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Is anyone here a member of the Vine Voice Program on Amazon?

by gwenhwyfar37
5 replies
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Don't know if this is related much to online marketing, so here I go...


Apparently, the Big "A" rewards prolific review writers by an invitation-only opportunity to become a "Vine Voice" program member. You get to be the recipient of great merchandise, which you are free to keep as long as you can provide a good, helpful verifiable review of each item, and also get a chance to earn pre-released products, sometimes in its new, "testing" stage.


You supposedly have to be prolific with your reviewing, and have a certain number of helpful votes; I was informed that it can take several hundred reviews to be considered for this program. I did touch base with a Vine Voice member once and was told that your total merchandise reviewed must equal or exceed about $600-so it's certainly not a free lunch :-) But the best part, is you may get sought out by marketers for your helpful input and more opportunities to earn high-quality merchandise.


I don't know if this program still is in effect. Anyone know? I'm the "author" of about 272 reviews, give or take...
#amazon #review writer #vine voice
  • Profile picture of the author David Beroff
    Sounds like a great deal!

    My hunch that the $600 level is mentioned as a clear indicator that they will be sending you a 1099. i.e., You'll need to pay taxes on the retail value of all items, despite never receiving any cash.

    If it's invite-only, I'd simply ask the person who invited you. :-)
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    • Profile picture of the author gwenhwyfar37
      Actually, I got this information from an e-book guide. The ebook is "Make Money Writing Product Reviews" by Gerry Marrs. He called it an "invitation-only" program which means I cannot really orchestrate matters...just make sure my reviews are as helpful as possible.


      The guy I talked to briefly, mentioned about the $600 value and the 1099, and he also said "You cannot give away or sell any of your items, either...they will check!"
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      • Profile picture of the author David Beroff
        Seems a bit odd. If you can't sell what you receive as compensation, how are you supposed to realize the value on the items for which you must pay taxes?
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        • Profile picture of the author gwenhwyfar37
          Good point....That's what I was told. I'm sure that if he wanted to give something to a family member, it wouldn't be that big of a deal...Apparently, the merchandise (some of it may be high end like computer software) must be like someone's rewards for the time invested in providing helpful feedback to business owners.
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          • Profile picture of the author David Beroff
            A quick googling ( https://www.google.com/search?q="Vine+Voice" ) seems to show that the program is legit. It also makes sense, from all parties' perspective, that the products that you choose be aligned with your actual wants/needs and area(s) of expertise. So if you are a professional photographer, you'd likely have more interest in reviewing a specific lens, and so on. Since you can't sell these items, and have to pay taxes on them, you clearly need to actually want them, since you're "paying" for them with these taxes; they're not truly free.

            Further, I'm sure that the 1099 will show the full retail value of the item(s), even though perhaps no one ever really pays that. So let's take that lens that might have a full retail price of $1000, even though most people would actually buy them at $800 with coupons or promotions or whatever. If your total tax rate (fed, state, local, self-employment, etc.) is 40%, that'd be $400 of actual cash out of your pocket, or 50% of that $800. That's a good thing if you were really going to buy that specific lens anyway. It's a bad thing if you use it once for the review. Your mileage may vary.
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