We know how you love NCP tips, so here’s a few more! Hopefully these will make your NCP experience easier and more enjoyable.
Many panelists have questions about recording non-UPC barcoded purchases. As you probably know, you can record purchases that don’t have a barcode by using the Barcode Reference Booklet or, if you participate with the NCPMobile App, use the Non-Barcoded Items list in the app.
I would advise panelists to review the Barcode Reference Booklet or the Non-Barcoded Items list to become familiar with all the different categories and items that are available.
- If you buy gas for your car or truck, you can record it
- If you buy fruits and vegetables, you can record them
- If you buy clothing, you can record those items, too!
Other items you should record include cold cuts, cheese, meat/poultry/seafood, baked goods, candy/nuts/seeds, coffee, prepared foods, take-out food, plants and flowers, prescription drugs, and more.
Some things to note:
- If you purchased items that don’t have a barcode AND are not listed in the booklet, you should still include their cost when entering the total amount of the purchase.
- You don’t need to record services that you receive, such as dry cleaning, movie/concert/sporting event tickets, haircuts/styling, and car washing, among other things. At this time, NCP doesn’t collect information for service-related purchases.
We hope these tips help you be an even better panelist!
Thanks, and have a great day!
I find the new website very taxing. To find scan purchases on my computer is impossible. There is no indication when one must open to record their drug purchases. I always thought that was the most essential part of your surveys.
I am very disappointed.
H Barry, the website is an informational resource. You still need to use the NCPMobile app (or NCP’s handheld scanner) to scan and submit your shopping trip purchases. We apologize for any confusion. Thank you!
If I purchase an item from Amazon or another store and I can not scan or enter the barcode, then I can only enter the purchase if I have at least one item to scan, correct? The NCP app requires at least one item to be entered and most of the time, I won’t have any product codes to add.
Looking forward to being able to enter these purchases one day. I order a lot of items without any way to scan them.
Hi, Susan, you’re right. Please scan what you can. Thanks!
Same here. A lot of what I purchase is online and doesn’t have a barcode and I tend to order one thing at a time with Amazon Prime and Sam’s Club plus membership so those purchases go unrecorded and NCP labels me as a low household spender. I do try my best to remember to submit what I can though. Hopefully they will add a way to do this in the near future.
Where is the gas option on the app?
Hi, when you go to record your purchases and you see the “Scan Item” page, look on the bottom right, and you’ll see a barcode with the line across the circle. That’s the way to get to the Non-Barcoded Items list on the app.
I need to learn how to scan using my iPhone. Could you let me see your tutorial on how to use your iPhone to record purchases? Thank you
Hi, Caroline. Please visit our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFHEB-TKG58
Hope that helps!
I just want to appoligize in advance i had no clue at first what i was doing. But i am getting the hang of it. Some places where i live there is no barcode so i uncategorized. I wasn’t sure. Some gas stations and grocery stores.
Thank you! It would be helpful if we could still add the product manually and price at some point in the future. This happens frequently with many Amazon purchases. Sometimes all the items in my order have these weird barcodes the app doesn’t recognize and it doesn’t fit into the barcode options (e.g. cases of Izze, Amazon devices, car parts, etc). So I skip entering the order because it doesn’t allow me just enter nothing and then proceed to shopping trip total. Thanks for the tips, though.
Hi, that’s a very interesting idea. I will bring it up for discussion internally. Thanks!
What if you make a purchase at a store such as IKEA and they don’t use barcodes and your items don’t fit into the categories in the non barcode booklet? ie. kitchen utensils, bowls, dishes, towels, etc.
Hi, the situation you write about is challenging. Unfortunately, not everything can be recorded. We know this can be frustrating to you, and to us, too! So, if you have items that don’t have a barcode and also are not in the non-barcode booklet, you can transmit the total amount you spent. Although we won’t know exactly what you purchased, it will help us understand your overall buying habits. Thanks.
Awesome glad to know I can just send in a total. The person that sent you this email is exactly right. You are missing thousands of $ of purchases from Amazonn alone. Most of their bar codes do not scan and are not accepted when typed in. You have no categories for 2/3 of their items.
You also hand no sewing knitting category I spend hundreds a month on this no way to record it.
Now I will enter store and amount
Do i record allbpf my doctors appts. Ibebonly recorfed some prescribtions amd an eye doctor
Hi, thank you for the question. You do not need to record any doctor appointments. Thanks!