Search interest in this topic is largely a leftover from a different era of Amazon selling. It is worth being direct about that, because the honest answer saves you an account.
What the practice used to be
For several years, a large trade existed around discounted-or-free product in exchange for Amazon reviews. Sellers listed a product, a platform matched them with reviewers, the reviewer bought at a deep discount or for free, and a review followed. Reviews were supposed to carry a disclosure. Many did not.
What changed in October 2016
Amazon updated its community guidelines to prohibit incentivised reviews across most categories. The change was not a tightening of disclosure requirements — it removed the practice entirely. Offering any compensation, discount, or free product in exchange for a review became a policy violation regardless of how clearly it was disclosed.
Amazon also retroactively removed a very large volume of existing incentivised reviews. Sellers who had built ratings on that foundation watched them disappear.
What is allowed now
Amazon Vine — the one sanctioned route
Vine is run by Amazon, not by a third party. In outline:
- The seller enrols inventory in the programme and pays Amazon’s enrolment fee.
- Amazon selects the reviewers from its own pool and ships them units.
- Reviewers write what they think. Reviews carry a Vine Voice label.
- The seller has no contact with the reviewer and no influence over the review.
That last point is the whole design. You are buying distribution, not sentiment. Vine reviews are frequently critical, and sellers who expect otherwise are consistently disappointed.
Requesting reviews from real buyers
You may ask a genuine customer for a review, within limits. Amazon’s “Request a Review” button in Seller Central sends a templated message and is the safest mechanism. What you may not do is offer anything in return, ask specifically for positive reviews, or attempt to intercept negative feedback before it posts.
Off-Amazon creator campaigns
Sending product to a creator for a YouTube video or an Instagram post is entirely legitimate — that is normal influencer marketing, and the FTC disclosure rules apply. What you cannot do is make an Amazon review part of the deliverable. The moment the brief asks for an Amazon review, you are back in violation.
Why the shortcut is a bad trade
The risk is not a warning email. Amazon can suppress every affected review, suspend the listing, or terminate the selling account and hold the balance. Reinstatement is slow and frequently unsuccessful. Separately, the FTC has pursued enforcement over undisclosed paid endorsements, which is a liability that sits with your business rather than your marketplace account.
Weighed against a handful of early reviews, it is not a close call.
What to do instead, in order
- Enrol in Vine early in a listing’s life, when a small number of reviews moves the needle most.
- Use the Request a Review button consistently. It is unglamorous and it compounds.
- Fix the product problems that generate negative reviews rather than trying to outrun them.
- Run creator campaigns off-Amazon for awareness, with proper disclosure, and let the sales drive organic reviews.
If you are comparing platforms for the fourth point, our breakdown of the creator marketplaces covers what to check before you sign.
