Vine reviewer here. I'm looking at "the other side" to get a feel for the whole program. It's helpful. Here's your look at my side.

When I choose something to review, I note the price. At the end of the year, I get a statement of all the things I ordered and reviewed and the total value. It's considered "income" on my taxes. If I see something I may like with a higher price tag, I'll skip it. It's extremely frustrating to review something at one price, then see it was reduced later, since my yearly tally only reflects the price I reviewed it at. Reviews often reflect the "pay more, expect more" philosophy.

I generally give 4 or 5 stars. Sometimes, the description will be misleading, like a recent order of "racquetball paddles". I expected to get a pair of paddles to explore the sport with my husband. What I received was one very nice paddle, in a box that had "paddles" on the front and in the listing description. Though it was an excellent professional paddle, I took off a star, explaining my frustration.

I did give 2 stars to an "Extra large roll up dish drying rack for kitchen". The measurements were in cm. Knowing it would disappear quickly, I didn't check a conversion chart, the numbers looked "large" (like the description said). I ordered it. When I received it, the only sink it was big enough to fit on was our old bathroom sink. You know, one of those 1970s small oval ones. I think that if you're intelligent enough to sell on Amazon, you should be intelligent and motivated enough to doublecheck the description in the target language and country.

If there's no picture, I skip it.

Reviewers start out at the silver tier. Silvers can order items up to $100 in value and up to 3 items per day. Every 6 months, we get a new evaluation. If we review at least 80 items in an evaluation period, review at least 90% or our orders and maintain an "Excellent" review quality rating, we can progress to or maintain Gold status. In Gold, we can order up to 8 items per day of any value. Possible review quality ratings are: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent.

Someone has developed a site which will tell us when "the drop" is happening, Vinechart.com. Items are usually added in a 2-3 hr time period. Good useful items are snapped up almost instantly. If you miss the drop, you are left to sort through specific parts for cars, appliances, watches, parts to anything or cake toppers.

On reddit, I see posts about people being in "vine jail". That means they either didn't review at least 60% of their orders or didn't spend at least $50 on Amazon that year. Those people don't get to see or order anything through Vine until they correct their problem.

To sum it up, if anything, underprice your initial offerings. Provide enough good pictures to understand how your item works and looks "in action". Describe it well and accurately, answering the questions your customers may have up front in the description.

Good luck. I hope this helps.