The Amazon Vine program is an invite-only elite group of Amazon reviewers known as “Vine Voices.” These reviewers receive free products from Amazon sellers in exchange for their honest reviews. It’s usually for new products that are just hitting the market. Sellers will list their products for Vine Voices to help a listing gain traction with reviews.

According to Amazon, the purpose of the Vine program is “to provide customers with more information including honest and unbiased feedback from some of Amazon’s mistrusted reviewers.”

Anyone who is a member of the Vine Voices Program will have a badge on all the Vine reviews they leave on Amazon, distinguishing them as Vine Voices. This doesn’t mean every single review written by a Vine member is a result of a freebie. The review is usually labeled “Vine Customer Review of Free Product” if they receive the item as part of the program.

In the past. Vine members would receive a monthly newsletter featuring books and other products they could pick from to review. These products could range from a few bucks to nearly $1,000! Now, Members can access an Amazon Vine product list they can order whenever they want. However, they cannot sell or give items received through the program away and Amazon can ask for the items back (though they usually don’t).

One important thing: Vine Voices reviewers are not told to leave positive reviews only. Writing a positive or negative review will have no impact on a Vine member’s ranking.

The purpose of Vine Voices for sellers

Sellers join the Amazon Vine program so their products can get reviewed by Vine Voices, who are trusted reviewers on Amazon.

The overall point of the program is to provide shoppers with genuine and reliable feedback, so they can make better buying decisions. Meaning, Vine Voices submits honest and frequent feedback that is helpful to other buyers on the Amazon marketplace.

Before Vine was available to all Amazon sellers, it’s no secret that sellers solicited and created an underground system of incentivized reviews. New products launched 10 days ago could rack up thousands of reviews, all positive 5 stars, and the reviewers got the product for free and many sellers offered another $20 via PayPal to the reviewer as a bonus.

To make matters worse, these products were horrible, counterfeit, and dangerous. If a shopper had an account and could leave a review, they were considered hot assets.

In response to media backlash, Amazon finally banned Chinese sellers who manipulated it to the max. They’ve also rolled out Project Zero to tackle the counterfeit problem and protect brands by continuously scanning its marketplace. Vine is a second-tier protection designed by Amazon to safeguard against fake reviews. A reviewer’s rating is not affected by negative reviews, which encourages honest input. 

Vendors and sellers cannot contact the reviewers directly and have no say in which Vine Voices reviews their products. Amazon Vine offers an unprecedented way to improve customer trust in your brand and increase the number of reviews of your products. As a seller, you should only submit a product that’s ready for the market since negative reviews can happen. Also, be sure to swiftly respond or address negative feedback to show potential buyers that you care about them and their experience with your product. 

Benefits of Amazon Vine to vendors and sellers

The main goal of Amazon Vine is to get real, honest reviews to help shoppers make the best buying decision possible. For new sellers who are still figuring out how the Amazon marketplace works, it can feel overwhelming to get those helpful, insightful reviews. That’s where Amazon Vine Voices come in. You can send your products to trusted reviewers to get feedback before you even list them on Amazon. And let’s face it, every buyer on Amazon is looking for products with at least 4 or 5 stars, and that’s exactly what Vine can help sellers achieve.  

Additionally, joining the Vine program helps boost brand awareness. Remember, a product or brand’s performance is heavily influenced by customer feedback and sales numbers.  Amazon algorithms pay closer attention to reviewer rankings. For instance, if a Vine Voice gives a positive review after testing out your product, the chances are that Amazon will pop the product higher in the queue. Valuable feedback will help your products to appear as the top result for consumer queries. 

What’s more? Amazon Vine also increases conversion rates. The more positive reviews your products receive, the more conversion and sales you will also earn. You will have an edge over your competitors if you start with product reviews from day one of your product launch. You want your product to be a force to reckon with in your target niche market, but still provide proof of quality, which Amazon Vine will help you achieve.  

How Amazon Vine Helps Small Sellers Compete with Big Brands

Amazon Vine offers small sellers a great opportunity to stand out in a crowded marketplace, especially when competing with larger, more established brands. 

Here’s how it can help: products with more reviews tend to rank higher in Amazon’s search results, which increases visibility and leads to more organic traffic and sales. Vine also offers valuable feedback from real customers, giving sellers insight into their product’s strengths and areas for improvement. This is especially helpful for small businesses, as the “new seller” hurdle—where it’s tough to get sales without reviews, and tough to get reviews without sales—is broken down.

To make the most of Amazon Vine, small sellers should focus on selecting innovative and high-quality products that stand out. Generic items are harder to differentiate and less likely to attract great reviews. 

It’s also important to optimize your product listings with clear, compelling descriptions and high-quality images to help Vine Voices write the most helpful reviews possible. 

Of course, the product itself should be top-notch—if it’s not, expect honest (and potentially negative) feedback. 

Understanding the requirements for the Vine program is crucial too, including being brand-registered and using FBA. 

With Amazon’s new, lower-priced tiers, Vine has become more accessible for businesses of all sizes, so it’s worth checking out to see if it’s a good fit for your budget. When used strategically, Amazon Vine can give small sellers a leg up, helping them build credibility, gain reviews, and ultimately, drive more sales.

Is there a cost to use Amazon Vine for sellers?

When you enroll a product in the Amazon Vine program, you’ll be charged a one-time fee based on how many units you enroll, but only after your product has received at least one Vine review. 

If you don’t get a review within the first 30 days, you’ll be billed once the first review comes in. You can add more units to your enrollment within the first 30 days, but you can’t remove any. 

Keep in mind that if adding units bumps you into a higher price tier, the new rate will apply.

Here’s the fee breakdown:

• 1-2 units: Free
• 3-10 units: $75
• 11-30 units: $200

Basically, the fee depends on the number of units enrolled and when you start receiving reviews, not on the number of reviews or units claimed by reviewers.

How do I use Amazon Vine as a seller?

There are several criteria to join the Vine program as a seller. You must satisfy the following requirements:

• You must be an active seller with a registered brand in the Amazon Brand Registry
• You must have a buyable FBA “new” offer
• You must have less than 30 reviews on your product
• You also must have available inventory, images, and descriptions
• Not be in a blocked category like adult, CBD, or other high-risk categories
• Not a drop shipper
• Account is not in danger of being suspended

Go to Vine from your account and then click the enroll button.

If you are eligible, you’ll see a text input box where you can enter the ASIN you want to enroll in the program. You can enroll in 5 products at a time. If you end a Vine campaign early, you can use up that slot for another product you want to market to the Vine community.

The Vine program doesn’t accommodate all products – some products are not eligible for this program. Therefore, it is important to consider your inventory before making any attempt to enroll your product. Some of the products not eligible for the program are:  

• Heavy or bulky items
• Drop-ship items
• Adult product
• Hazmat items
• Sample products

With big brands selling on the Amazon marketplace, it can be challenging to stand out from the crowd and offer your competitors a run for their money. And that is why it is important for you to rank high among customers to increase your sales.

Amazon Vine reviews are also a determining factor if you want your brand to rank high. In a saturated market like Amazon, new products will find it difficult to find a solid footing. The best way to distinguish your brand from the rest is to use Amazon Vine to source credible reviews and also tag your products with the badge of reviewer authenticity.

Even Amazon uses it for its own listings too.

If you can get videos, images, lengthy use reviews, that’s a home run.

Turning Negative Reviews into Opportunities: How to Boost Your Brand’s Reputation

It’s completely normal for sellers to feel a bit uneasy about receiving negative reviews. But the truth is, when handled correctly, they can actually be a great asset. The key is to approach them with a positive mindset and use them as an opportunity to improve.
First, it’s important to respond quickly and professionally—timely replies show you care about customer feedback. Keep your tone polite and avoid getting defensive, even if the review is tough. Acknowledge the customer’s frustration, and try to personalize your response rather than using a generic reply. Offering real solutions, like refunds, replacements, or further assistance, can go a long way in showing you’re committed to resolving issues. And don’t forget to follow up with the customer afterward to make sure they’re satisfied.
Negative reviews can also give you valuable insights into areas where your product or service might need improvement, whether it’s refining your listings or addressing recurring issues.
Plus, knowing when to report a review that violates Amazon’s guidelines (like using offensive language) can help keep things fair.
The best part? Handling negative feedback well can actually boost your brand’s trustworthiness and reputation. When potential customers see you addressing concerns, they’ll feel more confident in your business. Ultimately, turning negative reviews into positive outcomes can build customer loyalty and show that you genuinely care about improving and serving your audience.

How do you get an invite to become an Amazon Vine reviewer?

Now that Amazon’s Early Review program is extinct, trying to get an invite to become part of the Vine program is a hot topic.

Getting an invite is not complicated, but it’s difficult.

If you are eligible for the program, Amazon will reach out to you. They focus on the quality of the review instead of the quantity. If you are leaving a million one-word reviews hoping that you get invited, that’s not the way to go.

You need your reviews to get a ton of helpful votes. Also, use this reference for Amazon’s guidelines for a Vine Voice:

• Priority is given to recent reviews (keep in mind that reviewer ranking is usually updated every couple of days).
• You must consistently write helpful reviews
• Demonstrated expertise in one specific product category
• Interest in products similar to those enrolled in the Vine program
• A reviewer’s rank; the rank is a function of the number of reviews and the overall helpfulness of the reviews.

If you want to get invited to the Vine program, showing a real interest in the products enrolled is key. The tricky part is there’s no easy way to tell if a product is in the program unless you see Vine reviews on Amazon. It’s not the simplest thing to figure out, but one thing’s for sure—vendors do pay to have their products included in the program.  Amazon doesn’t really advertise that which has led to some Amazon Vine complaints in the past.

Vine Voices: Tips for Writing Reviews

If you are trying to get an invite to join the Amazon Vine program as a Vine Voice, the last thing to consider is to pay attention to Amazon’s Vine review guidelines. When you are about to write a review, this is what Amazon suggests:

• Do compare products received to other similar products on the market and then share the length of time you used the product.
• Do explain what you liked and disliked about a product.
• Do identify specific attributes and state whether they met your expectations (like the battery life of a camera or comfort & fit of a shirt)
• Don’t include reviews written or promotional content of any kind in exchange for compensation.
• Don’t describe your shipping or seller experience. You have the opportunity to do that at amazon.com/feedback. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I choose which Vine Voices review my product?

No, sellers cannot choose which Vine Voices will review their product. Amazon assigns reviewers based on their expertise and the type of product they review.

How long does it take to get Vine reviews?

It typically takes 4-8 weeks for Vine Voices to submit their reviews after receiving the product. However, this can vary depending on the number of units enrolled and reviewer availability.

How can I increase my chances of receiving positive reviews from Vine Voices?

While you cannot control what reviewers say, you can increase the likelihood of receiving helpful and positive reviews by offering a high-quality, innovative product. Make sure your product listings are well-optimized with clear descriptions, high-quality images, and complete details. A strong, high-quality product is more likely to attract positive reviews, though you should still be prepared for honest feedback, which may include negative reviews.