Amazon Vine reviewer

[Boyd2000]

Hi,

I know exactly the frustration you are experiencing. There is a link in the “welcome to the Vine” email that you got with a link to your account. Be sure and save that email with the link. If you are a vine “member” and signed in to your account, it should take you to your vine account page.

I suggest reading all the links on the Vine FAQ home page. Look at the tab called resources and shows how the order process works. If you need more guidance PM me and I’ll walk you through it.

We have been doing the program since November of 2023. My first 6 months we were Silver level and then we were promoted to
Gold level. But I messed up on my 6 month anniversary in the Gold level and ordered some last minute items that dropped me under 90% reviewed. Be warned that ordered items immediately count towards your %reviewed score and if you drop below 90% you will get demoted or possibly be dropped from the program. Actually today is my six month anniversary at Silver and I expect to be back to Gold level tomorrow. Since Gold level has no dollar limit per item or collectively you will see all the Silver level items plus items that “cost” over $100.

Thank you for the tips! I couldn't find an email in my inbox or spam folder. I've been searching in my free time for either Vine information or how to contact a real person at Amazon customer support. I finally got the method to request a callback from support. The foreign representative had no idea what I was talking about, but after several minutes of checking with his managers he finally gave me the answer. I just had to send an email from my Vines registered email to [email protected] and explain my issue. Within hours I got a response back, with the link to access my account. Thanks for the help. I also read the tax implications, and I'm assuming the reported income of the free products is the full price, not any discounted prices. I'll keep restrained for now and just order things I have a need for.

 

[KrisZ]

Just leave some honest and less than four star reviews and see how long you will be in this program.
This is pay to play scheme plain and simple. And while you may write your honest opinions, others will leave glowing reviews just to get the free stuff.

It’s one of the reasons online reviews are useless for the most part.

 

[John Galt]

Just leave some honest and less than four star reviews and see how long you will be in this program.
This is pay to play scheme plain and simple. And while you may write your honest opinions, others will leave glowing reviews just to get the free stuff.

It’s one of the reasons online reviews are useless for the most part.

KrisZ - I’m curious, to have that strong of opinion on how the Vine program treats its Vine reviewers and what’s required to remain in the program you must have been in the Vine program and had a bad experience and left it, or perhaps they asked you to leave? How long were you an Amazon Vine program member and what caused you to leave it?

 

[KrisZ]

KrisZ - I’m curious, to have that strong of opinion on how the Vine program treats its Vine reviewers and what’s required to remain in the program you must have been in the Vine program and had a bad experience and left it, or perhaps they asked you to leave? How long were you an Amazon Vine program member and what caused you to leave it?

I was never part of the vine program, but I was asked by some vendors to leave reviews for free merch. Few contacted me, not being satisfied with my reviews, asking to change it or remove it, so I decided to not do that anymore and not deal with the hassle.

Vine program might be a bit better, but I'm sure plenty of people abuse it. It goes without saying that you get free stuff with the expectation of leaving a positive review.

 

[John Galt]

I was never part of the vine program, but I was asked by some vendors to leave reviews for free merch. Few contacted me, not being satisfied with my reviews, asking to change it or remove it, so I decided to not do that anymore and not deal with the hassle.

Vine program might be a bit better, but I'm sure plenty of people abuse it. It goes without saying that you get free stuff with the expectation of leaving a positive review.

Your story is that some vendor contacted you and asked you to order an item through Amazon at no cost if you left a good review? No way will Amazon set up an exclusive portal so that you can purchase merchandise from them at no cost and have them ship it to you under the guise that you are then going to go back and post a good review. Perhaps this was not Amazon, eBay maybe?

You may have been contacted by a vendor after you post a negative review with them hoping to make it right. Maybe they even offered a refund? That is not how the Vine program works. Contact by a Vine “seller” with me after an item is sent to me through the Vine system is specifically not permitted. I can’t return it for a refund and they can’t request a change in a review.

Your premise that vine members get free stuff with the expectation that we will leave a positive review is nonsense. You request it through the exclusive Vine portal, it arrives and then you can choose to review it or not. Only requirement is I need to review 90% of the items, some Vine items never get reviewed for whatever reason.

I wrote three Vine reviews this morning - 2 stars, 3 stars and a 5 star which was earned. The wife did a 2 and a 4 star review this morning. I can order 8 items a day with unlimited dollar value per item or in aggregate . Items can come fast. I have written over 270 Vine reviews and never has anyone from Vine contacted me to change a review or increase the star rating.

If I averaged up my star ratings I’d probably be around 3.6 stars for those 270 vine items. My wife does the reviews for girly items and man she is tough! I’ve seen 1 star reviews from her. Despite my Vine review star rating scores I was just promoted back to Gold status last week and a day later I requested a $1200 Samsung 55” Q-OLED TV which was prime delivered yesterday and is sitting in my front room in the factory box waiting for my review.

I have been purchasing from Amazon since back when they just sold books,1998 or so. I have never been contacted to change a review. I have over 650 Amazon reviews already published and will be adding at least 180 reviews a year to keep my Gold status. That’s really not hard to do, lots of fishing stuff and the Mrs likes costume jewelry which takes up no space. There was a $750 real diamond engagement ring available last summer but I passed it up, I don’t need another wife! Now if a snowblower or fishing kayak pops up on Vine, that’s is another story!

 

[KrisZ]

Good for you, I still take online reviews and especially Amazon reviews with a huge grain of salt. But thanks for contributing to the very few that are actually factual.

 

[1Greenthumb&wife]

The tax thread made me think about my IRS experience with my Vine items. In 2023 I got about $2600 of “free” stuff through Vine and Amazon sent me a 1099-NEC in January 2024 for the value of the items as stated in the agreement.

I did the input for my and my wife’s regular income first so I could establish the effect that the Vine items had on my tax liability. I had a clear “before Vine” and “after Vine” tax number. When I inputted the 1099-NEC on my income side the TurboTax program viewed it as regular income and my taxes owed shot up.

I think there was also a penalty amount because I had not paid quarterly estimated taxes on the 1099-NEC income. I viewed that as bogus because I just became eligible for Vine in November 2023 and the $2600 was for stuff ordered in November and December 2023. There was no opportunity to pay quarterly estimated taxes. There was a spot to dispute the penalty by describing in words why the estimated penalty should not be applied. I did that.

Kind of hidden in the tax program a few step later was a question on whether the 1099-NEC was from casual or hobby income which I classify it as. When I clicked that box nearly 90% of my tax liability due to participating in Vine disappeared. I guess hobby income is treated differently.

In 2024 YTD we already have over $5500 worth of “free” Vine items. It’s easy to get that amount because I’m now eligible for 8 Amazon Vine items a day and unlimited dollar value for each item. The list of available items averages between 35,000 and 52,000 items a day. It updates in real time, right this minute my list stands at 41,354 items. The UPS guy hates us.

Yep- our delivery drivers know our dog even! ;-) lol Do wish they'd allow us to say approve a weekly delivery or something far more sensible!
Btw- sent you a DM re: all this just now.

 

[xBa380]

I've been in vine since 2022 or so... Been gold status after the first 6 month and it's been an incredible program for us. To date, we are over 630 reviewed items.

The amount of fantastic products we have received is well worth it... Probably 5 or 6 different $40-$60 bottles of imported olive oil, a 12yr $150 DOP balsamic vinegar, all types of hot sauces, cooking stuff (salt/spices/etc), natural honey's, beauty care (electronic toothbrushes, body wash, shampoo, etc... and whatever for the lady she finds), an insane amounts of snacks and candy from all over the world (Halloween time is great fun with 5lb boxes of mixed chocolate and whatnot!), nuts, dried fruit, beef jerky, etc...

We tend to stick to mostly food/health/beauty, which have a $0 tax hit, and stay under $600/yr otherwise on the other items so we never deal/pay taxes on anything. Most of the other stuff is kind of junky and avoid most, but we check a few times a day and score fairly often.

As we get so much food, most of the snacks/candy we have a box on our porch for amazon/UPS/Fedex/USPS drivers to take as they wish, which they appreciate. Also give extras to friends or take to work.

Oh, and we absolutely leave HONEST reviews. I have given my share of 1 and 2 star, plenty of 3's and of course high scores as well. Amazon emails us and tells us to be honest and not inflate scores and give valuable feedback, so that's what we do. No need to lie and inflate. We are in the program and tell the truth on whatever the product is.

We love the vine! Almost didn't join because when I got the invite back in 2022 I thought it was spam and almost deleted it... Oops!