Amazon Vine for Seller Central
What is Vine Voice on Amazon? Amazon Vine Voice reviewer program is dedicated to helping sellers get reviews. The most trusted reviewers, based on their reviewer rank, are selected by Amazon to help generate reviews. Amazon is slowing releasing the Amazon Vine Program to sellers on Seller Central and is currently available to some sellers. Amazon Vine has been available to Vendor Central sellers and will continue to be available to them.
Reviews help shoppers gain valuable insight when shopping online and aides in the decision making process. Most shoppers depend on reviews when shopping online because they cannot see or touch the products. Having reviews helps build the credibility of the product and sales.
What is Required to Get Started with the
Amazon Vine Program?
Business Requirements
- A professional Seller Central account must be established.
- The brand must be registered.
- The products have to be in FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon).
Product Requirements
- Have to have fewer than 30 reviews on the product detail pages.
- Must be available via FBA in ‘New’ condition.
- Inventory needs to be in stock.
- Product listing must be complete with image(s) and a description.
- The item must already be launched at the time of enrollment.
Product Restrictions and Exclusions
- No adult products.
- Products excluded if Amazon has to bundle multiple products for delivery and review.
- Product will not be allowed if it does not correspond to the exact product listed on the FBA offer.
- Products that would require an Amazon Vine reviewer to separately order another product to conduct a review is not allowed, however accessories for widely-owned products are permitted.
Example: Phone case for a popular mobile phone can be enrolled. But a battery that only works on a specific camera would not be allowed.
As always, with Amazon there are specific guidelines that need to be followed when applying to participate in the Amazon Vine Program. There are business and product requirements, and restrictions that we’ll break down below.
What Does Amazon Vine Cost?
The fees to participate in the Amazon Vine program are available when you start enrolling with the online enrollment tool. Unless you are a seller who has previously established an agreement with Amazon and set applicable fees to enroll your products.
The normal storage fees that are included with selling your products via FBA will still be in effect as you need to store all your products at an Amazon fulfillment center and ship FBA to participate in this program.
A Few More Details About Amazon Vine Program
No Guarantee But Don't Let That Deter You
While Amazon Vine Voice Program offers the ability to generate reviews on your behalf for products that have little to no reviews, they do not guarantee the reviews. If a reviewer receives your item and does not review it, the item will not be returned. It is important to note that Amazon does do it’s due diligence in vetting the reviewers allowed in this program and they have strict criteria for consumers to be Vine Reviews.
Limit in Reviews Received
Once the review count on the product detail page reaches a total of 30 reviews the item is disenrolled from the Amazon Vine Program. This happens regardless of how many Vine Voices receive the product or leave reviews during enrollment.
Choose Your Inventory To Be Reviewed
When enrolling in the Amazon Vine Program it’s important to note that currently there is a limit of five SKUs at a time. Take a look at your products and see which ones need reviews (have zero or fewer than 30 reviews).
Value of Reviews
The quantity and quality of your reviews are important to your sales and potential growth on Amazon. Research shows that more than 80% of consumers say they value online reviews as much as they do a recommendation from a friend. Amazon understands the power that the reviews hold in helping a shopper make a purchase decision and uses that information to assess sellers. It does this in two ways: seller ratings and product reviews. The product reviews are most important because listings with 4-star reviews and above tend to rank the highest in search results.
