What Is Amazon Vine? (How It Works, Cost and Benefits)

If you sell products on Amazon, Amazon Vine is the ideal tool for gauging how well they do within a particular target market. Thanks to this service, you can obtain reviews faster than you otherwise could. Everything there is to know about Amazon Vine is covered in this article.

As every Amazon vendor can attest, reviews are crucial to the success of your business. BloomReach claims that Amazon customer reviews are the most read and trusted in the whole e-commerce industry. Customers thus turn to Amazon reviews to determine whether or not they should purchase a product. In fact, Power Reviews reports that consumers are 65 more inclined to buy a product after reading a positive review.

But what should you do if you are a new Amazon seller and have no reviews at all? Amazon Vine is the perfect solution; you get to send products to select customers for free and get valuable reviews for your products. This can significantly boost your business, especially if you are starting out.

If Amazon Vine sounds interesting, this post is for you.

What Is Amazon Vine?

Those who have been selling on Amazon for a while may recall that the company once supported incentivized reviews and had an Early Review Program for sellers. The main reason for this was that dishonest people took advantage of the system by paying for phony reviews to either increase their sales or damage their rivals' reputations.

In an effort to make its review and rating system fair and more beneficial to online shoppers, Amazon has generally barred money for reviews. Amazon has gone so far as to sue businesses that pay for bogus reviews, as well as the individuals who write them. 

Nonetheless, under the Amazon Vine program, the company permits brands to give away free products to users in exchange for honest reviews. Amazon Vine works differently from prior review programs. Firstly, it is Amazon's responsibility to select reviewers. This drastically reduces the bias that the reviewers have towards the product or brand.

Amazon will only ask reviewers who have previously been deemed helpful by other customers to review the product. The reviewers ought to be well-versed in the product fields they are evaluating. The fact that reviewers and Amazon sellers never interact strengthens the credibility of reviews posted—the sellers can not influence the product reviews.

All in all, the Vine program is an excellent way to quickly gather reviews for your new products.

How Amazon Vine Works?

Once enrolled in the Amazon Vine program, you can send a product for free to a Vine reviewer in exchange for a review. Vine reviewers don't get paid, but they do get to keep the items they review. Neither you nor the reviewer may engage in any form of communication. So, you can forget about swaying their opinion in any way when it comes to your product's rating.

Once you sign up for the program, you should expect both positive and negative reviews. Depending on the reviewers you're assigned, joining Amazon Vine can be both a blessing and a curse for your business. Thus, you should only join Amazon Vine if you are optimistic about your product's quality.

How Much Does Amazon Vine Cost?

Amazon Vine was initially accessible via Seller Central. The program had an enrolment fee of $2500, which was later waived. As of 2022, Amazon charges an enrollment fee of $200 for every Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) you enroll in Amazon Vine. Sellers must also pay associated costs, such as FBA storage and shipping costs.

Note that there is no membership fee associated with using this service. The only cost to you will be the one related to enrolling.

What Are the Benefits of Amazon Vine?

Amazon Vine can be a significant boost to your Amazon business. If you are still on the fence about joining the program, perhaps the following factors will convince you.

• Increase In Revenue

It has been shown that the presence of reviews, as opposed to the absence of reviews, influences consumer purchasing decisions more than advertisements do. With Amazon Vine, you can get up to 30 reviews for your new product in a short period of time. Even though it is not guaranteed that you will get all 30 reviews, the fact that the product has been reviewed will make your products more likely to be purchased, leading to increased sales for your business.

• High-Quality Review For Your Product

Amazon Vine reviews stand out from typical customer reviews on the site. A product that a Vine review has reviewed bears the label “Vine Customer Review Of Free Product.” This makes it easy for other customers to see that the review is from a genuine source and is not biased. Good Vine reviews can significantly boost your business as customers tend to trust them more.

• Gaining Helpful Feedback

Through Amazon Vine, you can gain insightful feedback about your product, making it easy to spot manufacturing defects and other issues. In addition to star ratings, Vine users can also make extensive comments about their experience with the product, which other customers may deem to be helpful.

• Brand Awareness

If you are a new brand, Amazon Vine makes it easy to make your brand known by sending samples to customers. The customer may then share the product with friends and family or even on social media. This can be an excellent boost for your brand, especially if your products are new and relatively unknown.

How to Get Started with Amazon Vine?

You need to be enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry (ABR) and have a professional plan to join Amazon Vine. Your product listings should also have less than 30 reviews. Once you have met all the aforementioned criteria, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Log in to your Amazon Seller Central account.

Step 2: Click the Vine icon in the Promotions menu.

Step 3: Select the appropriate drop-down menu and enter the ASIN you wish to enroll with.

When you're ready, set up the ASINs' enrolment. You can specify the quantity you wish to send to Vine Voice reviewers here. You can only offer less than thirty units at this time.

Bottom Line

If you are a new seller on Amazon or you are planning to roll out a new product, Amazon Vine will help you get started in getting product reviews. Take note that you have no control over the reviews posted on your products. You should therefore expect both positive and negative reviews. Before you enlist for Amazon Vine, it is advised that you have complete faith in your goods to avoid unfavorable reviews.

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