEEKLY BASIS”. You do not have to do it all IN ONE SITTING. USE COMMON SENSE. IF there is NOTHING to transmit in A WEEK, there is a place/BUTTON on the SCANNER FOR YOU TO TRANSMIT THAT INFO AND STILL GET CREDIT FOR THAT WEEK’S SUBMISSION!! THAT IS NOT SUCH A BAD DEAL, I WILL SAY (EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO GO ON VACATION IT IS THE SAME THING)!!. WHO DOES NOT WANT A CHANCE TO WIN
      $20, 000 AT SO FREQUENT (4 X A-YR) AN INTERVAL.
      “COUNT ME IN FOR THE LONG HAUL”. I have been a member since 2010 (DOUBLE PLATIMUM)!!

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  18. Goob, I have a scanner. I have only been scanning for about 4 months and I qualify for about 10 items but I am saving up my points. It really is easy and doesn’t take much time each week to scan your purchases.

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  19. I have been with them 10 yrs+. Its a little work but you get free stuff. The longer you are with them the more points you can get. I have gotten 3 phone system, toys, deep fry, 2 dvr’s ,egg cooker and more.
    For me it is worth 10 mins of scanning a week. I did win some points in one of their sweepstakes.

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  20. I tried this a few years back. It isn’t worth the time. Too much a pain to scan everything and they don’t or didn’t give very many points after you do scan. And the rewards cost so many points it would take forever to earn enough. I did it for a few weeks and ended up sending everything back and then they kept saying that I didn’t. It took forever for them to realize that I did.NOT WORTH IT!!!

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  21. I’ve been doing it for a few years. Got my daughter a tricycle from my points. The gifts are so-so. Not really much that I want (or at least will be able to accumulate points enough to get in this lifetime). I earn between 2,000 and 3,000 points a month by transmitting every week and doing all of the surveys they send me. For comparison sake, you can get a $25 iTunes card for 18,000 points. A Keurig is 91,000 points. Lots of other prizes….I do agree with a lot of posters here that it does take some time to scan everything. Also, it is a pain for me because you have to transmit your data by landline phone. I use a VOIP phone and that is not compatible with their system (neither is cell phone). So I have to use my work phone to transmit, which is a bit of a pain to remember to take the scanner with me once a week to do.

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  22. I’ve been a memeber for a couple years. I have not won any of the sweeps that they run. I wonder if anyone actually wins. Scanning is pretty simple, does take some time, but once you get the hang of it, it is a breeze. They were talking about an app on the iPhone for scanning purchases, not sure if that is available b/c I have an android.
    They also have surveys that you can earn points on.
    I have not cashed in my points. It takes awhile to earn enough points to get a decent gift.

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  23. I’ve been scanning for a few years now- it doesn’t take too much time if you scan right when you get home with your purchases. I haven’t redeemed any points although the selection is very large.

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  24. I tried it a few years ago. The scanner never seemed to work right, and it could take up to half an hour to scan a weekly shopping trip. In order to upload the data you had to use a phone line, and it took several tries to get through. I stuck with it for 6 months and earned enough for a free magazine subscription and a $5 gift card.

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  25. I’ve been in the program for a few months. It gets to be a bit time consuming. I prefer to scan my groceries and daily purchases when I get home from work but that delays my dinner making process. I really don’t know how fast points can accumulate but I did get a handy dandy plastic can/bottle opening in the mail for my six month gift!

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  26. I have been doing this for some time now. Sometimes it is overwelming if you have a lot of things to scan. I have a scanner that you don’t hold to the phone. You plug it into your computer to send results of you buying for the week. It takes a long time to get enough points to claim a prize but worth my time. Loving it.

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  27. I have been ‘scanning’ over 2 years. It is easy and you quickly learn how to lay-out your groceries to make scanning easier. Shopping at a Henry’s or Whole Foods type market you have to enter what each item costs. I usually stand in front of the fridge and scan the fruit or vege bar code going down the list and typing in the costs – it is so easy.

    When I shop and get 30% off at a store like Kohl’s, I first figure what the 30% off will be on all items (and write that number on the slip) so I can subtract that number from the purchase price. My husband sets out larger grocery items with the bar-code facing up so I can walk by and scan those items (pet food, toilet paper and towels, etc.). The prizes you pick do not cost extra and they are nice. I have received dog beds, MP3 player speakers, really nice spoon measures, and similar stuff.

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  28. this sounds like a great job from home. i have not worked for 2 yrs now, and i am doing part time with the censes, but it ends the end of june 2010. i really need to work, and very dedicated to my job.

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  29. I have been scanning for about 3 or 4 years now. It just is lucky that I shop mostly at the HyVee store and don’t need to put in prices. I just scan, tell how many I purchased and if I had coupons. It is not difficult and I have gotten nice prizes with the points I earn such as a ear thermometer (takes your temp by placing it in your ear.)also a nice metal thermos bottle. It takes awhile to get the points for the nice things but definetly worth it.
    I will continue scanning as long as I can.

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  30. I’ve been doing this for about 6 months or so and I love it. It takes just a little bit of time especially with me cause my kids like to help me scan. They even send you little thank you gifts in the mail from time to time.

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  31. im excited about this……..i love geting prizes for simple work! sounds simple, just time consuming…..got an email to day saying tehy will ship scanner, i just signed up 2 weeks ago

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  32. I have been a member for more years then I can remember. However, it takes a long time to get enough points to get a really nice gift, like a TV. However, I did get a “free” vacuum cleaner when mine broke. So I did same some dollars there. I have also received some other “gifts”. I have never won one of their extra prizes, even thought I have been a member for many, many years.
    Thanks for telling me about Swagbucks.

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  33. I just joined a month ago; only waited about 6 weeks to be accepted, and I’m a single person, no kids (except furry kind), so I think they look for all demographics. Fedex Delivery of the scanner was a bit complicated initially, only because you have to be present to sign for it, and I worked odd hours. First shipment got returned to Nielson, but they agreed to send it to my office. Once you get the hang of it, it’s really easy. I don’t buy gobs of groceries, but eat out A LOT, and those purchases get scanned it too. Prize selection seems nice, and your weekly point accumulation increases the longer you stay involved. I’d say it’s definitely worth a try…where else can you earn free stuff for 5-10 minutes of your time once or twice a week?

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  34. I did this a few years ago for about 4 months. After all that time I still didn’t have enough points to get anything from their catalog and it was a real pain in the behind to half to scan everything after just getting done going shopping and trying to put stuff away. Then for some reason the scanner wouldn’t work well with my computer and took forever to complete the transfer of information each week. It got to be too much of a pain and I returned the scanner to them. It just wasn’t worth all the trouble I was going to, to scan stuff for the measly amount of points I was getting,.

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  35. I’ve done this for several years. It takes a while to get used to it, but it’s sort of fun once you learn. I’ve noticed, when they send surveys to my email, several months later I can notice a new product or packaging I reviewed show up on the shelves. Kind of neat to actually see a change you had something to do with. (I know that’s terrible grammar) Some stores are enlightened enough to provide the Nielson people with their prices, so you don’t have to enter the $ amount. I just plug the modem they provided into the phone jack in the hall and punch the button to send it once a week. If you are on vacation, or have a power failure, they give you credit anyway, if you tell them. I charge my scanner up about once a month. They periodically send a gift in the mail to thank you for helping. I’ve gotten a really nice travel mug, a book light and a fleece blanket I keep in my car trunk for emergencies.

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  36. I applied less than two months ago and just received my scanner yesterday. It’s not that difficult to use. I’m carrying mine with my, as I do my netbook, iPod Touch and cellphone. It’s not big deal to me.

    The only problem I foresee is getting my husband and kids to remember to bring me receipts for their purchases. Example, last night I had the hubby run to the gas station to get some medication for one of our daughters, who is sick, and of course he forgot the receipt along with the price for the item.

    Thankfully I DO the bulk of the shopping, putting gas in the car, etc, etc so if I don’t enter a purchase here or there I don’t think it’ll hurt me too much.

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  37. I started this about a month ago. It should be a lot easier than it is. It is not geared for folks like us who use every deal available. Many of my coupons fall under the “other” category since I found them on the web or they came by or from a link from email, since they told me that “received at home” means from the newspaper or the mail, not the internet. And, they can only handle coupons for individual products, not whole purchases. So, if I have a coupon for 25% one item at a Borders, I have to enter the total price of the book and calculate the coupon’s value and enter it. If I get 15% of my total purchase at CVS, there is no way to enter it other than that my total amount spent is a lot less than the individual prices.

    And, the phone transmission is a pain. I guess their internet transmission only works with wireless even though they asked me about my modem and available ports on my router when I applied.

    Also, I was told not to worry about anything without a barcode like fruits and vegetables, or anything not brought into my home, like gas or a candy bar eaten outside.

    I’ll keep it up for now.

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  38. I’ve been doing it over a year and was accepted right away. I love it 95% of the time. The times I don’t love it are when I walk in the door and need to just hurry to put the groceries away but I also need to be cooking, taking care of my family or entertaining guests. At that point, I usually scan super fast or I just write down the UPCs for later. Like someone else said, the longer you do it the faster you get at it.

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  39. I have done this for about 5 years now. I have gotten a couple of really good gifts. A stereo w cd player and a NICE crockpot. Right now I’m saving for a hand held GPS to go geocaching with. It really doesn’t take too long and if you answer all their surveys, the points add up faster.

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  40. I have been doing this for about 8 months. I waited to hear about 3 months before I got started. In the beginning it was a bit of an annoyance, but it only adds 5 or 10 minutes for scanning into your day. It does take quite a few points to add up to anything valuable, but hey, nothing to lose. I have gotten a couple of nice reusable bags and a can opener. I don’t think its a bad deal at all.

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  41. I’ve been a member for a couple years. I don’t mind the scanning. Most of the time I don’t need to enter prices for the grocery stores. Then every week I transmit online which only takes a few minutes. It does take awhile to accumulate enough points for anything worthwhile. But they have ongoing sweeps that you enter when you transmit. I haven’t been fortunate enough to win or redeem my points yet. Now that Nielsen merged with this other company, they will offer more surveys to accumulate points.

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  42. it took me about 3 weeks to be accepted and waited for a month on the scanner it just arrived 2 weeks ago. so far so good. i really liked it since im a stay at home.

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  43. I have been doing it for more than a year now, and have over 34,000 points so far. Try it for yourself, rather than listening to people who hate it; you may enjoy it! I actually like it. I have two boys at home who enjoy using the scanner, too. All of the stores where I shop have the prices entered, so I do not have to enter any prices. Occasionally I have to enter a price if I buy something at a vending machine or whatever, but it honestly takes less than a minute to do those types of purchases. I am a big couponer as well, and you do have to enter coupon amounts, but even that gets easier after a few times using the scanner. The scanner was mailed to my home, not hand delivered. I send my reports over the phone, not via the computer, and I have NEVER had one not go through. Many of the prizes are LARGE prizes, and name brands! Not gift certificates, etc., like may survey sites. You can get iPods, tents, luggage, tools, printers, video games and systems, etc. They can’t just give the stuff away, of course it will take time to get enough points for something big. Anyway, it is easy and fun, just maybe not for everyone!

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  44. I’ve had great success with the program. I didnt have to wait for the scanner.

    It’s easy. You are buying groceries already. Why not get some benefit for what you do.

    They mail you the scanner.

    I’m approaching the 12,000 point range.

    It’s really easy and simple.

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  45. I was a member for about 4 months. I returned it b/c I just wasn’t interested in scanning stuff when I got home (I’m a cashier- LOL). Plus having to put all the prices in was really cumbersome. Then they wanted you to enter in gasoline and vending machine purchases and stamps! A bit much for what you got. Before I quit we got a Nike sack.

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  46. I have been with them about 8 months and just now requested a nice coffee grinder that is selling on amazon for $35.00. (19,000 points)
    It is simple to do if your items are in there but takes time if you have to type in the prices. My scanner is broke for the 2nd time but they are nice on the phone and in sending a replacement. PLUS they give you your points for your missed time.
    I was accepted within 6 weeks from my original request. I think it depends on your age, class, state and stuff like that. (also guessing household ages, kids etc)

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  47. I only had to wait about 2 months to get the scanner, and have been scanning items for about 3 months now. It takes a long long time to get enough points to trade for an item, but they do have other contests, etc. throughout the year. The scanning does seem time consuming at first, but now it’s pretty quick.

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  48. I did it for a while (maybe 3-4 months) and sent it back because it got to be kind of a pain and I didn’t have the time or the patience to keep up with it. Probably adds 15 minutes to unpacking groceries. Then you have to upload stuff, download stuff.

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  49. I only had to wait for about 8 weeks and have been scanning for 4 months now. once you get used to scanning everything (which in the beginning can be annoying and time consuming) it is no big deal. but you have to have a lot of points before you can redeem them. I still don’t have enough to get any kind of reward. But I will scan scan scan (btw, you do not get more points if you shop more, you only get your points once a week regardless of how many stores you went to), so far I like it.

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  50. I’ve been a panelist for about 3-4 months now. It isn’t bad but can be somewhat burdensome when you have a TON to scan like I do sometimes. 🙂

    You earn 150 points a week just for scanning everything you purchase, then they have surveys that you can fill out to earn more points. The prize base is nice too, lots of things to choose from 🙂

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  51. I got on right away. I’ve been doing it for more than two years. It’s just like scanning stuff when you go thru the self check out line and the prizes are really cool things, not like the cheap gifts you get with the survey sites.My next gift I’m saving for is a really nice kithenade stand mixer.

    Reply

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