Amazon Vine rules: what the agreement actually says

Vine usually gets sold as early reviews with Amazon's blessing, and the reviews part is real. The agreement you click through to enroll is another matter: Amazon promises you almost nothing in it, and says so in plain language.

What Vine costs

• Up to 2 units: $0.
• 3-10 units: $75. Elsewhere: CAD 100 | GBP 60 | EUR 70 | JPY 10,000.
• 11-30 units: $200. Elsewhere: CAD 240 | GBP 140 | EUR 170 | JPY 22,000.

Amazon bills per parent product, and "there's no additional cost for child products." A parent with eight variations costs the same as one with a single variation.

You don't pay up front. The page's FAQ section says: "You aren't charged until 30 days after enrollment and after your first review is published. If you don't receive a Vine review within 90 days from the date of enrollment, you aren't charged."

The same page says it differently further down, in the dashboard section: "You won't be billed until after your first review is published," with no mention of 30 days. Go by the FAQ wording and check your own invoice.

Thirty units of a $15-COGS product is $450 of stock you're giving away, plus the $200 fee: $650 in all. That's the number to budget against.

Which products can go in

On top of that you need "a Professional selling account and a Brand Representative or Reseller role assigned to a brand enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry, or have generic products."

The under-30 rule counts reviews already on the detail page, so a product sitting at 27 organic reviews can age out of eligibility while you're still deciding.

You can enroll the day you create the FBA listing, "even before inventory is received in the Amazon fulfillment network and before your listing goes live." Amazon recommends having stock in place "at least three weeks before your planned launch date."

According to the sell.amazon.com overview page, Vine runs in nine stores: US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia and Japan.

How many reviews does Amazon promise? None

Amazon doesn't promise a number of reviews or a tone. What it does require is the reviewer's honesty: "Any reviews posted by Vine Voices must be independent and unbiased and reflect the Vine Voice's true opinion (regardless whether it is positive or negative)."

One seller asked support why the reviews weren't arriving:

Another seller in the same thread put a number on it: "From my experience, about 65% to 70% of people leave VINE reviews." That's one seller counting his own listings. Amazon hasn't published a rate.

A third seller read the silence the other way: "Not getting reviews means that THESE reviewers had a heart and didn't want to give you a bad review."

Can you get a bad Vine review taken down?

So "this review is unfair" isn't a reason. Neither is "the reviewer used it wrong." What's left is the route open to any review: report it for breaking the Community Guidelines using the report link on the detail page.

Before you enroll, read a few Vine reviews on a competitor's listing: how long they run, whether they have photos, how closely they pick at the packaging. Once a review like that is up, it won't come down because you find it unfair.

Can you contact a Vine reviewer?

It works the other way too: if a Vine Voice reaches out to you about anything beyond ordinary support, you have to end the conversation and tell Amazon.

That's why Vine is FBA-only: "To ensure the authenticity and credibility of your reviews, we maintain the anonymity of Vine Voices. To avoid disclosing their contact information, we fulfill all Vine products via FBA." Your warehouse never sees the reviewer's address.

Your own buyers run under different rules. What you're allowed to say to them is set out in Amazon's buyer-seller messaging rules, and the one review request Amazon supplies itself is covered in the Request a Review button.

Do you get the units back?

Your Vine units are FBA by definition, so nothing gets destroyed. Unclaimed units go back to being ordinary sellable stock. A claimed one is gone: you keep title to each unit "until a Vine Voice orders a unit and it is delivered to the common carrier," and then it's the reviewer's.

Vine Voices get products free but are "responsible for income tax" on them.

Can you pull a product back out?

Whether you can back out depends on whether anyone has claimed a unit:

Amazon has its own cut-off on the other side: it can withdraw a product from the program, but never "later than 5 business days before we offer the Accepted Product to Vine Voices." Withdrawing "will not require Amazon to delete or alter any Reviews previously posted."

So get the listing, images and packaging right before you enroll.

Can you quote a Vine review in your own marketing?

If you've pasted a Vine review into an A+ module or an ad, check three things.

You asked the reviewer for permission; the route the agreement gives is replying to the review. You labeled the quote "Amazon Vine Customer Review of Free Product", that exact string, not "verified reviewer" and not "Vine Voice". And the review is still live, because once it comes down you have to stop using it, which means anything you printed can go stale without warning.

Amazon also reserves the right to tell you to stop: it "may, by written notice, require you to cease any use of the Reviews that it deems inappropriate in its sole discretion."

Which version of the Vine agreement is this?

The PDF quoted above is the Amazon EU version, and the text names Amazon EU S.à r.l. and amazon.co.uk. Its header prints two dates after "Last updated" with no separator: July 9, 2020 and January 1, 2021. This guide goes by the later one.

If you'd rather look before signing up: the demo walks through the page a buyer actually reaches, in about ten seconds.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Amazon Vine cost in 2026?

Enrollment is charged per parent product: $0 for up to 2 units, $75 for 3-10 units, and $200 for 11-30 units. Child products cost nothing extra. Outside the US the tiers are CAD 100/240, GBP 60/140, EUR 70/170 and JPY 10,000/22,000. When you budget, count the units too: every one you enroll is inventory you give away.

Does Amazon guarantee you'll get Vine reviews?

No. The Vine agreement says Amazon makes "no assurances" about how many enrolled products get reviewed or what the reviews say. Seller support has told sellers there's no deadline for a Vine Voice to write anything, and reviewers can choose not to.

Can you get a negative Vine review removed?

Not for being negative. The agreement states Amazon has "no obligation to modify or remove Reviews from the Amazon Site, even if you find them objectionable." It may remove reviews that break its Community Guidelines, the same standard every review is held to.

Can you contact a Vine reviewer about their review?

No. The agreement says you "must not contact Vine Voices or attempt to influence Vine Voices or their Reviews." If a Vine Voice contacts you about anything beyond ordinary customer support, you have to decline and notify Amazon.

Do you get unsold Vine units back?

A claimed unit belongs to the reviewer, so that one's gone. Unclaimed units go back to being ordinary sellable stock: the agreement lets Amazon destroy a product ninety days after receiving it, but exempts anything enrolled in FBA, and seller Vine units have to be FBA.

Can you cancel a Vine enrollment?

Only before anyone claims a unit. If no Vine reviewer has claimed anything you can cancel and re-enroll later. Once units are claimed you can't cancel, only stop further claims. Reviews may still publish for claimed units, and after stopping you can't re-enroll that product.

Related: The Request a Review button: the one review request that never touches a landing page | Amazon buyer-seller messaging rules: what you're allowed to send | Where Amazon's review and insert rules are actually written | What to do about a negative Amazon review