I have noticed a lot of reviews have a disclaimer at the end saying something like
“I received a discount on the purchase price for the review of this product.”
How does one get this discount for a product review? I have never been given the option of providing a review for any financial benefit, but it seems many folks do.
Can anyone shed some light?
Shed some light, well the batteries are leaking but the bulb does still illuminate a bit still if I shake it. I’ve heard that those who have had good reviews with many ‘helpful’ thumbs up are offered this.
It’s Amazon’s Vine program. You can read about it here: Amazon Vine
Basically they get free stuff and then review it.
I am a Vine reviewer. The criteria for invitation was never very clear, but we assume it’s tied to helpful votes. I was invited when I had 600+ helpful votes on my reviews (not 600+ reviews, only half a dozen or so, but many thumbs ups).
Basically, they offer you a list of products to choose from. You can ask for up to 5 at a time, and then when you review some, you can request more. Products include random things from all categories: food, televisions, rowing machines, shower curtains, obscure industrial parts, laptops, televisions, blah blah.
There are other methods sellers use to attempt to influence reviews. After buying a pair of nail clippers on Amazon, I received an email advising if I reviewed their product, they would send me a free set of identical clippers. The email explained that after writing my review, send them the link to my review and the clippers would follow.
I did and so did the clippers which now makes me believe I overpaid for the original clippers. A review of the Amazon comments on this item reveals a remarkable number of 5-star comments so perhaps their approach is working.
I am not a Vine reviewer, but I can offer this anecdote: I had bought a $50 home plumbing fixture. I was happy with it, but did not review it or rate it. About six months later the seller/manufacturer offered me a free one if I would review it on Amazon.
I accepted; the product was shipped through the Amazon system, and I gave it an honest review (frankly, I like the thing pretty well, but I tried to mention any faults, even minor, in my review).
I am still a bit puzzled at the whole transaction; there were already plenty of glowing Amazon reviews, and it isn’t an item with a “giveaway” cost.
I did Amazon reviews a couple of books that the authors had given to me personally for free, which was a private transaction outside of Amazon. I did disclose that fact in my review.
And no, I did not give them all 5-star gushing reviews - I was honest about my reviews, They were good books, but not perfect.
So that’s the new Vine reviewer message? The “discount” is 100%, is it not? But you do now have to pay taxes on the value of review items. Between that and the terrible allocation system that made me quit Vine.