Paid outreach
Research interview budgets: what you pay and when
Understand participant payments, recruiting fees, card holds and charge timing before budgeting for paid research interviews.
Budget for what you will pay in total, not just what the participant receives. Check whether the advertised price includes their payment, recruiting fees and payment handling. Then check when your card will be charged and what happens if the session is canceled.
Start with the work you are asking someone to do: the call length, preparation and any follow-up. Budget separately for agreed travel or communication support. GOV.UK's participant guidance explains that incentives depend on the participant and session, and that access expenses may be additional.
Read the price before adding fees
In Instant Expert, the displayed buyer price already includes the platform fee. For an illustrative US$100 participant payment, the buyer price is US$125: $100 for the participant and $25 for Instant Expert, before any applicable tax. The fee is 20% of the buyer total, not an extra 20% added to the participant's payment.
Use the actual amount shown for the person and request you select; prices are rounded and can differ between people and call lengths. Do not add the platform fee again when totaling your Instant Expert requests.
User Interviews uses different units. Its Pay As You Go recruiting price is $49 per consumer participant or $98 with Advanced B2B targeting. The participant incentive is extra. If User Interviews distributes that incentive, it adds a 3% processing fee to the incentive amount. Its recruiting fee covers access to its panel and recruitment tools; it is not the amount the participant receives.
Check which audience and service you need before comparing totals. A lower recruiting fee is of little help if the service cannot reach people with the experience your question requires.
Know when money moves
Instant Expert places a card hold when you send invitations. For a batch, that hold equals the highest selected buyer price, not the sum of all requests. A hold reserves funds; it is not the final charge.
Your card is charged when someone books a call, or when they submit a reply. A call's final cost can be adjusted after attendance or dispute review. If you miss a call while the other person is available, you may still owe the full price. Read the payment and attendance terms before sending.
User Interviews' PAYGO help specifies upfront card payment before recruitment begins. Its per-completed-session pricing describes the billing unit, not a promise to collect payment only afterward. See its PAYGO guidance.
Cancellations can also cost money. For a researcher-canceled confirmed participant recruited from its panel, User Interviews' policy includes 25% of the incentive, 3% processing on that compensation and the PAYGO recruiting fee. Its requested 24-hour notice is not a free-cancellation threshold. Check the applicable cancellation policy when planning your schedule.
Set a limit for the first round
In Instant Expert, Max total spend limits accepted requests in that batch, including platform fees. Calls use the allowance when booked; replies use it when submitted. Requests that no longer fit the remaining allowance expire. A later call refund does not refill that allowance or reopen expired invitations.
Start with an amount you can afford, using the displayed request prices. Keep any other provider fees and agreed support expenses alongside it. If a charge is still unknown, leave it visible rather than treating it as zero.
Compare what you actually spent
After the round, total the payments and fees actually charged, subtract refunds, and include unsuccessful attempts that still incurred a charge. Keep staff time for finding people, scheduling and taking notes separate from that cash total.
Compare similar rounds: what did you spend, how many conversations happened, and did you reach the people you needed? If interviews were unhelpful, check whether the problem was finding relevant people or asking useful questions before changing providers. Pay the agreed amount for participation even when the answer contradicts your idea.
For your first Instant Expert round, find people with the relevant experience, review their request prices and set a batch limit before sending a clear invitation.