Thursday, December 24, 2009

Shop & Scan & Earn!


Well, this is going to be my last post before Christmas! As you can tell, my posting has been a bit random these last few months, but we have been busy preparing for our time with family. And, I am happy to say, the festivities begin today. Off to church with the grandparents, then home for a Christmas Eve dinner party.

Tomorrow, we will be with my parents, aunt/uncle, and my brother and his family. Fun awaits! Then, the next day, we will be with another set of grandparents/aunt for our Christmas with them.

But, before the fun begins, I did stumble upon another research program for scanning groceries at home. This means, just like Nielsen, you will track what you purchase and then get rewards for doing so.

Do you remember my original write up on Nielsen? If not, read below.

I am going to admit, I had signed up for this a few years back, received my scanner in the mail, and then......well, had my youngest son "early" and life became a whirlwind! So, I had to return it and I am just now, finally, signing up to become a member again.

Want to know a bit more about the program?

Well, it is run by Nielsen ( you know the company....think TV ratings ) and is to track consumers purchases. They are conducting market research on how you shop! What a great time to tell them what a great sale shopper you are, and how much you can save!

Many times, once you sign up, you are put on a waiting list. So, I would sign up now, if interested. Some have reported getting their scanners fairly quickly, and others ( like myself last time ) it took over 6 months to get my scanner.

What does their site claim?

Earn gifts and rewards from home scanning the products you purchase. Join ACNielsen's Homescan Consumer Panel and make a difference. Limited availability!
* You MUST have a Land-Line Home Phone (no cell phones)
* You MUST have a standard Land-Line Phone Connection (no DSL, Cable or Internet)

Click Here to sign up.

Need more info on the program?
They send a scanner to your house, and everytime you go shopping ( think groceries, too ) and you come home, you scan the products quickly before putting them away and enter the cost, etc. You then send the information via the scanner so they can track your "shopping".

Is it worth the time spent to scan your purchases?

Not sure. As I mentioned, I had to send mine back, because I didn't even take it out of the box.

I have heard others comment that they really like the program, especially since their groceries automatically loaded in when scanned and then some have said the scanner didn't automatically work for their grocery ( meaning they had to manually enter their info ) and it was a bit too much time invested then.

My recommendation is to just sign up and get on the list, and give it a try. If your scanner is automatic, it could be worth all the points you earn. If yours don't automatically load, well, you can just send it back then.


Well now, there is a 2nd company that is similar to Nielsen. I would recommend signing up with this company, too. Especially if you have yet to be accepted to the first program and are on their waiting list.

Shopper Hotline

To join this panel and begin scanning your purchases, they unfortunately do not have an online application. Instead, you need to call them and apply via the phone. You can read a bit about the company here, though.

Call 1-877-999-2949.

It appears on their program, instead of rewards, you may actually receive checks to cash. Apparently, they run on a point system that you then redeem for your money.

I plan to try again with this program, and if/when I get accepted, I will definitely tell you more.




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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It actually goes onto a card like a visa giftcard type thing (I don't remember what brand it is though) but the points end up coming out to only a couple dollars per year for quite a bit of scanning so to me, this one wasn't worth the time either. My one suggestion, if you do quit this one, make sure you write down exactly when you sent it back and made your call (you have to call them to let them know you are cancelling) because apparently several people have reported having a collections person coming to their door demanding the money (which was some crazy amount like $200) that the scanner was worth because they "never received it back" even though the people had used the return label. I had no troubles but wrote down my info just in case. Neilson was easy to send back too and I did receive my gifts (though they did take longer than they said so don't freak out if it's a little bit past the timeframe).

 
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