Nielsen Home Panel is now taking new applicants folks – but only for a limited time. We had this opportunity last week for a SHORT period of time, and some of you went for it……if you did, have you gotten your gun yet and what do you think?
I know many of you are big survey takers – in fact, many of you fund your love for extra cash and tid-bits with surveys. With Nielsen, you can earn valuable points, which are redeemable for electronics, household items, jewelry, toy, gift cards, and more.
If they are accepting panelists in your area, you’ll receive a price gun that you scan your groceries and coupons to earn points. This is a fun activity for your kiddos to do while you’re putting groceries away and the longer you’re a panelist, the better the prizes get. Head over — HERE to see if you qualify. 
I got my scanner a couple of days ago and will most likely be sending it back. :( The amount of work that they ask you to do is enormous and, by my calculations, it will take about 1 year of sending data in weekly without fail to earn even the least valuable rewards in the catalog – which, honestly, wouldn’t be very rewarding to get. I loved the idea of it when I thought I would just be scanning stuff I buy, but it’s a much bigger time committment than I understand – and with very little reward. :(
FYI for those that are considering it…it’s not just a matter of scanning everything you buy. You must enter all kinds of other information into the scanner about your purchases: the store, who was with you, the purchase price, whether it was on sale, whether you used a coupon and how much the coupon was worth, whether the retailer offered double/triple coupons, etc. (Since I hardly buy anything without a q, this would make each item a much longer entry process than just scanning! Haha!) You must also enter other non-UPC’d items into the scanner, like vending machine purchases, gas purchases, etc. And you must do this for every member of your household. If your hubby stops on the way to work to buy a Thirst Buster every day, that’s supposed to go in. If he picks up McD’s for lunch, that’s supposed to go in. Literally every single purchase made by anyone in your household.
Too bad, it’s just not for me…
Sounds like the process has not improved in many years. I had my scanner when I was married with no children, about 12 years ago, and I could not be bothered doing all the work. I can’t even imagine doing it now with a family. We were on the waiting list for years before it arrived, but sadly we didn’t keep it long either.