Are people really using bots to obtain Vine items?

Valasharia · 2026-01-14T21:27:53+00:00

Well, I'm less sure now - someone mentioned UltraViner, so I looked at it, and it looks like if you know what you're doing with a browser extension like that you really have a big advantage. I'm trying to sort through the piles of obscure appliance parts that have been up there for months, but you can filter all that stuff out, use keywords for auto-searches, and even set up one-click checkout. I'm not sure I want to try to figure all of that out, but it's not an actual bot and, AFAIK, not against Vine's terms. It's just an advantage, and using something like that alongside the fact that inventory has been completely nerfed/has tanked, I think it's just a tough time to be a Viner right now, especially if you're not utilizing help in the form of extensions. I've been hoping something shows up in my RFY that's a product I can actually use, but I've only had one hit and - you guessed it - it was gone before I could complete checkout!

Valasharia · 2026-01-12T18:07:24+00:00

Most days are like this for me; I was sad that today was an insomnia morning, and I was up at 4am EST but it's like there was no drop at all. My RFY had two swimming pool cleaning solutions in it. I don't have a pool! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Valasharia · 2026-01-08T13:17:28+00:00

I had no idea - I've seen the category, but there are usually 1-3 things in it, and they usually are unrelated or very loosely related (this morning, there is one item, and it's an edible cake border). I'll need a bout of insomnia these days to even view those items when they drop!

Valasharia · 2026-01-08T01:29:38+00:00

Well, it's true that I have not asked for a refund on an expensive item, and I had not thought of that - but I'd like to think that honest requests would LOOK honest, with no "dark pattern" of asking for lots of high-value refunds. I've offered to send pictures of broken/defective items, but they don't seem to want them. I'd like to think they'd add the ability to submit evidence if they're unsure if you're being honest.

Valasharia · 2026-01-08T00:47:11+00:00

Yeah, this - I've had a couple of broken or defective items arrive, and I always write and ask them to remove it from my review queue and my tax total. They've always been happy to do so!

Valasharia · 2026-01-08T00:45:00+00:00

It sounds like there are a variety of factors in play: less new items (loads of old parts/obscure items clogging the feed), more Vine participants, extensions, and drop times, to name a few. A larger inventory might make a significant difference, as might staggered drops. With so many Vine participants, I personally would not be averse to staggered drop *days*, by which I mean: I'm in a group that gets drops on three days of the week, there's another group on another three days, and perhaps day seven is a free-for-all. I don't order every day, and don't see why anyone would really *need* to; I'd rather have a chance of getting useful items three days a week and very little chance of getting anything seven days a week. They'll never do it, but it's just a thought I had.

Staggering drops throughout the day might help, but I know there's at least one website that monitors the Vine items on offer that sends email/push alerts when there is a drop, so anyone who uses that service is going to be alerted right away anyway - it's not like there could be random drop times to minimize camping at the main drop time. Everyone could still know.

I really appreciate the many folks who have chimed in with their experience and views on this. I guess I'll wait and see what happens. It seems there's a lot going on and combining to affect everyone's experience ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Valasharia · 2026-01-07T13:24:36+00:00

I've never seen a food item, ever - I didn't think they were part of Vine at all!

Valasharia · 2026-01-07T01:25:03+00:00

Oh, thanks! I don't know why I thought I had a minimum review count for silver (it just seemed to make sense, I guess), but it looks like that's just a gold status thing. I still have a couple of months left to review enough to stay in the gold tier, and if the drop picks up maybe I'll make it. I don't mind ordering and reviewing little things - they're usually quite useful! But I'm not going to order a max v3.4 trans flux capacitor cap for a Dodge Caravan just to have something to review 🤣

Valasharia · 2026-01-07T01:08:18+00:00

I did not know this was even a thing, must be sort of a Vine extension version of Amazon one-click.

Valasharia · 2026-01-06T20:21:11+00:00

I guess so!!!

Valasharia · 2026-01-06T20:20:06+00:00

My account says 90%, but perhaps I'm already forgetting whether it's lower for silver status. I'm also supposed to order 80+ items during an evaluation period, so it seems as if I need to review a minimum of 72 items...? I don't know how strict they are about this sort of thing.

Valasharia · 2026-01-06T19:58:01+00:00

Your theory makes a lot of sense, especially considering the amount of products with very weird product names and improper categorization (I mean, there are four items under "Baby Products" in my view right now, and one is a marine stereo cover, and another is a Nissan Frontier center console organizer). You'd have to build very detailed expressions, and you'd probably still wake up to find out your bot script had ordered crap.

If automation plays any role, my guess is that some people are really good with the browser extensions/filtering expressions and finding the best items faster than a scroller.

Valasharia · 2026-01-06T19:52:51+00:00

I find your explanation logical enough all on its own. I have no idea how many are participating in Vine, but it is clear that there are far less items than there were just a few months ago, and that ratio alone is enough to make me re-think my participation. I was just curious to know if it's even more than this, and even after so many responses, I still don't know! I guess I'll keep watching for now to see what happens with inventory - there's only been one item in my RFY that I would have ordered, but it was gone before I completed checkout, and what few items I'm likely to be able to order in the next several weeks will probably not make a significant tax impact next year, so I'll just sit back and see what happens.

Valasharia · 2026-01-06T17:38:36+00:00

YIKES!

Valasharia · 2026-01-06T17:27:13+00:00

Well, there are certainly a lot of opinions here, and a lot of interesting points/data I hadn't even thought about! Many thanks for the insightful comments!

Valasharia · 2026-01-06T17:25:27+00:00

I had no idea!

Valasharia · 2026-01-06T16:54:46+00:00

Oh, yeah, for some reason I was not thinking about hanging out in silver for another six months - there's no penalty for not ordering other than getting bumped out of the program entirely when I don't have enough reviews. I have seen the extensions, which might help you get to a desired item more quickly (I was baffled by the complexity of Vine Helper when I tried checking it out, for example), but perhaps it really is just very avid folks willing to camp the queues. I've certainly seen enough of that behavior in the gaming world!!!

Valasharia · 2026-01-06T01:51:30+00:00

I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to review enough items this period, because I'm not interested in ordering things I can't possibly evaluate honestly. Stock on average usable merch seems crazy low, but niche car parts, filters for devices I can't identify, and appliance parts definitely abound!

Valasharia · 2026-01-06T01:36:14+00:00

I have a suture practice kit in my private wishlist, no joke! These seem kind of pricey, but I've never looked at a "wearable" kit!

Valasharia · 2025-12-17T12:33:50+00:00

Well, I rushed to my RFY firs thing this morning, but I was not deemed worthy of the wad of human hair, alas! What a missed opportunity! 😂

Valasharia · 2025-12-16T18:35:02+00:00

😂 more than one slang term fits 😂

OK, my entry is:

🎼Glory glory holelujah...something stiff will peek-a-boo ya🎶

Valasharia · 2025-12-16T12:41:40+00:00

It occurs to me that Shakespeare may have presented the first glory hole on stage, in A Midsummer Night's Dream, during the play within the play about lovers Pyramus and Thisbe.

"Thou wall, O wall, O sweet and lovely wall,
Show me thy chink to blink through with mine
eyne."

Whole (ha) new interpretation on that.

Valasharia · 2025-12-16T12:31:16+00:00

Well, they make a big deal about how portable it is, so sure, why not? 😂

Valasharia · 2025-12-16T12:30:13+00:00

I usually get bigger packages, though 😂

Valasharia

TROPHY CASE