How to Become an Amazon Vine Reviewer & Get Free Stuff

Jan 1

What do you think of Amazon reviews? Do you think they're worth the time? An Amazon program has been around since 2007 that might make you think twice. The Vine Program gives free products to handpicked reviewers who vouch for them, honestly. Amazon doesn't offer too much information on how they choose reviewers, but there are some basic guidelines that you can follow if you hope to be among those getting free stuff.

What is the Amazon Vine Program?

Vine Program members receive free products in exchange for honest reviews in Amazon's Vine program. Amazon explains its purpose by saying that members will often receive products before they are officially released:

Customers will receive more information, including honest and unbiased feedback from some of Amazon's most trusted writers."

Every Vine Voice leaves a review on Amazon with the Vine badge, identifying them as one of the Vine Voices. Previously, Vine members received a monthly newsletter that featured books and other products they could choose from and could order anything from a few dollars to over $1,000 at any time. Now, they can order anything on a rolling list at any time. According to NPR, Amazon can ask for items back, but it does not appear to do so. Membership in Vine allows members to receive items, but they cannot sell or give them away.

Reviews on Vine will not affect an Amazon user's ranking if they are negative, and Amazon says that Vine reviewers are not expected to give positive reviews.

How Do You Get An Invitation?

Is it possible to become one of Amazon's most trusted reviewers? If Amazon deems you a good fit for the program, you will be contacted, but the company does provide some guidelines regarding what it looks for in Vine Voices.

They are not focused on the number of reviews but the quality. It doesn't help if you leave one-word reviews on Amazon all the time. There are no guarantees that you will be accepted to Vine if you are a prolific reviewer. Amazon's guidelines for Vine Voices are as follows:

Based on a reviewer's overall helpfulness, as well as the number of reviews.
A specific understanding of a particular product category.
Recent reviews are given greater weight. This ranking is updated every couple of days.
Product interests are similar to those of the Vine program.

As an alternative to looking for Vine reviews on Amazon (which isn't easy), you can also show interest in the products enrolled in the program to get an invitation. However, there's no real way to know which products are enrolled. As far as we know, vendors pay for their products to be featured in the program, a fact Amazon did not disclose at the time, thus leading to some negative outcomes in the past.

Helpful Votes

Avoid leaving extremely brief reviews if you want your review to be considered. Try not to complain about something specified in the description of the product. You might have asked yourself these questions before placing your order for that $200 gadget you knew you didn't need but really wanted.

It's likely that Amazon scans the thousands of feedback left on the site for products and looks at what customers have to say about those feedbacks. An invitation to the program is more likely to be extended to reviewers whose feedback is consistently labelled as helpful.

What product reviews of free products can I do?

You would have the opportunity to review so many products. You might want to look at the categories you like on Amazon.

What is your usual shopping list? You might be able to find an item with a Vine review when you look at the Amazon reviews. It is possible to see what kinds of things are being given away for free by taking a look. The products you receive usually depend upon your past reviews. Write reviews on what you are passionate about, and you'll begin to emerge as an authority in that field. Let's examine some of the most popular product categories for free reviews.

Books

Books are the ones you'll see a lot of. All kinds of books will be available to read, whether fiction or nonfiction. Since Amazon has been the main player in the book market for many years, buying books via Amazon is cheaper than buying them on the high street.

Wine and foodstuff

Getting free food, drink, and cleaning products without cost is one decent way to cut costs for eating.

Appliances

Probably because of the convenience of kitchen appliances, you have a lot of gadgets and technology in your kitchen. Since some can cost a bundle, you won't be able to purchase them all, and you'll typically only own one of each since they can be substantial purchases.

People tend to read reviews of appliances before they purchase them to determine if they're getting good value for their money. A great resource for buying appliances is Amazon Vine.

Makeup and toiletries

Amazon offers various products for sale that get reviews, ranging from shampoo to shaving cream. You only have to see if you can write 200 helpful words about an aftershave or a lipstick on the Vine program.

Clothing

Clothing is something we all need, but wouldn't it be nice if we could get some free of charge instead of spending money on them? When you become an Amazon product tester, you can test and review clothing.

Anything else?

Amazon offers vine programs in some of these categories. The vine program is also available in various other categories, including toys, sports, and even jewellery.

Tips for Vine members

The following tips may be helpful to you if you want to become a Vine member.

You should write one review per week. A top Vine reviewer may write one review per day or even more.
Focus on one category of products when reviewing.
Amazon requires that you have been a member for more than six months.
Ensure your reviews are thoughtful and genuine.
Review products that you have actually purchased on Amazon first. (These will be listed on the site as Verified Purchases.)

Review Writing Tips

Last but not least, you need to pay attention to Amazon's review guidelines if you're trying to get a Vine club invitation. Amazon suggests the following when you are about to write a review:

Please elaborate on why you liked or disliked it.
Share how long you've used this product and compare it to similar products or services.
Be specific about the features of the product you are evaluating (e.g. the comfort and fit of a shirt or battery life of a camera) and whether they met your expectations.
Don't talk about your shipping experience or how the seller treated you.
Neither promotional content nor reviews written for compensation should be included.

When you enter the Vine program, what happens?

Once you have been accepted as a Vine reviewer, you should adhere to the program guidelines. The maximum number of products you can request at a time is two, and before you can request additional items, you must write and post a review. Be sure to leave your review within 30 days of receiving your order.

Don't select products just for the sake of a review, but only select products you're really interested in. You can skip the item for a month or two if you don't really need it.

Conclusion

Before someone can hire you for reviews, you need to look at your own Amazon profile as, often, this is the first thing a seller will do before deciding to give you a chance. To convince a seller that you are a serious reviewer, your Amazon profile should be professional, engaging and relevant.

Make sure your contact information is clearly stated in your profile to make it easy for buyers to contact you. Remember that sellers are looking for qualified reviewers, so a low number of reviews may turn them off. Make sure you review the products you have purchased previously to fill out your profile. It is advantageous to include photographs and videos in your profile, but it will give the impression that you are passionate about being an Amazon product tester/reviewer.

We provide services related to Amazon brand management and help new sellers get desired results as Amazon sellers. We have more than 200 experts who have already helped more than 1000 Amazon account managers become top-rated sellers. If you need any further guidance on becoming a member of the Vine program, reach out to us at Urtasker.