This is not the continuation of our last Compensated Reviews post. We are sorry to disappoint, but let’s get that disappointment out of the way first. And if you really want an explanation, okay, here goes. The products that requested reviews in exchange for Amazon gift cards were gifts in an of themselves, and that became a sticking point when the companies requested the order numbers and emails for verification. It makes sense on their part, but asking for the order number of a gift is almost shadier than writing an overly positive review just to score a $10 gift card. So the continuation of that post has been put on hold indefinitely.

This, however, is still related. It’s still Amazon and it’s still people getting freebies for leaving reviews. The difference is that this is all above the board, baby! And the reviews don’t even need to be positive!

Help Me through the Jungle, Vine Voice

Yeah, clever, innit? Amazon… Vine… They go together. The only issue is that this feature is shrouded in mystery to laypeople like us. But chances are, if you’ve scoured reviews like we have, you may have seen something like this:

It’s kinda hard to miss, but at the same time, it’s not the text you’re looking to read. Nonetheless, there it is, Vine Voice, and Vine Customer Review of a Free Product. What should also stand out, however, is the length of the review and the number of pictures. Mkp isn’t just doing this for giggles.

Of course, if you see that someone is reviewing a product they got for free, you’re likely to think they’re forced to say something nice. That’s valid, too. But that is not the case here.

See, Amazon knows that phony reviews don’t help the consumer, just the seller of the product. And while Amazon cares about making money themselves, they also care about the consumer and those doing legitimate business. That’s why Vine Voice exists and why reviewers can say whatever they want, provided the reviews are helpful.

So here’s how it all works. We know that we check reviews before we buy products, thus the products with many high reviews end up being what we buy, and what we then review. So how does a seller get people to buy when they don’t have those pozzy reviews sitting around? They simply apply to be in the program and agree to send out a pre-specified number of products for free. Those products are provided (or made available) to Amazon customers who leave reviews in exchange.

And the most important part, I know, is how a layperson like you, me, or Sally gets in on this. It’s all about writing reviews and making sure they’re good. Amazon will get a sense of how useful your reviews are (how many people vote Helpful), as well as the niches in which you seem to have expertise, based on your purchases. It’s invite only, and once you’re in, they’ll start offering products that match your niche.

The gist of this is, it pays to review, wherever you do your reviewing. And this isn’t the only way to get free things from Amazon in exchange for reviews. There’s also Amazon Early Reviewer, but that is a blog for another day.