You can become an Amazon Product Tester. However, the rules are tough.
© Ethan Miller/AFP
Get free products from Amazon and write a review in return. What seems simple comes with challenging requirements. This is behind Amazon Vine.
Dortmund – Amazon Prime Day just ended, the shipping giant is already getting close with the next announcement. Amazon has introduced a program that gives customers the opportunity to get products for free. However, they have to do a lot for it.
| American mail order company online | Amazon |
| Founder | Jeff Bezos |
| employee all over the world | 1.298.000 (Stand 2020) |
Amazon: Free Products for Certain Customers – That’s Behind It
The whole thing is called Amazon Vine and there is an internal service for the online giant behind it, where select customers become testers of Amazon products. However, the software is not entirely new. It was introduced in the USA in 2007, and later in Germany as well.
However, Amazon’s product testing program is still relatively unknown. This may be due to the difficult conditions that customers have to meet in order to receive, test, and possibly keep products for free from Amazon.
Amazon Secret Program: Online Retailer Wants to Create Trustworthy Reviews with Service
But what exactly is Amazon Vine and how does product testing work? The mail order company originally introduced the software to counter fake reviews. By considering only select customers as product testers, Amazon wanted to get a better overview of reviews.
In principle, all customers have the opportunity to become a product tester on Amazon Vine – but only if the mail-order company chooses them and they meet the relevant criteria. However, if this happens, they will receive specific products from retailers, manufacturers, or service providers that operate on Amazon Stores and are also registered with Vine. The scope of the goods is limitless.
Video: What does it look like to be a product tester?
When retailers sign up for Amazon Vine, the first six months are free for them. After that, they have to pay a contribution – the amount depends on the direction of the provider. Amazon Vine is free for customers or potential product testers.
At first glance, it seems like a profitable offer: get products for free, write a review, keep the goods. not bad. But if you look closely at the rules, you will quickly realize that they are not so simple. Amazon has set strict rules for product testers (more digital news at RUHR24).
Amazon Ratings: Product testers are selected according to strict criteria
You can only become a member of Amazon Vine if you are selected by the online giant. Amazon itself states: “Participate in Amazon Vine – Product Testing Club It is done exclusively by invitation. Vine members are selected based on various criteria.” It can be found on Amazon, among other places.
This includes, among other things, the number of reviews the customer has already written and whether other buyers have found them useful. “Customers who consistently write helpful reviews and who have built a reputation as experts in certain product categories are especially likely to be invited to participate in the program,” says the mail order major company. However, Amazon recently changed its rating guidelines, How hna.de* mentioned.
However, it is not officially known how many reviews are needed to be invited by Amazon to the secret product testing club. However, the probability increases Chip According to the reality and amount of reviews.
Stiftung Warentest Report: We’ve Verified Fake Amazon Reviewers
© Andrea Varnik / D
Amazon Product Testers: Here’s What Vine Customers Should Do
Once that is done and accepted into the Amazon jury circuit, you can proceed with the rules and regulations. Here’s what Amazon product testers should do:
- If customers receive a product, they must write a review within 30 days, otherwise you will lose your Vine status faster than you got it.
- Amazon states that it should serve as a helpful guide before you buy. Therefore, objectivity would generally be appropriate for review.
- However, Amazon notes in the same sentence that a rating can be positive, negative, or neutral. It should reflect the honest opinion of the customer and appear as authentic as possible.
- After all: as a rule, customers do not have to pay for products and are often allowed to keep them after they have been rated. Customers do not receive any additional payments for writing a review.
- Product testers are also obligated to keep the merchandise for at least six months. This is to prevent Vine members from reselling tested products directly.
- You have no control over which products are made available for testing. However, if you indicate certain interests and have already evaluated several products in this field before becoming a member, the chance of receiving the corresponding goods increases.
Amazon-Vine: A critique of the online retailer’s product testing program
Other customers can distinguish the rating of internal product testers from others by placing a green tick. Adding a “Vine customer review of a free product” should explain this. However, there are always criticisms of the Amazon software.
Among other things, the Consumer Advice Center in North Rhine-Westphalia criticized the fact that ratings can be decorated by members of Vine. The analysis would have shown that Amazon product tester reviews would have been clearly positive. This would give some products a real “evaluation boost” – regardless of their actual quality. Vine customers also rate some products more often than others. We cannot talk about a neutral distribution here.
Amazon Reviews: Are Reviews From Vine Members Credible Or Not?
When selecting Amazon Vine members, the Consumer Advice Center also lacked transparency. The argument that many reviews lead to membership by consumer advocates cannot be confirmed. They found several profiles of Vine product testers who only wrote fewer than 15 reviews.
Additionally, although Amazon advises product testers to use the real name, in a few cases this will also be the case, according to the Consumer Advice Center.
In the end, everyone should know for themselves whether or not they are going to take the trouble to join Amazon’s mystery program. For other customers, it is always important to distinguish whether the review was created by a Vine member or not – so the review can be asked in person again if necessary. * HNA is part of the Editing Network IPPEN.MEDIA
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