This article addresses frequently asked questions about OTC counterparty, available reporting, and Lucid's billing process (related: billing & financial reporting FAQs).
General background and info
When did counterparty go into effect?
January 1, 2021
What changes occurred when counterparty went into effect?
Driven by compliance with data privacy laws, Lucid extended payment counterparty to OTC completes - when a supplier supplies sample manually via targeted links (aka 'over the counter' or 'OTC') from Lucid Marketplace versus supplying sample programmatically via an integration with Marketplace.
Previously, Lucid was not counterparty to OTC completes so suppliers would have to invoice Marketplace buyers directly; however as counterparty, Lucid must require all sources of respondents to have agreed to our supplier terms—similar to a seller agreement with Amazon Marketplace—and verified compliance with applicable data privacy laws.
As counterparty, Lucid proactively pays suppliers for all completes achieved in Marketplace so no invoicing is actually required. Also, Lucid as a marketplace platform remits seller revenue payments on a month's completes basis versus project-level, batching all revenue from all buyers into a single automated monthly payment.
What do I need to do to get started?
To set up your account on our system, we require information about your platform redirects, which determine where respondents will be directed after their sessions are completed. Once we grant you access to the Supplier Portal, follow these steps:
Log in and navigate to the supplier redirect form via the "more dropdown."
Select the product Marketplace Supply OTC.
Submit your redirects.
By default, we will add a set of session parameters to your base URLs, enabling you to track user activity. You can view the complete redirect setup in the My Supplier Redirect table of the Supplier Redirect Form by clicking on the link(s) under the header Supplier Redirect Name. If you wish to modify the data we append, please reach out to your account team.
We will provide you with access to the following resources and links, these will help you successfully navigate reporting, survey metrics, and other supplier tools:
Lucid Marketplace: https://marketplace.samplicio.us/
This is Lucid's platform UI where you can go to download the transactional reporting referenced in the marketplace sample sold report article.
Lucid Supplier Portal Extension: https://suppliers.lucidhq.solutions/
This is the OTC delivery dashboard that allows suppliers to confirm buyer-entered CPIs as well as monitor delivery metrics in near real time - rather than rely on email updates from project managers.
Lucid Supplier Portal: https://partners.lucidhq.com
This is a resource center for Marketplace suppliers to manage their seller profiles, view commercial terms, and access performance reporting relative to supply integrations with Marketplace.
How do I know if a client is using Lucid’s platform to run their work?
Clients/buyers should indicate Lucid as payment counterparty in the billing/payment terms of any project agreements (SOWs).
Furthermore, any targeted links beginning with https://www.samplicio.us are projects being run through the Lucid Marketplace.
Any projects run in Marketplace via a targeted allocation will be viewable within the OTC Dashboard.
Reporting
As a supplier who only engages in OTC work, what reports do I have access to?
The sample sold report is located within Marketplace and can be found by navigating to reports → sell-side.
The OTC Dashboard, located within the Supplier Portal, allows suppliers to confirm buyer-entered CPIs are correct before initiating traffic to OTC links and to monitor survey metrics as well as delivery progress to OTC completes allocations in near real time - rather than rely on email updates from project managers.
How do I log into Marketplace and/or the Supplier Portal?
Your login information for both Marketplace and the Supplier Portal will be the same username (your email address) and password. If you have forgotten your password, please contact support@lucid.com.
How can I see my OTC sold by project?
Lucid pays suppliers on a monthly basis, rather than per project. Using the sample sold report, you can see your monthly activity broken out by survey. OTC activity will be marked with a complete type of "OTC."
How do I access the OTC dashboard?
The OTC dashboard can be accessed via this direct link: https://suppliers.lucidhq.solutions/
If you would like to request additional user access to the OTC Dashboard, please reach out to supply@cint.com
Payment terms and invoicing
What is Lucid’s commission rate for suppliers?
Please refer to your seller order form for applicable commission rates.
Where and when can I see my OTC payments?
Suppliers can see their OTC activity via the sample sold report, which will show the monthly net payment amount.
All monthly activity is paid at net-90 payment terms from the last day of the month in which the activity occurred (i.e., payment for May’s activity will be paid net-90 from 5/31). OTC complete costs will be included along with your Marketplace complete costs in your monthly payments.
See billing and financial reporting FAQs for a high-level overview of understanding your payments from Lucid and how to utilize Marketplace reporting.
What can I expect my payment to be?
Payments reflect your entire monthly sell-side activity amount, net of any seller commissions charged. The amount should agree to your sample sold report.
What currency does Lucid pay suppliers in?
All suppliers are paid from Lucid’s US entity in USD, per their supplier order form.
Who is responsible for paying GST?
Suppliers are responsible for paying GST and other taxes/duties per their supplier terms (section 3.5):
Unless stated otherwise, any applicable fees will not include any taxes, levies, duties or similar governmental assessments of any nature, including but not limited to value-added taxes (“VAT”), goods and services taxes (“GST”), sales and use, or withholding taxes, assessable by any local, state, federal, provincial, or foreign jurisdiction (collectively, “taxes”).
What if the amount I’m being paid by Lucid doesn’t match the agreed-upon CPI?
Lucid only pays for activity reflected in Marketplace. Suppliers should contact buyers regarding any discrepancies in the amounts reflected in Marketplace, as buyers will be responsible for paying any pricing differences.
Suppliers can confirm CPIs via the OTC dashboard within the Supplier Portal. Contact your supplysales@cint.com to request access.
What happens if the final cost confirmed with the client changes later?
Any session reconciled (adjusted) within the same month as the original completed session will net out and be removed completely from all Lucid financial reports.
However, any session reconciled the month following the month in which the original completed sessions occurred appears as an adjustment in the following month's report.
Example: If a session completes on June 15 and is reconciled to a term on July 5, this session will appear on June's sample sold report as a complete and on July's sample sold report as a negative adjustment. A completes report pulled for June 1 - July 1 will not show this complete since it is recognized as a term.
See the sample sold report for more information.
What invoice information is required?
None. We proactively pay out suppliers for all monthly sell-side activity, so an invoice is actually not required on our end. However, should you still need to send/generate one for internal purposes, all that needs to be referenced is the month for which the activity relates to (i.e., if the invoice relates to March sell-side activity, that should be noted on the invoice). Any invoices should be addressed to our US entity.
What should I do to have my project's minimum or management fee included in my payment?
Lucid only tracks and processes complete transactions.
Example: If a supplier quotes a project minimum to a buyer on a project running through Lucid, the supplier will invoice the buyer separately.