So what is the Amazon Shopper Panel?
Already well established in the US, the UK launch of the Amazon Shopper Panel, without considerable fanfare, arrived on these shores back in 2022; this invitation-only program to a limited number of Amazon Prime membership customers has proven to be a great way to earn some extra cash - £60 per year - for not doing very much!
The Amazon Shopper Panel is the retail giant Amazon's take on the receipt scanning app side hustle, which rewards you for scanning your eligible receipts from goods you buy in-store and online onto a mobile app. You can claim a reward once you have scanned a certain amount.
The Amazon version works similarly; its primary benefit is that you only have to scan ten receipts per month to claim it's maximum £5 per month reward, which is easy money as I'll bet there aren't many people who don't make less than 10 purchases a month in a shop or online retailer, I usually have maxed out my 10 receipts target in the first day of the month!
What is a receipt-scanning app?
A receipt scanning app designed to monetise your receipts and requires you to take pictures of paper receipts from your various offline and online purchases with your mobile phone, using the receipt scanning app. Once you scan enough receipts, you'll then be eligible to receive a reward. The rewards are usually a payment to your PayPal account or bank account, or you'll receive gift cards for use at a retailer. It can be really slow to be able to scan enough receipts to get you a payout; in some apps, you'll have to scan dozens of receipts to earn enough for a reward, and it can take weeks to get a payout, even if you scan receipts every time you get one! This is why the Amazon Shopper Panel app has been so well received and also the reason there's a waiting list to join up; it really is the best app to monetise your receipts! With this app you only need to scan ten receipts a month to be able to earn £5 worth of Amazon credit, which is very easy to do. It will allow you to forward email receipts to your account as well for online purchases, which count towards your ten receipt goal.
What receipts can I submit to the Amazon system?
Most receipts for purchases made within the past 30 days are eligible, including those from retailers (such as grocery stores, pharmacies, and department stores) and entertainment outlets (such as restaurants, cinemas, and theme parks). Receipts from Amazon purchases and other Amazon stores, including Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh, are not eligible. Receipts for gambling, mortgage and rent, transport, school tuition fees or childcare, medical expenses, legal or financial services, handwritten receipts, non-English language receipts, receipts from outside the UK or duplicate receipts are also not eligible and should not be submitted. Receipts must contain clear text and not be blurry, faded, or otherwise unreadable. Email receipts must contain the receipt in the body of the email, cannot include attachments, and must be sent from the email address associated with your Amazon account.
In addition to receipt scanning, there is also a way to earn extra rewards. The extra money survey option consists of a few survey questions, usually taking about 1 minute or so, and you'll be paid between 25p and 50p extra for each one you do. You don't get many, sometimes none in a month, but it's nice when you do get one!
They also have an Amazon Ads option where you'll be paid £2 per month, which is an opt-in extra that, when selected, allows Amazon to know what adverts you might have seen on your mobile phone, either Amazon’s own advertising or from third-party businesses. This ad verification feature will let Amazon know what sort of adverts you've seen, where you saw them, and the time of day the advert was seen by you, which helps them fine-tune their advert delivery to you and others. This won't work if you use a virtual private network.
When do I get paid?
The scheme pays you once your account reaches the minimum redemption amount of £5, and this is paid directly to your Amazon balance automatically. The monthly rewards payment, which includes the additional rewards such as the surveys and ads, is sent to you within the first few days of a new month, so as an example, your payment for February's receipt scans is sent to you in the first few days of March. If you prefer, you can choose Amazon to make a charitable donation on your behalf instead of receiving the payment yourself.
Who can take part?
The scheme is by invitation only for Amazon Prime customers, and in theory, Amazon will send you an email asking you if you want to take join up; however, I just downloaded the app, which was on the Apple app page, and signed up, and it registered me immediately, and off I went, but normally the scheme is full, and it will allow interested customers to join a wait list and, in time, you'll likely be offered a place on the rewards app, but it might take quite a while as its so popular and easy to use that nobody really leaves it!
Is it safe?
Whatever information that's on the receipts you send Amazon is what Amazon will have access to! The collected data will include retailer names, the location of where you shopped, the exact time and date of when you shopped, what you bought, how many items you bought, what you paid, and how you paid, and even the number of loyalty points you have, so if you're someone that doesn't like to share your personal information, this, and all the other receipts scanning apps, aren't for you! The Amazon shopper panel program system is as safe as any of the other receipt scanning apps; you have to be aware that whatever sensitive information you send them, about what you buy, where you buy it and how much you spend, is likely to be used by Amazon for marketing reasons, but according to Amazon's privacy policy, your information will NOT be sold to others. Very sensitive information, such as prescription information, is automatically deleted by the app. Otherwise, all the information is kept on the app for 13 months. Amazon will potentially use your information within its own group of companies, such as Prime Video, Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, etc, and so you'll likely find more targeted advertising directed towards you. My view is that Amazon already knows rather a lot about my spending habits, being that every other purchase I make is from them, so I'm not that worried; as I use many other receipt scanning apps, I have to accept that my information is most likely already in circulation, and used by many other marketing companies, and so one more isn't going to make much difference. I would rather earn £5 a month, or £60 a year, for them having my info than me simply throwing my receipt in the bin!
Also, consider the following receipt scanning apps to monetise your till receipts; it can really add up if you use them all!
You can find all the information on the system on the Amazon Shopper Panel homepage, which will include links to the app store or Google Play store to download the app.
