Amazon Vine Program - Is It Worth It In 2026?

Key Takeaways

• The average Vine review is rated between 4.0 and 4.3 on a scale of 1-5.

• Vine reviewers are selected based on previous reviews they have left where Amazon believes they leave thoughtful and helpful reviews, particularly in one category.

• A brand or seller is able to enrol up to 30 units per parent ASIN into Amazon Vine.

• You need to include Vine enrolment fees and additional costs such as COGS, FBA Fees and Inbound shipping when calculating the total cost for the program.

• You are only charged based on the amount of parent ASIN units enrolled in the Vine program.

• Amazon will target Vine Voices that are active within your category for 28 days, if inventory still remains it will open it up to all reviewers.

What is the Amazon Vine Program?

Amazon Vine is an invite only program run by Amazon that connects brands and sellers with trusted reviewers, called “Vine Voices”. It allows brands and sellers to legitimately gain reviews on products, which in turn can help them to gain new customers.

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The reviewers are incentivised by being able to keep the products that are sent to them, in exchange for writing genuine and detailed reviews.

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Every review left under the program has a green badge the reads “Vine Customer Review of Free Product” which allows customers to identify these reviews easier.

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According to Nova Analytics the average Vine review is between 4.0 and 4.3, on a scale of 1-5.

How Amazon Vine Reviewers are Selected

As previously mentioned Amazon Vine is an invite only program, there is no application process and Amazon own internal algorithm judges who should be invited to join.

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The following is a list of criteria that is used by the algorithm and can help to increase the chance you become an Amazon Vine reviewer.

Helpful Reviews

On Amazon other customers can score your review with an upvote, categorising it as “Helpful”. A high number of upvotes can signal to Amazon you are improving customer experience on Amazon.‍

Review Detail

The algorithm will look for original detailed reviews, where offering personal opinion and details provides a great benefit in the customer purchasing decision.

Consistent Reviews

Writing reviews over an extended period of time will indicate that you are active on the platform and up to date with a number of products. Reviewing a number of items in a short period of time will not help to get you in the program.

Category Expertise

Writing on a large number of products in a particular niche signals that you are an expert in this category, Amazon highly values this and will be more inclined to match you up with future products that enter into the program in this niche.

Compliance and Trust

Following community guidelines and terms of service is imperative. Amazon will detect and remove you from the platform should you violate any of these terms.

Once selected there are multiple tiers within the program.

How Much does Amazon Vine Cost?

Amazon Vine is a great tool for brands and sellers of all sizes, as everything is based on the volume of reviews you wish to receive.

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Amazon charges an enrolment fee once per parent ASIN. This enrolment fee will be charged 30 days from the date of enrolment providing at least one review has been received, you will not be charged if you don’t receive any reviews.

The following examples are given by Amazon to better explain certain scenarios;

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Example 1: Seller enrols three units for an ASIN and receives one Vine review within 10 days of enrolment.

Seller will be charged £60 after 30 days from the date of enrolment since the product has received the first Vine review within that timeframe. If no review is received within the first 30 days, then billing will occur when the first Vine review is created.

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Example 2: Seller enrols two units for an ASIN and receives two Vine reviews within 90 days.

Seller will not be charged for the enrolment as they enrolled two units at parent-ASIN level.

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Example 3: Seller enrols two units for the parent ASIN with five child ASINs and receives two reviews for the enrolment.

Seller will not be charged for the enrolment as they enrolled two units at parent-ASIN level.

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Other costs to consider;

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

You must give your product to the Vine reviewer for free, therefore you must take into account your COGS into the total cost, this can become significant on a high cost product when you are aiming for 10s of reviews.

FBA Fees

Amazon fulfils to the reviewer through Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA), depending on the product these fees will range, you can view the full rate card here.

Inbound Shipping

FBA requires your product to be in an Amazon fulfilment centre, factoring in the cost of getting it there must also be considered.

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Real cost example: You enrol 30 units of a product with £13 COGS and £3.53 FBA Fee per unit. The total cost is £140 (enrolment) + £390 (COGS) + £105.90 (FBA Fees) = £635.90 for up to 30 reviews. In this example that works out to be £21.19 per review, if every review gets posted.

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If you are launching a new product in a competitive category it is almost essential that you have a good number of reviews, these products convert significantly better. If this is the cost that decides the success of your product launch it is more than worthwhile.

You can enrol a maximum of 30 products per parent ASIN.

Eligibility requirements to join the Amazon Vine Program for Brands and Sellers

Before you begin the Amazon Vine Program there are a few eligibility requirements for both your account and the ASIN you wish to enrol, these are;

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Account Type: Professional selling account

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Brand Registry: Brand enrolled with reseller role or brand representative active

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Product Fulfilment: Product in FBA program with stock availability

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Current Reviews: Your product must have no more than 30 existing reviews

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Product Condition: Must be new condition with listing details filled in

How to Enrol Your Products in Amazon Vine UK

Enrolling your products in Amazon Vine is a simple 7 step process.

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1. Log into Seller Central and navigate to the Vine page

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2. Enter the ASIN you wish to enrol in the text box and click Begin enrolment

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3. Verify your product details are accurate on the enrolment page

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4. Enter the amount of units you wish to enrol

For standalone ASINs enter between 1 and 30 units.

To enrol a product set, click Add variations and choose all the variations you wish to also enrol.

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5.Click Enrol

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6. Review the enrolment fee and accept the Terms and Conditions of the programme

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7. Click Enrol to complete your enrolment

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This process can be repeated for any eligible products.

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For the first 28 days after enrolment Amazon will target Vine Voices that are particularly active in your category. If this period passes and inventory still remains then Amazon will open it up to all Vine Voices.

What to Expect from the Amazon Vine Dashboard

The Amazon Vine dashboard is the central place for you to track product enrolments and review information.

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This is where you can go to launch new products, monitor previous campaigns and analyse feedback.

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Key features that are worth tracking:

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Review status: Displays the current status of the product in the Vine program, terms include Enrolled and Concluded.

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Enrolment date: The day which you first requested Vine reviews.

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Available: Current stock you have in FBA fulfilment centres.

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Enrolled and Claimed: How many units you enrolled into Vine and the amount that have been claimed by Vine Voices.

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Amazon Vine Reviews: Amount of Vine Voices that have publicly published reviews, these will now be visible on your product page.

Are Amazon Vine Reviews Trustworthy?

Due to the strict and invite only criteria needed to become a Vine Voice, it makes the Amazon Vine Program very legitimate and a valuable tool when launching new products on Amazon.

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The program has shown that Vine Voices write more detailed reviews than average customer. They will often read like professional reviews with structured content and ranking lists. They also often include photos of the product, this can significantly help to convert customers.

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Here are two review examples on the same product page.

As you can see in the first image the green badge is displayed showing ‘Vine Customer Review of Free Product’. This keeps transparency with regular customers so they can make informed purchasing decisions.

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Vine Voices have no obligation to leave positive reviews, however when compared against average reviews they have shown to be very fair and complimentary.

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Here you can see more ways to get Amazon reviews.

Conclusion

The Amazon Vine program can be very beneficial to brands and sellers, but the cost must be taken into consideration. It is most effective when launching a new product as it can accelerate the growth curve by providing early social proof.

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If you have the budget it remains a great program, it can also indicate any early customer issues before you launch your listing.