I recently received an invite to join the Vine program where I get free stuff (kinda - value is reported as income) to write “honest and unbiased reviews”.

Who doesn’t like free stuff?


Only been in the program for the past 5 days or so but so far I have gotten almost $200 bucks worth of stuff. Mostly new iPhone cases and accessories but also some holiday decorations, vehicle accessories, and a few trinkets as gifts.

Right now I am limited to three freebies a day each up to $100 value. If I work hard to get “gold” I can get 8 things a day with no value limit.


At any given time, there are tens of thousands of items available to request. A lot of the stuff seems pretty obscure (o-rings, small gas engine parts, appliance parts) and the stuff seems to turn over pretty quickly.


Being retired and with time on my hands, surfing for stuff and writing reviews helps pass the time. I had an idea this morning to let ChatGPT write the review for my favorite item so far:



My review:

”Folks, let me tell you — this mug is tremendous. Absolutely tremendous. It might be THE BEST mug ever. Let me tell you, I’ve used a lot of mugs, a lot of mugs. But this mug? It’s the best, the classiest mug. It’s like it is on a whole different level.

First of all, it holds hot liquids — very hot, the hottest — and it doesn’t complain. It’s strong, it’s tough, just like me. Some mugs crack under pressure — those cheap, weak mugs are total losers — but not this one. This mug doesn’t crack, it wins.

The handle — what an incredible handle. Perfectly designed, very ergonomic, very luxurious. You could hold it all day. People come up to me and say, “Sir, how is the handle so comfortable?” And I tell them — it’s called quality craftsmanship, something you don’t see much anymore.

When you drink from it, you feel like a winner. I drink my coffee from this mug every morning, and every morning feels like a rally — lots of energy, lots of success, lots of winning. Sometimes I drink more coffee than I should just so I can keep using it.

Frankly, it’s a beautiful mug. Five stars. Would buy again. Maybe make it gold next time.”

Did you get selected because you had posted many reviews before?

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
Did you get selected because you had posted many reviews before?

Honestly not sure why I was picked for an invite. I’ve only posted 18 reviews going back 7 years, but we do buy a ton of stuff off Amazon.

The invitation was the first I heard of the program and after reading up on it I was kind of surprised to be invited.


I would like to crank out enough reviews to get to the gold level and see what kind of higher price items get offered, but I imagine it will get tedious at some point.


Being retired we don’t have a really big tax rate, so I don’t imagine it being reported as income will be that big of a deal (unless I really lose control) my guess is instead of “free” I’ll probably be getting stuff at about a 90% discount.

Can you pick which items you want to review? Or do they just send you stuff?

Who decides what products? Manufacturer? Retailer? Amazon? If not Amazon, do they get you personal info?

I'm a "viner" too. So far, just a couple of items, only one of which has been something I might have actually spent money on. The items offered appear to be closely related to other stuff I've bought on Amazon indicating that they keep a pretty close eye on prior purchases. I have been somewhat active in reviewing stuff I've bought, I suspect that is the main criteria for selection into the vine program.

Overall, fairly underwhelmed by the variety of available products. When I first joined, I checked pretty much every day, now it is about weekly, and slipping. Most of the items are of Chinese origin, and therefore of questionable quality (although everything I've received to date has been OK at worst).

Oops, just checked and found I've been kicked out of the program for "not meeting eligibility requirements." Probably due to insufficient reviewing. Oh well, I won't really miss it.

quote:

Can you pick which items you want to review? Or do they just send you stuff?

There is a list of items "chosen for you" (appears to be based on past Amazon purchases), "may be of interest" (always empty in my case), and "other" (which appears to show everything available, most of which are very application specific items (like suspension bushings for a specific tractor model). You "buy" the item off the list they present, and then it goes just like any Amazon purchase, except the cost is zero. I never got more than about a dozen "for you" items in the list.

quote:

Who decides what products? Manufacturer? Retailer? Amazon?

seems to be a combo of manufacturer and Amazon. I suspect Amazon charges the manufacturer for "market research" or something.

To anybody current or past Vine reviewer, do you think neutral or negative reviews affect your status?

Most of the Vine reviews seem either trite or AI-generated, and really odd when you see a wine mommy gushing over hand tools; I guess that the ones really wanting to earn or maintain a higher rank. I'm prone to ignore the Vine reviews for that reason, but heck, if I was asked, I'd give it a try.

I’ve done over 100 unbiased reviews and actually received a number of helpful votes on some of them but my scores have been all over the place based on what the items deserved (and sometimes with suggestions on how the items can be improved). Since I have a proven record as a loose cannon, they’ll never want me in their program.

They're not going to pick me. My reviews are like... "Theses paper cups are cup-a-rific!"

and

"They're spark plugs. They spark."

The first rule of Vine Club is you don't talk about Vine Club. Been in it for three years.

I've been trying to get invited to this for years. Well over 100 quality review and plenty of others.

quote:

Originally posted by Opus Dei:
I'm prone to ignore the Vine reviews for that reason..

For sure. You're reviewing something you didn't want, don't need and probably know little about. (which is how most of them come off) Why would I care about your opinion?

The seller/company is also suspect in my eye. You can't get reviews from actual customers, you have to give them away free? Mmmm...

I keep getting invited and keep passing…

quote:

Originally posted by cas:
…You're reviewing something you didn't want, don't need and probably know little about…

They don’t just send random stuff. I only pick stuff I do want and plan to use. Admittedly the “free” aspect means I may get stuff I don’t want enough to pay for but that doesn’t mean I can’t make use of it and give a fair review.

quote:

Originally posted by SIG4EVA:
I've been trying to get invited to this for years. Well over 100 quality review and plenty of others.

To get gold status, you have to complete at least 80 reviews and review at least 90% of all orders within each 6-month evaluation period.

My friend is a gold reviewer. He said he had to have consecutive 6-month periods meeting the above criteria before he was invited. He currently writes 2K+ reviews annually. He told me that he used to have 130K+ products to choose from, but after Trump's tariffs, that number has gone way done, currently at ~26K.