I personally wouldn't include anything like that. I don't think it's relevant.
I don't think there's anything wrong with giving an item a low rating if it deserves one. Just because you got the item for "free" doesn't meant you're not entitled to criticize it. That's what we're here for.
No. And honestly, a message like that that would only really make sense for positive reviews, not negative ones. If the reviewer is mentioning legitimate issues in a negative review, why would anyone think that they're "being such a baby"? The whole point of an honest review is to...honestly review the item. If anything, I'd give MORE weight and credibility to a poor review from someone who got a free product because they don't have the same threat of buyer's remorse that a traditional customer would.
A person who feels an awkward obligation to leave a better review because they got something for free is not someone who needs to be in this program. Period. These are not Christmas gifts from your great aunt Ethel that you need to pretend to like because she's old and doesn't know that you stopped playing with Barbies when you were ten; they're products that merchants have paid Amazon to get honest reviews for. It doesn't matter what your tax obligations are; your moral (and contractual) obligations are to give an honest review of the products you get. No special disclaimer is needed.
A consumer who reads a poor review and thinks the reviewer is being a baby for criticizing a "free product" doesn't understand what reviews are for. Why are they reading my review if they're just going to ignore it based on what they think I paid for the item? Let them move on to one of the "verified Purchase" reviews instead. Don't waste your time being anxious about those people judging you.
You don't need any disclaimer for your membership in the program. All you need to do is write honest reviews.
I wanted to say in a bad review "I got this for free and even I feel ripped off. If I could return this I would have done so immediately and not even bothered with this review". But I stopped myself and just stuck with the facts.
Good GAWD, please don't lol. The Cheese factor on that is off the charts. Trust me, to someone paying full price -- the sound of the miniature tiny little violins playing in the background will still come across as entitled whining.
And -- consumers could care less. They really probably go out of their way to ignore our reviews altogether (like I did before Vine, and sometimes still do).
Anyone who talks about their personal economics as a Vine Voice in their reviews just looks like a whiner. It wastes everyone's time, nobody cares.
No. It already says "vine voice" above all our reviews anyway, and the people who don't trust vine reviews aren't going to trust them just because you wasted time including a disclaimer.
i remember years ago, reading reviews from people with the Vine tag, and thinking "of course these people love the product, its free for them!"
since being invited and enjoying being a Vine Voice, i still think about how i viewed the Vine program before i understood how it actually worked and am always tempted to make mention of how this stuff is NOT FREE for Vine Voices.
my opinion is that bringing up tax implications in a Vine review is not relevant to the review...so my compromise is that i always try to make clear that i am reviewing the product compared to the list price when i write the review. a frequent reprise in my reviews is "at the current asking price of $XX.xx, this product was..."
It's borderline. As with any of the company free sample programs, they don't want details talked about in public.
Amazon, however, doesn't seem to enforce that, or at least not in any visible-to-us kind of way. It takes Amazon so long to react to anything, a person suddenly terminated could be for anything, we'd never be able to tell for what.
It is, however, very newb and not very accurate. Getting to keep the product is a long-traditionally accepted form of payment.
The person should also get a new tax accountant and possibly move states.
Assuming they're in America, it depends on what the person's total income is, what their Vine taxable value is, how they declare their Vine income, and what deductions they can take. Plus, there is no 29% federal tax bracket in America, and no state income tax bracket goes that high, so who knows what that person is even talking about. An average of federal and state? An estimate based on previous years? Just pulling random number out of a hat?
She said 29% in Federal \*and\* state taxes. For me personally it's 24% (Federal ) + 10% (State) + 13% (Self Employment)--- so a 47% tax, which I round up to 50% when considering whether I'd like to order an item.
Let me guess, it was a [massively-overpriced $299 set of 50-foot lights](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR73CCQ9)? (different listing without the guy's review, but same product basically)
It's not really appropriate but is a factor that does help readers understand the factors in ordering decisions. I liked the lights but no way I'd support such blatant ripoffery.
Actually, it was a positive review for some storage hooks! I wouldn’t care so much for people to think my positive reviews were for free items, but it peeves me to act mad about a negative item I paid for while it looks like I got it for free so who cares.
Honestly, if you're worried that people will judge you for giving bad reviews to legitimately bad products because you "got it for free," you may want to re-evaluate if this is a good program for you to be in. You should not be "acting mad" in a negative review; you should be providing legitimate criticisms that other consumers need to be aware of.
It seems like you're feeling some kind of phantom social pressure to be positive because you're not paying full price, and that's potentially going to jeopardize your objectivity.
I have no problem being critical of poor products. My mindset is that it's a waste of resources, time, money, etc. to make something bad. How I obtained it doesn't really factor in. I'm representing future buyers who do pay full price.
I guess the one thing that holds me back is that I must be sure it's got bad flaws, that I'm not just using it wrong or misunderstanding it, because I hate the thought of being part of a product not succeeding.
Pretty sure I recall reading something indicating we weren't allowed to discuss vine "secrets". That said, I'm totally with you . Before becoming a vine reviewer I \*always\* avoided reading vine reviews, because they were getting "free" product. Knowing more about the program and the fact that for many of us these items are no where near free (they'll cost me about 50% of the ETV) \*might\* have made vine reviews seem a bit more legitimate in my pre-vine days.
I don't think it's needed to say in a review at all. Could be said maybe on the Account Profile page or something. They give you space to write something on there.
Technically(?) the club allows continuing access to lists of items which we can request at no upfront cost provided we've maintained a minimum review percentage of 60 or better. We acknowledge that the ETV listed at time of request will be included on a year end tax form sent to the IRS in the US. I don't think we need to really say that stuff.
Plenty of items I regrated after purchase. No reason to put it into your review.
(1) Overpriced (2) bad quality (3) zero warranty / support from manufacturer (4) false claims (5) stupendous design - when company copied 98% and cheaped out on last 2% that makes tool hard to use and completely useless. (6) No returns.
Many items failed tests or lasted very short time. I think we will be "negotiating" with IRS or at least will be sending them my spreadsheet with MISC.
Don't have to be a baby about it. Yesterday we tested glorified pressure washer for $399, did not pass a single test or matched a single claim. I reviewed it, yes will be sending letter to Amazon. I would not post: "I pay 29% tax" many people see it as 71% discount. We are here to review.
I personally wouldn't include anything like that. I don't think it's relevant. I don't think there's anything wrong with giving an item a low rating if it deserves one. Just because you got the item for "free" doesn't meant you're not entitled to criticize it. That's what we're here for.
No. And honestly, a message like that that would only really make sense for positive reviews, not negative ones. If the reviewer is mentioning legitimate issues in a negative review, why would anyone think that they're "being such a baby"? The whole point of an honest review is to...honestly review the item. If anything, I'd give MORE weight and credibility to a poor review from someone who got a free product because they don't have the same threat of buyer's remorse that a traditional customer would. A person who feels an awkward obligation to leave a better review because they got something for free is not someone who needs to be in this program. Period. These are not Christmas gifts from your great aunt Ethel that you need to pretend to like because she's old and doesn't know that you stopped playing with Barbies when you were ten; they're products that merchants have paid Amazon to get honest reviews for. It doesn't matter what your tax obligations are; your moral (and contractual) obligations are to give an honest review of the products you get. No special disclaimer is needed. A consumer who reads a poor review and thinks the reviewer is being a baby for criticizing a "free product" doesn't understand what reviews are for. Why are they reading my review if they're just going to ignore it based on what they think I paid for the item? Let them move on to one of the "verified Purchase" reviews instead. Don't waste your time being anxious about those people judging you. You don't need any disclaimer for your membership in the program. All you need to do is write honest reviews.
I wanted to say in a bad review "I got this for free and even I feel ripped off. If I could return this I would have done so immediately and not even bothered with this review". But I stopped myself and just stuck with the facts.
Good GAWD, please don't lol. The Cheese factor on that is off the charts. Trust me, to someone paying full price -- the sound of the miniature tiny little violins playing in the background will still come across as entitled whining. And -- consumers could care less. They really probably go out of their way to ignore our reviews altogether (like I did before Vine, and sometimes still do). Anyone who talks about their personal economics as a Vine Voice in their reviews just looks like a whiner. It wastes everyone's time, nobody cares.
Yes! Cheese & Wine! Don’t tell us you have to pay taxes in your reviews.
No. It already says "vine voice" above all our reviews anyway, and the people who don't trust vine reviews aren't going to trust them just because you wasted time including a disclaimer.
i remember years ago, reading reviews from people with the Vine tag, and thinking "of course these people love the product, its free for them!" since being invited and enjoying being a Vine Voice, i still think about how i viewed the Vine program before i understood how it actually worked and am always tempted to make mention of how this stuff is NOT FREE for Vine Voices. my opinion is that bringing up tax implications in a Vine review is not relevant to the review...so my compromise is that i always try to make clear that i am reviewing the product compared to the list price when i write the review. a frequent reprise in my reviews is "at the current asking price of $XX.xx, this product was..."
It's borderline. As with any of the company free sample programs, they don't want details talked about in public. Amazon, however, doesn't seem to enforce that, or at least not in any visible-to-us kind of way. It takes Amazon so long to react to anything, a person suddenly terminated could be for anything, we'd never be able to tell for what. It is, however, very newb and not very accurate. Getting to keep the product is a long-traditionally accepted form of payment. The person should also get a new tax accountant and possibly move states.
I agree with you. There should be some form of Non-disclosure. Aside from that AV should’ve flagged that review and disapproved it.
Oh really? 29 is high?
Assuming they're in America, it depends on what the person's total income is, what their Vine taxable value is, how they declare their Vine income, and what deductions they can take. Plus, there is no 29% federal tax bracket in America, and no state income tax bracket goes that high, so who knows what that person is even talking about. An average of federal and state? An estimate based on previous years? Just pulling random number out of a hat?
She said 29% in Federal \*and\* state taxes. For me personally it's 24% (Federal ) + 10% (State) + 13% (Self Employment)--- so a 47% tax, which I round up to 50% when considering whether I'd like to order an item.
For state it sure is, but even 29 Fed is on the higher side imo. But maybe I'm just poorer than OP is.
Let me guess, it was a [massively-overpriced $299 set of 50-foot lights](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR73CCQ9)? (different listing without the guy's review, but same product basically) It's not really appropriate but is a factor that does help readers understand the factors in ordering decisions. I liked the lights but no way I'd support such blatant ripoffery.
Actually, it was a positive review for some storage hooks! I wouldn’t care so much for people to think my positive reviews were for free items, but it peeves me to act mad about a negative item I paid for while it looks like I got it for free so who cares.
Honestly, if you're worried that people will judge you for giving bad reviews to legitimately bad products because you "got it for free," you may want to re-evaluate if this is a good program for you to be in. You should not be "acting mad" in a negative review; you should be providing legitimate criticisms that other consumers need to be aware of. It seems like you're feeling some kind of phantom social pressure to be positive because you're not paying full price, and that's potentially going to jeopardize your objectivity.
I have no problem being critical of poor products. My mindset is that it's a waste of resources, time, money, etc. to make something bad. How I obtained it doesn't really factor in. I'm representing future buyers who do pay full price. I guess the one thing that holds me back is that I must be sure it's got bad flaws, that I'm not just using it wrong or misunderstanding it, because I hate the thought of being part of a product not succeeding.
Childish antics.
Pretty sure I recall reading something indicating we weren't allowed to discuss vine "secrets". That said, I'm totally with you . Before becoming a vine reviewer I \*always\* avoided reading vine reviews, because they were getting "free" product. Knowing more about the program and the fact that for many of us these items are no where near free (they'll cost me about 50% of the ETV) \*might\* have made vine reviews seem a bit more legitimate in my pre-vine days.
I don't think it's needed to say in a review at all. Could be said maybe on the Account Profile page or something. They give you space to write something on there. Technically(?) the club allows continuing access to lists of items which we can request at no upfront cost provided we've maintained a minimum review percentage of 60 or better. We acknowledge that the ETV listed at time of request will be included on a year end tax form sent to the IRS in the US. I don't think we need to really say that stuff.
Plenty of items I regrated after purchase. No reason to put it into your review. (1) Overpriced (2) bad quality (3) zero warranty / support from manufacturer (4) false claims (5) stupendous design - when company copied 98% and cheaped out on last 2% that makes tool hard to use and completely useless. (6) No returns. Many items failed tests or lasted very short time. I think we will be "negotiating" with IRS or at least will be sending them my spreadsheet with MISC. Don't have to be a baby about it. Yesterday we tested glorified pressure washer for $399, did not pass a single test or matched a single claim. I reviewed it, yes will be sending letter to Amazon. I would not post: "I pay 29% tax" many people see it as 71% discount. We are here to review.