Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Halstead Research Group LLC ("we", "us", "our"), which operates the Shopper Panel USA consumer research panel and the website at shopperpanelusa.com (the "Site"). By using the Site, submitting a panel application, or taking part in a study, you accept these Terms. If you do not accept them, do not use the Site.

1. Eligibility

To apply to the panel you must be at least 18 years old, be a resident of the United States, and have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms. The panel is limited to one membership per person. Applying on behalf of another person, or holding more than one membership, is a breach of these Terms.

We may decline any application at our discretion, and we may set additional requirements for individual studies, such as household composition or purchase history in a category.

2. Applications and panel membership

Submitting the application form on the Site creates an application, not a membership. We review applications on a weekly cycle and contact applicants by email if their profile matches an open study or an active recruitment quota. Membership begins only when we confirm it in writing by email.

Membership is personal to you. You may not transfer it, share your invitations, or let another person answer studies in your name.

3. No guarantee of selection or participation

We make no promise that your application will be accepted, that you will be invited to any study, that any particular number of studies will be offered to you, or that studies will be offered at any particular frequency. Study places are limited and are allocated according to the profile the client's research design calls for. Many qualified applicants are never matched to a study.

Nothing on the Site, in an application, or in these Terms is an offer of employment. Panel membership does not create an employment, agency, partnership, or contractor relationship between you and us.

We may close a study, change its requirements, or withdraw an invitation at any point before the study is completed.

4. Accuracy of the information you give us

You agree that the information in your application and in every study response is truthful, accurate, and your own. Research is only useful if the answers are honest. Providing false screening answers, impersonating another person, or answering studies at random undermines the research and is grounds for immediate removal from the panel.

You agree to keep your contact details up to date by emailing support@shopperpanelusa.com when they change.

5. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Submit more than one application, or apply using an identity that is not yours;
• Use bots, scripts, scrapers, or any automated means to access the Site or to complete studies;
• Attempt to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Site, or to bypass any security or access control;
• Interfere with the operation of the Site, including by overloading it or introducing malicious code;
• Copy, reproduce, or republish any part of the Site except as these Terms allow;
• Use the Site or the panel to send unsolicited commercial messages, or to collect information about other panelists;
• Misrepresent your affiliation with us or with any research client;
• Use the Site for any purpose that is unlawful, or in a way that violates the rights of anyone else.

6. Conduct during studies

When you take part in a study you agree to follow the instructions given in that study, to complete it within the stated period, and to give considered answers. Straight-lining, contradictory answers, and responses that appear to be machine-generated may be excluded from the research record and may end your membership.

Each study may have its own terms and its own privacy notice. Where a study's terms conflict with these Terms, the study's terms control for that study only.

7. Intellectual property

The Site, the Shopper Panel USA name and logo, the text, layout, questionnaires, study designs, and all other material we provide are owned by Halstead Research Group LLC or our licensors and are protected by United States and international intellectual property law. We grant you a limited, personal, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to view the Site and to take part in studies you have been invited to. No other right is granted. You may not use our name or logo without our prior written permission.

Material shown to you inside a study, including product concepts, packaging designs, advertising, and prototype descriptions, belongs to the client that commissioned the study and is disclosed to you in confidence.

8. Your responses and the license you give us

You keep ownership of what you write. By submitting an application or a study response, you grant us and the client that commissioned the study a perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive license, for which no royalty is due, to use, reproduce, adapt, analyze, and publish that response for research purposes, including in reports and presentations. Unless you have given separate written permission, published research does not identify you by name and your responses are used in aggregated or de-identified form.

You confirm that your responses do not infringe anyone's rights and contain no confidential information belonging to a third party or to your employer.

9. Confidentiality

Study materials are confidential. You agree not to disclose, photograph, record, post, or discuss any study content, product concept, brand, or questionnaire with anyone outside the study, including on social media, for a period of two years from the date of the study, unless we tell you in writing that the material is public. This obligation survives the end of your membership.

10. Privacy

Our handling of personal information is described in the Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms. Please read it before you apply.

11. Third-party services and links

Some studies are delivered through third-party survey platforms, and the Site may link to third-party pages. We do not control those services, we do not endorse their content, and we are not responsible for their terms, their privacy practices, or their availability. Your use of a third-party service is governed by that service's own agreement with you.

12. Disclaimers

THE SITE AND THE PANEL ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

We do not warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted, secure, or without error, that defects will be corrected, or that any study invitation will be sent to you. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so parts of this section may not apply to you.

13. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, Halstead Research Group LLC AND ITS MEMBERS, MANAGERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OPPORTUNITY, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SITE OR THE PANEL, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER THEORY, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SITE OR THE PANEL IS LIMITED TO DIRECT DAMAGES THAT YOU ACTUALLY INCUR AND CAN PROVE. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations of liability, so parts of this section may not apply to you. Nothing in these Terms limits liability for fraud or for any liability that cannot be limited by law.

14. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Halstead Research Group LLC and its members, managers, officers, employees, and agents from any claim, demand, loss, liability, or expense, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of your breach of these Terms, your misuse of the Site, your breach of section 9, or your violation of any law or third-party right.

15. Suspension and termination

You may leave the panel at any time by emailing support@shopperpanelusa.com and asking to be removed. We will close your membership and handle your data as described in the Privacy Policy.

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Site or your panel membership at any time, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe you have breached these Terms, if your responses compromise research quality, if your account appears to be duplicated or automated, or if we discontinue the panel. Sections 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 17 and 18 survive termination.

16. Changes to these Terms

We may revise these Terms from time to time. The "Last updated" date shows the current version. Material changes are announced to panel members by email at least 14 days before they take effect. If you continue to use the Site or remain on the panel after the effective date, you accept the revised Terms. If you do not accept them, stop using the Site and ask us to close your membership.

17. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the state in which Halstead Research Group LLC maintains its principal place of business, as shown at 1309 Coffeen Avenue, Suite 1200, Sheridan, WY 82801, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules, and by applicable United States federal law.

Before starting any formal proceeding, you agree to contact us at support@shopperpanelusa.com and give us 30 days to resolve the dispute informally. If the dispute is not resolved, it will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in that same jurisdiction, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts. Nothing in this section prevents either party from seeking relief in small claims court where the claim qualifies.

18. General provisions

• Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any study-specific terms, are the entire agreement between you and us about the Site and the panel.
• Severability. If a provision is held unenforceable, it is modified to the minimum extent necessary and the remaining provisions stay in force.
• No waiver. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it.
• Assignment. You may not assign these Terms. We may assign them to an affiliate or in connection with a merger or sale of the business.
• Notices. We give notice by email to the address in your record, or by posting on the Site. You give notice to us at support@shopperpanelusa.com.
• Force majeure. Neither party is liable for a delay caused by events outside its reasonable control.

19. Contact

See also our Privacy Policy and our contact page.