How to set a research participant incentive budget (and when your card gets charged)
Budget for the total you pay, which is more than the participant's share: platform and recruiting fees, card holds, charge timing and cancellation costs.
A research participant incentive budget should cover the total you pay, which can be more than the incentive alone. Check what the price includes, when your card is charged and what a cancellation costs.
Size the payment to the work (call length, preparation, follow-up) and budget agreed travel or communication support separately. GOV.UK's participant guidance says incentives depend on the participant and session, and that access expenses may be extra.
1. Read the price before you add fees
In Instant Expert, you pick one all-in price per booked call and pay it only when someone books, before any applicable tax. The order never shows a separate fee or what the person receives.
Use the price shown for each person and request, since it varies by person and call length. Don't add anything to it when you total your Instant Expert requests.
User Interviews prices in different units. Its Pay As You Go recruiting price is $49 per consumer participant, or $98 with Advanced B2B targeting, and the participant incentive is extra. If User Interviews distributes the incentive, it adds a 3% processing fee to it.
Compare totals only between services that can reach your audience. A cheap recruiting fee is no help if the service can't find people with the right experience.
2. Know when the money moves
Instant Expert places a card hold when you send invitations. For a batch, the 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 submits a reply. A call's final cost can be adjusted after attendance or dispute review, and 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 afterward. See its PAYGO guidance.
Cancellations cost money too. If a researcher cancels a confirmed participant from its panel, User Interviews' policy charges 25% of the incentive, 3% processing on that amount and the PAYGO recruiting fee. Its requested 24-hour notice is not a free-cancellation window. Check the cancellation policy when you plan your schedule.
3. Size the first round
In Instant Expert, you're charged the shown price for each person who accepts, all-in, so the most a batch can cost is the total if everyone accepts. The order shows that total before you send. Invite only as many people as you could afford if all of them accept. For outreach that repeats, an Advisor plan sets one budget for all its batches: calls spend from it when booked and replies when submitted, and open invitations close at no charge once what's left can't cover them.
Set an amount you can afford from the displayed prices, with other provider fees and support costs listed beside it. Leave any unknown charge visible instead of counting it as zero.
4. Total what you actually spent
After the round, add up what was charged, subtract refunds and include failed attempts that still cost something. Keep staff time for finding people, scheduling and notes separate from the cash.
Compare similar rounds by spend, conversations held and whether you reached the right people. If the interviews were unhelpful, check whether the problem was who you found or what you asked before switching providers. And pay the agreed amount even when an answer contradicts your idea.
For your first Instant Expert round, find people with the relevant experience, check their request prices and the order total before sending a clear invitation.