Although Amazon Vine isn’t particularly new (unless you’ve never heard of it, in which case it probably is), the company has recently changed who is eligible to use the program to obtain reviews and how much those reviews cost.
Here is everything you need to know about Amazon Vine, without further ado.
In this article you will know:
- An Overview of Amazon Vine’s History
- How Can You Become a “Vine Voice” on Amazon?
- Amazon Vine’s Evolution
- How Do Sellers Get Approved By Amazon?
- Is it Required for Vine Reviewers to Post a Review?
- The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Amazon Vine
- Conclusions
An Overview of Amazon Vine’s History
Vine was developed by Amazon in 2007 to provide publishers and manufacturers with a means of obtaining product reviews. And since Amazon is, well, Amazon, by “getting,” I obviously mean “pay for.”
For a staggering $2500 to $7500 per ASIN, businesses could give Amazon their products for free. After that, Amazon would give those products to their group of “Vine Voices.”
How Can You Become a “Vine Voice” on Amazon?
I’ll let Amazon to elaborate:
“The most reputable Amazon reviewers are invited to share their thoughts on new and pre-release products on Amazon Vine in order to assist other shoppers in making well-informed purchases.
Customers are invited to become Vine Voices by Amazon based on their reviewer rank, which is an indicator of how well-reviewed and useful their reviews are by other Amazon users.
Free products that participating vendors have submitted to the program are given to Vine members by Amazon. The independent viewpoints of the Vine Voices are expressed in the reviews. The vendor is unable to edit, change, or influence the reviews.
As long as Vine reviews follow our posting guidelines, Amazon does not edit or change them. The green stripe customer review from the Amazon Vine Program designates a Vine review.”
In other words, the general public enjoys receiving free stuff in exchange for posting their unbiased reviews online.
Customers can easily identify that a review is from the Vine program because it is prominently marked as such at the top. which, given that the customer is even aware of the Vine program, I suppose might be more significant.
Amazon Vine’s Evolution
Prior to recently, first-party sellers (1PL) could only access Amazon Vine through Seller Central.
Seller Central sellers are those who sell products to Amazon in bulk. Amazon then handles all inventory management, pricing, fulfillment, and other related tasks while selling those products to its customers.
But on their US marketplace, Vine is now available to Amazon third-party sellers (3PL) for the first time.
Furthermore, the service is free for 3PL sellers, unlike 1PL sellers who had to pay exorbitant fees for the opportunity (apart from the cost of the product they have to give to Amazon for free so they can pass it on to their reviewers).
How Do Sellers Get Approved By Amazon?
Amazon Vine reviews are only available to sellers who are a part of Brand Registry and sell on the American marketplace, just like almost all of the company’s recent initiatives for sellers.
The VOC.AI blog post explains what you need to do if you’re not already a part of Amazon’s Brand Registry before you can apply.
The ASINs you wish to enroll in the program “to generate reviews from Amazon’s best reviewers” must be entered after clicking “Vine”:
Is it Required for Vine Reviewers to Post a Review?
One thing you should be aware of when you’re giving away a ton of free products to Amazon reviewers is that Vine reviewers are not required to write a review once they receive your product.
According to Amazon:
We cannot guarantee that reviews will be posted for every unit that is enrolled, nor can we refund any merchandise to you. We promise to use our best efforts to distribute the inventory in accordance with the terms and conditions.
Based on our observations, between 25 and 50 percent of the units that are given away result in reviews.
The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Amazon Vine
Advantages:
- It’s kind of free; 3PL sellers don’t have to pay anything to use Amazon Vine, in contrast to 1PL vendors who pay between $2500-$7500. That does not imply that it is free, though. In order for the products you provided for free to be reviewed, you still need to cover the cost of those items.
- It’s an additional means of obtaining reviews, but… If I had been writing this two months ago, I would have waxed poetic about how difficult it is for sellers to obtain reviews, how difficult it is on Amazon, and how any source of reviews that complies with the TOS on Amazon can only be beneficial. Nevertheless, a few weeks prior to writing this, Amazon began asking for reviews (and ratings) from buyers on behalf of every seller. Additionally, they have added a “request a review” button for sellers to see next to each completed order.
Click on the order number of any COMPLETED order by going to Orders>Manage Orders in the Seller Central horizontal menu. This button will appear in the upper right corner of the order details.
Disadvantages
You might not have received a positive review for the money you paid for. A “Vine Voice” isn’t someone who bought your product because they needed or wanted it. They received your product at no cost, and they consider it their “job” to write an unbiased review. This implies that they are searching for both reasons to like and reasons not to like your product. Reviewers on Vine are renowned for being picky about stars. It is not impossible to receive a 4- or 5-star review; all you have to do is cross your fingers.
Conclusions
If you’re a Brand Registered person and are in a desperate need of more reviews, you should consider using Amazon Vine as an additional tool in your toolbox.
However, you must approach the situation with awareness and understand that simply because you’re offering your product for free, a positive review is not a given.
See 14 Strategies for obtaining Product Reviews on Amazon in 2024 for more information on how to obtain reviews for your products.