Amazon Vine - write reviews

Hermia

Sorry if this has been mentioned elsewhere. Amazon now have this scheme where they will send you free stuff if you agree to review it for them. Last month I got a book and 2 CDs and whilst I did enjoy them I didn't really want to keep them and I got about £18 selling them on Amazon marketplace. This month I have got a book and CD and intend to do the same. They were also offering a £120 electric toothbrush, but they were all gone by the time I logged in.

It's by invitation only and you are invited if you are a "good" reviewer so if you haven't written a review in a while it might be worth starting again and you may get picked!

destiny_star2006

How do you get to do this by just reviewing products then hopeing to get in

misspixierocktastic

Hermis
This sounds interesting to me i like writing things
How did you get into it, I've never heard of it before

geordie_joe

It sounds like you have to write reviews on amazon for free and hope one day they notice you and send you an invite.

clkaz

I got an invite today!!

Is anyone else here a member?

flipflop29

Hermia wrote: »

It's by invitation only and you are invited if you are a "good" reviewer so if you haven't written a review in a while it might be worth starting again and you may get picked!

When you say 'good' reviewer, do you mean a good writer, or do you actually have to write positive reviews all the time? Any idea if you're allowed to be critical?

clkaz

flipflop29 wrote: »

When you say 'good' reviewer, do you mean a good writer, or do you actually have to write positive reviews all the time? Any idea if you're allowed to be critical?

I am ranked something like 155, 786 in the rankings, but I still got in having written under 40 reviews!.

And there were quite a lot of critical reviews in there. They just mean useful insightful reviews. I started reviewing to get into the programme, gave up and got bored, havent reviewed anything for months and got invited today Well chuffed!

So, basically, u can be as critical as u want but the review has to be insightful, clear, and not drag on

flipflop29

Thanks clkaz, that's really interesting. I've often thought about reviewing stuff on Amazon and never got around to it. This could be the kick up the backside I need!

Dinah93

You should be aware that resale of items is forbidden under the Vine agreement, you're not supposed to get rid of the products. If you do you risk being kicked from the programme and Amazon technically can demand the return of the items. Only aware of one instance where they have taken this action though. However you do get some very very nice toys for yourself! We've had HD freeview boxes, £300 hoovers, £200 bits of software, a carpet cleaner, flip camcorder, blender, and more books than you can shake a stick at! Other people have had tvs, computers, laptops, mp3 players etc too.

clkaz

Dinah93 wrote: »

You should be aware that resale of items is forbidden under the Vine agreement, you're not supposed to get rid of the products. If you do you risk being kicked from the programme and Amazon technically can demand the return of the items. Only aware of one instance where they have taken this action though. However you do get some very very nice toys for yourself! We've had HD freeview boxes, £300 hoovers, £200 bits of software, a carpet cleaner, flip camcorder, blender, and more books than you can shake a stick at! Other people have had tvs, computers, laptops, mp3 players etc too.

Thanks for replying!

Do you know why this one person was chucked out of vine? S/he must have not been very discreet.

Also, how quickly do the expensive electronics go out when the newsletter is released?

Since the USA clocks are going forward one hour, do you know whether it is usually 7pm UK time the newsletter comes out? I have read 7pm on the vine forum, but would appreciate your input.

Dinah93

Twice a year it's 7pm, so this month I think it will be.

No I don't think they were discreet - posting a review and then listing the item as new on amazon within a few days. Obviously both listings will show your username.

The electronics on the "targetted" newsletter (and I use amazon's term not mine, as a female I've been offered a lot of mens electric razors, but also a lot of baby products, despite having no children and never having bought a childrens item from amazon) can take up to half an hour to all be grabbed, but the week later on the untargetted anything valuable left will literally be gone in seconds. Don't wait for the email to arrive, be on there spamming F5 from 5 to. It really is fastest fingers at dawn, I've never gotten anything really good off that one as my net is wireless and I don't use a mouse, all of which costs those vital seconds to get there first.

Vine is a great programme, but it doesn't pay to get greedy and if you were thinking of reselling I certainly wouldn't do it through Amazon itself, just enjoy whatever happens to come your way and pick products you like rather than those with the highest resale value.