I got an email this morning from Amazon.co.uk inviting me to join their Amazon Vine program. The same program has existed on Amazon.com for a few months. If you haven’t already read about Amazon Vine, here is a quote from the email
As a member of this exclusive community, you’ll have free access to pre-release and new products, as well as the opportunity to be among the very first to review them.
So they want to offer me free pre-release books in exchange for me reviewing them. I’m okay with that (particularly if I can hold of the third book of The Green Rider series)! I am already registered for a similar program, LibraryThings’s Early Reviewers, but unfortunately it is not currently open to people in the UK so it is great to find a program I am eligible for.
Amazon Vine is an invitation only program so I’m chuffed to have been invitied; although I’m not completely sure if it is because I’m one of their top reviewers (ranked 2616) or because I buy from them on a regular basis.
However, I have done some reading about the Amazon.com version and it appears that thing haven’t gone completely smoothly, so I will see how it goes. I will let you know how it goes and hopefully provide you with reviews of new books.
Hi,
I’ve been invited to join Vine as well, it sounds a pretty good idea and I guess you can’t complain about something that’s free. Sounds like the US Vine program started off with books and a few CDs and now includes electrical items as well.
There’s even a Vine forum open, if you follow the link from your joining email and check out the bottom of the page. Hopefully see you there!
Hello Paul,
Thanks for the comment. I agree Vine sounds exciting, but it is frustrating that is hasn’t gone live yet. I keep having to check the date because the page keeps telling me to return on the 15th October. There are less than 6 hours left of today and no sign of the service arriving, perhaps not the best start.
Hi
I too have been selected for this. I have two products and some problems! Maybe you can help, perhaps having had more success than me. I can’t find a way to navigate through from the main site to the pages I need to post reviews and when I rang Amazon helpdesk this morning they spent half an hour and were totally unable to help me. curiously, nobody I spoke to knew anything about Amazon Vine, so it’s obviously a well kept secret. Also, the DVD I ordered doesn’t play properly on my dvd player, so all in all it’s going very well. Any ideas about how I get to the vine site/review pages?
Hello Katy,
It is exciting to have been invited to the program isn’t it? I have emailed you the web address so I hope this helps you access the site. So far I have received the DVD and I am still waiting for a book and a CD. I have only written book reviews before, so this could be an interesting challenge for me.
I have been a Vine reviewer since the scheme started. It’s sad to hear that we are all accused of being paid by Amazon and are naturally biased because we received free products. From my personal perspective, those who shout those accusations are wrong on both counts. My reviews are honest and unbiased. Believe me, if something fails to impress me I say so! Conversely, if I’m blown away by the surprise quality of an item, I’ll say so. I don’t see why genuine reviewers should be blamed for repugnant activities that are sadly regular throughout Cyberspace.
I agree. There does seem to be many people against the Vine reviewers. Anyway, I look at it that we are not getting the items for free, we are writing honest reviews that helps Amazon remain so popular with purchasers.