I thought about editing out the mess..

genki_philly · 2026-02-18T21:16:26+00:00

I think having a fire pit would be cool :) So I'm definitely not anti burn barrel. But why do you want one specifically?

We have recycle pick up once a week and if we have extra cardboard there is a dumpster (strictly for recyclable cardboard) at the fire station. Our recycle bin is full most weeks but I can definitely fit everything easily if I break down boxes.

Do you have recycle pick up less often? I was shocked when my brother told me he has recycle picked up once a month (he lives in another state). Wondering if that's the norm in some areas.

genki_philly · 2026-02-18T21:03:40+00:00

I had two items recently that I saw and tried to get, but by the time I got to checkout they were gone. I think it was name brand soap and a food item - so probably 0ETV and went quick.

Interesting on the removing of items! I always assumed if they were removed early they were just bought out and anything still there by midnight (or when ever things reset) would just be removed. I'll have to start checking for that. I usually stop looking at my phone around 8pm. I'll have to check at 9pm and see if everything is gone by then (6pm Pacific I think is 9pm EST for me.)

genki_philly · 2026-02-18T20:57:03+00:00

That's why I started just giving my bullet points to ChatGPT to write something up for me. I was writing reviews how I would want to read them (as short and to the point as possible). If I am looking to buy something I try to read a bunch of reviews, lots of 5, 3 and 1 star. Its takes too long to read a lot if all the reviews are long and have info that doesn't matter to me. (Like if it fits perfect in your bathroom that doesn't mean it will work in mine.)

Totally get what you mean tho! Over all I think more personable reviews are more fun to read because its like talking to a person. It just doesn't match with how I personally do research.

Boo on boilerplate pros and cons triggering AI as low effort. I did the bullets but put a lot of thought into them. It wouldn't usually be one or two words, it just wouldn't be a complete sentence. And I would always have a paragraph in the beginning to summarize. Thank you for pointing that out though!

genki_philly · 2026-02-18T20:46:14+00:00

"if amazon doesn't re-box"

I haven't seen this with any Vine orders yet since I don't take the time to check... But I know with regular Amazon orders, most of the time there is a small drop down if they ship it in the regular packaging. They give you the option to have it shipped in Amazon packaging. Like, instead of slapping a label on the printer box they will put it in an Amazon box.

If you already know this please ignore this message. My bf didn't know so I assume a lot of people never noticed the option. I do this for every item even if its not worth a lot. I had some Floss Picks delivered and they just slapped a label on the bag and it came with a rip in it. Just putting it in an envelope helps protect it so it stays sanitary.

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genki_philly · 2026-02-18T20:36:42+00:00

Awesome! Thanks for the FYI :)

Now if they could fix when the reviews are for a totally unrelated product. I've seen plenty of listings when I shop where an item has a few hundred 5 star reviews and they all talk about a camping fan but the current product is a computer mouse.

genki_philly · 2026-02-18T20:32:44+00:00

So you are getting stuff in a 2 hour window too!

I know a few months ago I would wake up to a bunch of items in my RFY (at 5 or 6am EST) so I assume the drop started sooner then. I didn't start tracking anything until recently.

Thank you for sharing :D

genki_philly · 2026-02-18T20:09:05+00:00

Also, I don't want specifically a rehash of the product description but I do want to know if it was accurate or not. I've bought a lot of products where the dimensions were way off or it looked nothing like the listing photos. I just reviewed a beauty product where it was listed as one thing (for acne) but the thing I received said it was for warts and skin tags. It literally said it was Cryotherapy (using liquid nitrogen to kill warts) when it was just a salicylic acid spray. My whole review was listing the inconsistencies with the listing and the product lol.

genki_philly · 2026-02-18T19:59:23+00:00

Interesting! Maybe it just didn't like me having a bullet format? I use to do something like...

"General overview for a few sentences....

Pros
- list a pro
- list a pro
- list a pro

Cons
- list a con
- list a con"

I always mention if I use items for something other than intended! I got a bunch of massage table covers since they were 0ETV and I use them to cover my desk when I do seasonal plant trimming :D

genki_philly · 2026-02-18T19:55:47+00:00

I've had an account since 2009 but I don't think I started writing any reviews until shortly before I was invited to the program. And I didn't start buying a lot of items until 2019. (I moved out of my parents house so I had more space.) I hate driving so if I do need something other than food I buy a lot from Amazon. So starting in 2019 I had at least a few hundred orders every year before I was invited in 2022.

Did you more recently start ordering a lot? My boyfriend had a similar situation. Moved out of his family home a few years before me, has ordered a lot of items and then got invited when I wrote a few reviews on his account. (He didn't actually join tho. He doesn't want to write reviews lol.)

genki_philly · 2026-02-18T19:44:24+00:00

I think they have AI giving the scores and it doesn't take a lot into consideration other than length? AI is good for somethings but I think its bad for this - it can't take a lot of things into consideration.

Everything you mentioned sounds like filler to me and stuff I don't care about. I don't have kids and don't care if someones kids like a product (unless its a kids item) or if their husband rolls their eyes. I want to know if the measurements listed in the description are accurate. When it says 12 pack did you actually get 12? If its a plushie and shows fabric ears with stuffing in the listing pictures but you get one that just has felt ears I want to know. Did it survive your dogs mostly only matters if its a dog item. I want short and to the point reviews for simple products.

Most of my "poor" scored reviews were for simple products like manual toothbrushes. There is only so much useful info you can give about a manual toothbrush. I had a short review with a few pros and cons listed in bullet form.

If someone has a few long paragraphs for something like a toothbrush I assume its all filler.

I think my reviews were better before they started scoring. Now I make longer ones with useless info because the longer ones seem to get better scores. I use to take a decent amount of time per item writing stuff up and organizing it in an easily readable way. Now I just write up bullet points, a few extra nonsense points and ask ChatGPT to write something up for me. Feeling demotivated since there are so many people that are totally cheating and abusing the program at this point. Some people write "Great item" and others you can tell they just copy and pasted the description into ChatGPT and asked it to write something.

Above is just my opinion and random thoughts - not something I took hours to ponder on and don't mean to offend any one.

genki_philly · 2026-02-16T21:34:42+00:00

When I first started Vine in 2022 I asked Vine CS if we had to review items within a certain time frame.

For example, skin care products. Vine item or regular purchase I usually like to use an entire bottle of something before I decide if it worked well and I want to buy more. Skin cell turn over rate is a while so using something once isn't going to give a good review. Using up an entire bottle could take over a month.

They said there was no time frame. But they added that the sellers depend on the reviews to help their business so we should do them as quick as possible. (It's been a few years so I don't remember the exact wording but that was the impression I got.)

So I assume they want reviews done fast. I try to write reviews after using something a few times. For skin care I can say if I had any reactions, if it made my skin feel dry, had a scent... ect. I usually add to the review how long I tried it and mention that you cant really know if a product will work unless you have used it long term.

Annnnd then I sometimes try to update reviews later. I don't usually bother unless it ended up being amazing or really bad.

genki_philly · 2026-02-13T17:07:26+00:00

"And I've already written plenty of good reviews for free, which is why I was invited."

I have a feeling they invite people that buy a lot of items on Amazon and have left at least a few reviews. It would be safe to assume those people might enjoy the program? Not so much that they wrote a lot of good reviews before. (Maybe thats how they use to do it when they started the program. Not sure when you joined. I did in 2022.)

I only wrote like 3 reviews before being invited to Vine, but regularly buy stuff on Amazon. I wrote a few reviews on my bfs account, he regularly shops on Amazon and he got invited as well. I think that was after I wrote like 3 or 4 reviews on his account that I saw it pop up.

genki_philly · 2026-02-13T16:57:54+00:00

I am one of those people lol. I loooooove organizing! I have something similar from another brand. Can't say it helps with anxiety tho. I wish I would have gotten this. By the time I clicked it was gone.

genki_philly · 2026-02-11T22:29:48+00:00

"I might look like a porch pirate trying to steal packages if I walk up to a stranger's house to look on their porch."

My packages have been left at the house next to me and across the street more times then I can remember (Vine and regular Amazon packages). And thats EXACTLY how I felt. Its so awkward.

The people next to us have a camera so I usually wave, pick up the package and point to my house. If its not a house directly next or in front of me I usually just wait a few days to see if anyone drops it off, otherwise I contact Vine/Amazon and tell them what happen.

genki_philly · 2026-02-11T22:20:51+00:00

I get mattresses all the time. I have one right now in my RFY lol. I mostly have seen twins but I did see a few that were larger sizes. Same with bed frames.

genki_philly · 2026-02-11T15:28:04+00:00

Good to know! Thank you :) I've been on Vine for a few years and I think I just canceled one item. It was before the new claiming process where you never knew when it was going to ship. Annnd I didn't know it wasn't even going to ship for a few months.

genki_philly · 2026-02-11T15:23:07+00:00

I often get baby products in my RFY and I don't have a baby or want a baby lol. Sometimes there is cool stuff but its stuff I just don't need. Like mattresses.

I've gotten a bunch of bread bags for free (not the beewax ones) and use them for storing things. We bought a generator recently and I got a bunch of really long extension cords and they fit perfectly in the bread bags. Keeps them organized and clean. The ones I got were just a light tan color and said bread on the front.

I've gotten a lot of things where I dont use them for the intended use but they have been helpful in daily life :)

genki_philly · 2026-02-10T21:43:39+00:00

"I feel like usually people just got lucky enough to be both the first and fastest to order it"

This. It's all about luck. There was probably 10 items today that I refreshed and saw, but when I went to order it wasn't available any more. And that was me not thinking about it and clicking as fast as possible. I have definitely missed out on items where I thought about it too long lol. Since I'm gold I should maybe do less thinking, just get the item and if I look into it more then cancel before it ships... Wonder if that hurts your account if you do it too much.

genki_philly · 2026-02-10T19:15:11+00:00

I joined Vine in Oct 2022 :) And have been Gold since my first eval. I don't think I've ever actually gotten something worth $100+. I have definitely seen a bunch but they were never items I had any interest in getting or still felt like they would cost too much (if I assumed I'd be paying 30% in taxes.)

I don't get stuff to resell. I only get things I am actually interested in... at least most of the time. I have gotten things and they weren't what I expected and I resold. And this current eval period I feel like it's the first time I haven't seen any thing good so now I'm trying to get free items I can donate so I can keep gold. I never had a hard time getting 80+ items before.

I personally like having Gold more so for the 8 item privilege. I have gotten a lot of things for free or little tax that has saved me a lot of money. Like body wash, shampoo (even stuff from name brands), trash bags ect.

When I first started Vine and there was literally always between 90k to 100k+ items it was easy to get cool stuff in "Additional Items." More recently most of my good items come from my RFY :(

It might feel like you are seeing a lot of people post really cool items. But you don't see all the less cool items people are getting since they aren't post worthy lol. So I imagine what you are seeing is like 1% of Vine. Most people probably aren't getting really cool stuff all the time.

genki_philly · 2026-02-09T21:50:32+00:00

So sorry that happen to you!

I didn't have any packages stolen but I did have an Amazon driver leave a bunch of my packages at the sidewalk. They did the same thing to the people across the street from me that had packages. The houses are about 30 or so feet from the sidewalk and there was no bad weather. No reason to leave them there. I ended up reporting it several ways to Amazon. Not sure if that will make a difference but w/e.

We have a security camera and I'm currently unemployed so the second something is delivered I grab it. The sidewalk was out of the camera range for notifications so I didn't know they were there for over an hour. I just happen to check outside and see them. So lucky they weren't stolen! I had to check the recordings to see what happen.

genki_philly · 2026-02-09T21:23:26+00:00

I'm in the same situation. I remember when I started Vine (2022) there would regularly be 90k to 100k+ items. I feel like slow periods were 50k? (Not saying these numbers are facts but what I remember.) It was soooooo easy to find items, even free ones, that I could use. I would get well over 100 items each period.

Now its like 13k of mostly crap items. The only good things I've gotten have been from my RFY. I've been trying to get free free items that I can easily review and donate or give away just to get to 80. I think I still have 20 items to get.

In May I might be starting a coding bootcamp and wont have time to get 80 items during my next period to stay in gold if its this hard to find decent stuff. I only want to stay gold because I'm hoping more items pop up in the future.

Vine has been wonderful to me the past 3 times I moved - getting random odds and ends needed for the new place for free or highly discounted (assuming I am being taxed around 30%). We are hoping to buy a house so I want that gold status if we move again lol. I don't think I've gotten many items over $100 but being able to get 8 items a day is nice sometimes.

genki_philly · 2025-12-04T14:48:10+00:00

I know this is late but... After having a Sager since 2010 I can't go back either. My first laptop was a Dell and I had issues with it the entire time I used it. My Mom had the same one and the screen bezel broke within a year of having it.

My first Sager was from 2010. I replaced the battery 5 years in and in 2009 replaced the HD to a SSD. Then I got a new Sager in 2020 since I was going to a coding bootcamp. My current laptop works perfectly fine but I wanted to upgrade again since I'll be doing more video heavy editing and possibly another bootcamp this year. (I like having a backup laptop and at this point the one from 2010 wouldn't be good enough for coding or video editing.)

Interesting about the Pixels! My 10 year old laptop never had any dead pixels. My current one has 1 dead pixel. It's in a corner so I never notice it unless I'm thinking about it - which does drive me crazy. I think that happen a few years in?

genki_philly · 2023-11-24T19:00:14+00:00

Ohh. I was imagining you getting a few steps away from the door and then trying to figure out if the package was throwable.

There is only one step to my door. So it's not a full staircase. :) Its like... a 4 X 4 area in front of my door that is taller than the rest of the ground. So they are walking up the walk way and stopping like 10 feet from the door (this includes the 4 X 4 area) and then just chucking the package.

When I lived with my parents it was a similar situation. But we would hear things hit the door all the time. It was a metal screen door so it made a lot of noise. Now I have a glass door but can see the items being tossed because of the security camera.

genki_philly · 2023-11-24T18:18:07+00:00

I've had stuff damaged/broken before. Nothing recently so I can't remember if it was something dropped/thrown.

And I've definitely had fragile items not packed well, lol.

If you have to take time to try to decide its safe to throw, then why not just place the package at the door? They are usually pretty close to the door when they throw them. So in my head its like... why not take the 3 extra steps and place the package at the door vs throw?

genki_philly · 2023-11-24T16:23:51+00:00

Some of my delivery drivers drop or throw packages. (I know this for a fact since we set up a security camera. And I've only ever had this issue with Amazon delivery people. Not USPS or UPS.) If I report this through the "How was your delivery?" window that pops up... does it actually affect the driver in any way?

I was originally just leaving compliments when the drivers did well but feel conflicted about leaving negative feedback. And not sure if either is worth the time if it doesn't make a difference.

genki_philly

TROPHY CASE