Is NCP Legit? Pros, Cons & (2024) User Reviews

Is NCP in your scope, but you’re worried that it might be another scam app?

You’re not alone. Many people feel too daunted to try new apps, especially if the deal seems too good to be true.

Fortunately, we’ve done the homework so that you won’t have to. We’ll talk all about NCP, its legitimacy, and how to use it.

What Is National Consumer Panel?

National Consumer Panel, or NCP, is an app that allows you to earn reward points and potentially money using market research. The idea is similar to getting paid for focus groups, but the approach you take is somewhat different.

While focus groups typically yield money through reviews and surveys, the NCP mobile app provides its goods by purchasing products and scanning their barcodes.

The application itself is run by two reputable data analytic companies: NielsenIQ and IRi, which is always a good sign when deciding the legitimacy of an app.

How Does National Consumer Panel Work?

NCP works by rewarding you for scanning the barcodes of the products you’ve already purchased. But let’s discuss the process step-by-step:

1. Download the App

NCP is available for Android (Play Store) and Mac (App Store) users alike.

Keep in mind that NCP mobile app only works in the United States. If you’re currently not a resident there, you won’t even be able to download the application.

Using a VPN is also pointless here because you’ll need valid purchased product receipts from the US, which you won’t have if you’re faking your location with a VPN.

2. Sign Up

The app will require a decent amount of personal information. Besides your name and email address, you’ll need to provide your phone number, names of people in your household, education level, monthly income, ethnicity, and some of the products you buy regularly.

After you provide all the necessary information, you’ll have one of two scenarios. The first one is that your profile will get accepted without problems. The second and most probable one is that you’ll be put on a waiting list.

3. Select Your Store(s)

NCP won’t give you any reward points unless you’ve shopped at one of the shops they’ve partnered with.

Fortunately, there’s a long list of popular retail companies like Walmart and Target. There’s a good chance that you’ve already shopped at some of them recently.

To select a store, click on “New Purchases” and select the retailer you’ve shopped at.

4. Scan the Barcodes

NCP isn’t like other receipt-scanning apps because it scans the barcode of the product instead of the receipt itself.

Once you select your store, you’ll have to scan the barcode of your product. The application will request permission to use your phone camera as a barcode scanner.

Give it permission, your camera will open, and you should scan the barcode.

5. Provide Information about Your Purchase

Once the product is scanned, you’ll have to provide some extra information, such as whether you’re going to buy the same product in the future again or not and whether there was a discount.

And as soon as you finish this, you’ll be prompted to a survey about the product.

6. Finish a Survey

You’ll need to provide some more information because this is a data collection panel. The survey will take around 1–2 minutes, so it’s not a hassle.

The questions you have on each product will vary, but generally, you should expect questions like these:

• How often do you buy from that particular retailer?
• How often do you purchase this particular product?
• How did you pay for the product (Credit, cash, debit, etc.)
• Was there a sale?
• What is the day and time of your purchase?
• What will you use that product for?
• Who was with you when you went shopping?
• Did you use any vouchers or coupons while making your purchase?

As soon as you’re done, submit your responses.

7. Wait

Unfortunately, there’s another waiting period once you finish everything.

NCP takes a few days to approve your request, and the points you earn won’t show up in your account until you get the approval. The process can take anywhere between minutes and days.

How to Get Bonus Points?

Scanning isn’t the only way to get points from NCP. Here are some other methods to get some extra points:

1. Signing Up

Once you complete the sign-up process, you immediately get 1,000 points to get started. The level of seniority (more on that soon) you’ll be at the time will be the charter, and those 1,000 points are equal to around seven scans.

2. Finish the Welcome Survey

After signing up, you’ll get a welcome survey which is worth 500 points. That’s around three more scans. Go ahead and finish it; it’ll take less than five minutes.

3. Bonus Birthday Points

Is it your birthday? NCP will automatically give you 250 points. It’s not much, but you do nothing at all and still get points.

4. Anniversary Bonuses

NCP will give you bonus points three times in the first year of signing up. After three months, you get 1,500 points, then another 1,000 points at the 6-month mark, and another 1,000 after the first year.

Common Questions to Understand

Scanning items is straightforward, but by now, you might have a few questions regarding earnings, such as:

How Many Points Do You Earn Per Scan?

The number of points you earn will depend on your seniority. The longer you’ve been using the app, the more points you’ll earn per scan.

How Does the Seniority System Work?

In short, you’ll have to perform at least one scan a week to become an active member. On maintaining that, you’ll progress through eight levels of seniority throughout the panel, each providing more points per scan.

Here’s how much you can earn per scan for each level:

• Charter (0-6 months): 150 points per scan
• Bronze (7-12 months): 200 points per scan
• Silver (1-2 years): 225 points per scan
• Gold (2 years): 235 points per scan
• Platinum (3 years): 245 points per scan
• Double platinum (4 years): 255 points per scan
• Triple platinum (5 years): 280 points per scan
• Excellence (6+ years): 325 points per scan

To give you an idea of how the points translate into cash rewards, 5,000–6,000 points can give you a $10 gift card.

Do Different Items Reward Different Points?

No, they don’t. Regardless of the product you buy, you’ll receive the same amount of points per scan. The only determiner of how much you earn is how long you’ve been actively using the app.

Is National Consumer Panel Legit?

To cut to the chase, National Consumer Panel is a legitimate application that, unless there’s an error of some sort, does pay its customers the promised amount of money.

Here are some extra reasons why you should use NCP:

• It’s not limited to one per household: You’d be surprised to know that other applications with similar services won’t let you use the application on multiple devices in the same household. If any of your family members (as long as they’re above 18) wants to use the app, you can add them to your NCP as shoppers, and they’ll be able to use the app independently.
• It’s backed by reputable companies: NielsenIQ and IRi are the companies behind NCP, both of which are completely legitimate.
• It’s straightforward: Once you go through the hassle of signing up, all you have to do next is to pick up your phone and scan your product.
• They have a physical location: Unlike other services like AcurianHealth, NCP does have a physical location you can check and visit; 6800 Jericho Tpke Ste 102E Syosset, NY 11791-4401.

Is National Consumer Panel Reliable?

If we’re talking about meeting all the advertised services, then NCP is indeed reliable. However, if you were using NCP with the expectation of making money or at least using it as a side hustle, you may be in the wrong place.

NCP is an application for shopping rewards and not for making money. With the rate of conversion, you’ll require a considerable amount of consistency to get a few extra bucks.

One thing you may not find on the app’s page is how limited the scans are. You’re limited to 10 scans per week which, even at the highest seniority level, gives you a maximum of 3,250 points.

We projected a consistent use of the app based on that calculation for a year, and the final result ranged between $100 and $200. As such, NCP isn’t a main income source by any means. It’s primarily to earn rewards from purchases that you would’ve purchased regardless.

Is National Consumer Panel Safe?

National Consumer Panel is 100% safe. You’d expect a scam app to immediately accept your application so they can take your information or money, but NCP will mostly put you on a waiting list.

The app is also labeled safe by multiple websites like Survey Police. The positive reviews on both the App Store and Play Store back the fact that the panel is safe to use. The reviews aren’t made by fake accounts, and they’re not overwhelmingly positive in a suspicious way.

What Are Users Saying About National Consumer Panel?

In this section, we’ll talk about a couple of National Consumer Panel reviews. Here’s what we found:

What Google Reviewers Liked About NCP

• Convenience and ease of use: Most users reported that the application is easy to understand and use
• Straightforwardness: The application is as straightforward as it gets. Scan barcodes, do quick surveys, and get your points according to the seniority level.

What Reddit Reviewers Liked About NCP

• The ability to pile points consistently: While some people find the process tedious, many Reddit users were patient enough to actually stack up and fetch their rewards.
• Lack of scams and fraud: Apps that pay you for seemingly simple tasks often have a lot of controversy. While some users think that the process is tedious, nobody on Reddit thinks that the app is a scam of any kind.

Why Are People Worried About Using National Consumer Panel?

Despite being a legitimate app, newcomers may have some questions and suspicions.

What Google Reviewers Are Worried About NCP

• The scanning function: NCP is supposed to utilize your phone camera to scan the barcodes. However, some users are struggling to scan the products as their cameras don’t register the barcodes for some reason.
• The grind is too much: Having a limited weekly amount of scans and a long waiting time before your seniority level is high enough to accumulate considerable points can be frustrating.

What YouTube Reviewers Are Worried About NCP

• It’s not a side hustle: YouTubers believe that, while NCP does give you some cash back, it’s not a reliable money-making app even to be considered a side hustle
• It’s a waste of time: Because it can generate a maximum of around $200 a year, some YouTubers think NCP is a waste of time because of the excessive effort and little gain.

National Consumer Panel Quality & Guarantees

Like any legitimate app, there has to be some sort of quality guarantee.

National Consumer Panel state that they collect anonymous information regarding the usage of their scanner and software.

They also provide full disclosure of how they use that information, stating that they may use the information to contact the provider but never reveal their identity to someone else.

You can view all the information by visiting their official page and checking the privacy policy.

National Consumer Panel Customer Service

Customer service is where NCP might lose some credibility. Multiple users stated that they weren’t happy with the customer service provided.

Typically, you can reach NCP through email or through their number at (800) 962-6700.

Despite being rated A+ on the Better Business Bureau, customers are complaining that they weren’t satisfied with the customer service.

Multiple users were locked out of their accounts for seemingly odd reasons. One user stated that the reason behind that lockout was their ethnicity.

Another user, who had a hearing problem, told them that they couldn’t call anymore because of that, and the response was, “Find someone else to help you.”

But truth be told, NCP is actively responding to such comments, asking for more details and trying to resolve the issues.

Frequently Asked Questions

Similar Gigs to Research

Looking to check other platforms for legitimacy? Consider taking a look at the following:

• Is MRI Simmons Survey Legit?: MRI Simmons is a leading market research company that supposedly pays people to contribute to the research, but is it real? Find out here.
• Is Opinion Champ Legit?: Opinion Champ claims that it pays you to participate in surveys. But is it that straightforward? Find out here.
• Is Sampler Legit?: Sampler allows you to get free samples from reputable brands. Is it too good to be true? Find out here.

Wrapping Up

At the end of the line, we can confidently say that NCP is legitimate. It won’t pay you 20 an hour. And can’t even be a home job or a side hustle for teens, but it’s great for giving you some cash back over your purchases if you are consistent enough with scanning.

If this article helped you reach a conclusion about NCP, or if you think someone else might find this article helpful, then let us know in the comments and share it!