Amazon’s Vine Program – Gain Reviews Faster while Staying Compliant

Amazon's Vine Program isn't new, but how do you ensure you're staying compliant while gaining reviews?

In 2019, Amazon’s launched the Vine Program. Vine allows sellers with registered brands to reserve up to a quantity of 30 units per ASIN aside, which gets sent to top Amazon Reviewers for free in exchange for honest reviews. This program is unique because in normal circumstances, the practice of sending free products to exchange for reviews would heavily violate Amazon’s Policy. However, when you enroll your products into the Vine program, you stay compliant, while receiving a boost of legitimate reviews on your product’s detail page. 

What are the Requirements?

It’s important to note that not all products are eligible for the program. Here are the requirements:

• The ASIN must be enrolled in Brand Registry
• The PDP must have fewer than 30 product reviews
• It must be an FBA offer (with available stock) and in New Condition
• Your ASIN must be live on Amazon.com
• Spend $200 per Parent ASIN (you are charged after the first review)
• Heavy & Bulky Items Excluded (as of May 2023, read more here.)

Note: Some product types are not permitted – see the Vine help page under Restrictions.

How to Enroll Products into Vine

Vine can be found in Seller Central by hovering over “Advertising” and choosing “Vine”. The page displays recommended ASINs to enroll, as well as all current ASINs enrolled. On the top right corner of the page, there is a bar where you can enter ASINs, and choose “Begin Enrollment” to get your products added. 

When the program was initially launched, only 5 ASINs could be enrolled at a time; Amazon has recently updated that so that 200 ASINs can now be enrolled at a time. This provides a new opportunity to really figure out which products you sell that are lacking reviews (and as a result, lacking sales) – and invest in a program that will essentially guarantee you at least one review, or you don’t have to pay.

How Do I Know if I'm Receiving Reviews?

After your ASIN gets enrolled, the Vine page will display the ASIN, Vine Launch Date, Available Quantity, Enrolled Quantity, and Vine Reviews. This allows you to clearly see the performance and status, and whether you have gained any reviews. Here, you can also search by ASIN and apply filters to narrow down the results further.

Why Do Product Reviews Matter?

It’s no secret anymore that almost all customers rely on reviews to gain trust in products before buying them. If your product has little to no reviews or ratings, it’s going to be a red flag to the average consumer. This causes hardship when new brands launch products, or even when established brands launch new products. Because of this, many sellers choose to engage in Review Manipulation which violates Amazon's Policy. To learn more, check out our blog post which goes over Amazon's Product Review Policy. 

With the constant updates in online marketplaces, it’s important to stay up-to-date with the latest changes. If you are a client looking for additional information, contact your strategist or if you are interested in learning more about how Retail Bloom can assist your brand efforts in online marketplaces, schedule a consultation with our team. 

For more updates on marketplaces, visit our full Marketplace Updates content gallery.