Can you really make money as an Amazon product tester?
If you love testing new products and sharing your opinion, it could be a great side hustle for you.
But beware of companies offering to pay you to test and review products on Amazon — it’s likely a scam.
In this post, we’ll explore:
- how to become an Amazon product tester
- legit companies to partner with
- how much you can make
- and more
Ready? Let’s do it!
What is an Amazon Product Tester?
An Amazon product tester reviews products that are sold on Amazon. Product reviews are a critical part of Amazon’s e-commerce dominance.
They want honest reviews — both the positive and the negative — to help customers make informed decisions.
Perks of Becoming an Amazon Product Tester
The most common way Amazon product testers get compensated is with free or discounted products.
If you like trying out the newest and latest products, becoming a product tester can be a sweet deal.
Companies seeking reviews usually will compensate you for the actual product or offer it at a deep discount.
If you want to get paid for Amazon reviews, you’ll need to look at Amazon’s Influencer Program or join Amazon Associates — Amazon’s affiliate program.
Amazon Vine
Amazon Vine is Amazon’s invite-only product review program and is the only “official” Amazon product testing program.
Amazon Vine is looking for honest, unbiased reviews, meaning positive, neutral, and negative opinions.
If you’d like to be invited by Amazon to join the Vine program, start writing high-quality reviews on Amazon.
Start by looking around your household for products you can review. They do not have to be products purchased from Amazon.
The more high-quality reviews you have on Amazon, the better your chance of being invited to Amazon Vine.
Once you’ve joined, you can request thousands of products to review. Your reviews then show that you are a part of the Vine program and received the product for free.
You do not get paid to review products through the Amazon Vine program.
Third-Party Product Testing and Review Programs
There are many other Amazon reviewer sites where you can find products to review.
These programs work as middlemen to bring together shoppers and brands looking to amplify their presence in the marketplace. In order for these brands to gain traction in the algorithms, they need sales and reviews.
These sales and reviews are so important, brands are willing to lose money in the beginning by giving away (or deeply discounting) their products.
With so many companies to choose from, here are our top picks.
RebateKey
With RebateKey, I’ve gotten several products up to 100% off.
After you join the site, you can browse the full list of active offers.
Once you find a product you like, claim it through RebateKey and proceed to checkout. You’ll make a full-price order, and paste your order ID back into RebateKey for verification.
After 35 days, you’ll have the option to get your rebate as a check in the mail, a PayPal deposit, or a gift card you can apply directly to your Amazon account.
You’re not even required to review the product to collect your rebate.
Rebaid
Rebaid is a platform that connects shoppers with brand owners.
The brand owners are usually launching new products and need to generate sales to get the sales platforms to take notice.
With Rebaid, they can offer discounts and rebates on their products, enticing shoppers to buy through sites like Amazon, Target, and Walmart.
After you sign up as a shopper, you can start browsing through their catalog of products.
Shoppers receive their rebate through a mailed check or direct deposit within 7-14 days of confirming their order number.
Vipon
Vipon partners with Amazon Sellers to offer discounts on their products exclusively through Amazon.
Vipon will allow you to buy more discounted products at a time than some of the other discount websites.
Established in 2017, they’re also one of the oldest Amazon deal websites and have built a large amount of trust and authority in the space.
While no review is required for anything you purchase, you can use the opportunity to boost your review portfolio increasing your chances of being invited into Vine.
Snagshout
Snagshout is a new discount product website.
It allows you to purchase free and discounted products.
Rebates come through PayPal/Venmo or prepaid Visa gift cards. (There’s a minimum of $30 to withdraw funds.)
Any of the above options are an easy way to score free and discounted products that you can review on Amazon. None of them require reviews as part of the deal, but if you are trying to boost your reviews, this could be a way to do it.
Other Legit Product Testing Websites
With this sites, you won’t necessarily be reviewing the products directly on Amazon.
Instead, you may receive a survey after testing the products. On sites like Influenster, they publish your feedback publicly on their site.
Amazon Product Testing Jobs Scams
A few posts promoting Amazon product testing as a side hustle have gone viral on social media in the past year or so.
Those posts link to sites like:
- Testproductsnow[.]com
- Basicstester[.]com
- Testoutbasics[.]com
- Thereviewprogram[.]com
- Testerlist[.]com
These sites are scams that promise a reward in exchange for completing a short survey.
In the end, there’s no reward and you’ve just given away potentially personal identifying information.
The Fine Print
Per Amazon’s official review rules:
“We don’t allow reviews that are created, edited, or removed in exchange for compensation.”
Compensation includes:
- cash
- discounts
- free products
- gift cards
- refunds
If someone or some company offers you money or other perks in exchange for a review, think twice before accepting. Doing so could get your reviews removed or even your account suspended.
That’s why all these discount marketplaces don’t require reviews to claim your rebate.
Make Money Testing Products as an Amazon Affiliate
So outside of Amazon Vine, getting paid for reviews — even in the form of free or discounted products — is definitely frowned on.
The big exception to that is through Amazon’s affiliate program, which comes in a couple different flavors.
1. Amazon Influencer Program
The Amazon Influencer Program is the easiest way to make money online I’ve found so far.
I’ve earned almost $1500 already, just uploading simple product review videos.
The Amazon Influencer Program allows you to make product review videos. Amazon features the videos on the product pages. If someone watches your video and then makes a purchase, you receive a small commission.
A couple other influencers I interviewed reported making $2000+ per month doing this! And the interesting thing they found was the more videos they made, the more brands started reaching out to them offering to pay them.
Getting into the program requires a social media presence, so if you are interested in going this route, pick one or two social media platforms, like TikTok, and start building a following.
Don’t worry if you don’t get in the first time you apply, you can apply as many times as it takes to get accepted.
2. Amazon Associates
The other way to make money on Amazon testing products is as an Amazon Associate. This is Amazon’s long-running affiliate marketing program, which pays you commissions — typically 1-5% of the purchase price — for referring sales to their site.
You can earn money through the Amazon Associate program by sharing your favorite products on a website or social media.
A well-known example of this is The New York Times’ Wirecutter. They personally test the products, write their review summaries and recommendations, and monetize with Amazon Associates.
On a smaller scale, Jon Shanahan reported earning $4-5k/mo in affiliate income from his men’s fashion YouTube channel.
(You can also earn money from YouTube ads once your account hits certain milestones as well!)
Amazon Product Tester FAQs
Do Amazon Product Testers Get Paid?
Amazon product testers in the Amazon Vine program do not get paid. Product testers receive free products to test. Product testers using third-party programs also receive either free or discounted products. They do not receive monetary compensation for their reviews.
How To Become a Product Tester For Amazon?
If you want to start testing products through Amazon’s Vine Program, you must start writing helpful reviews of products on Amazon. Since the Amazon Vine Program is invite-only, you have to put out high-quality reviews so Amazon will take notice.
Does Amazon allow product testers?
Yes! Amazon loves to have product testers write honest reviews. Product reviews also help customers to make a decision and buy, which of course they love.
Are Amazon Product Tester Jobs Legit?
Many sites advertising Amazon product tester jobs are scams. The only official Amazon product tester “jobs” are through the Amazon Vine program, but you won’t be paid with money; you get paid with free products to review. If a company says they’ll pay you to test products, do your due diligence to make sure the company is legit.
Alternatives to Becoming an Amazon Product Tester
Becoming an Amazon product tester is just one way to get paid for your opinion. Here are some alternatives to consider.
Online Surveys
These won’t make you rich, but can be an easy way to make some money in your spare time.
Here are a few of the top options:
- Swagbucks – Earn up to $35 a survey with this mega-popular app, and get a $10 bonus just for signing up!
- Product Report Card – Get notified about higher-paying product tests, clinical trials, and online focus groups.
- KashKick – Get paid to answer surveys, test games, and try new products.
- Survey Junkie – Take 3 surveys a day and earn up to $100 a month.
- InboxDollars – Get a $5 bonus just for signing up!
- American Consumer Opinion – Join millions of free members and earn up to $50 per survey.
Remote Market Research
There are several sites that help match you with paid research studies online. Depending on your areas of expertise, these can pay $50-200 an hour.
My favorites are:
- Respondent — Aimed at tech industry workers and other professionals. Check out my full Respondent review to learn more.
- User Interviews — High-paying remote market research gigs in an easy-to-use interface. Here’s our full User Interviews review for more info.
- Rare Patient Voice — For patients (and their caregivers) with rare and not-so-rare medical conditions. The average payout is $100 an hour.
Earn $50-150/hr, with thousands of new studies added each month.
Earn an average of $75 per project, and get notified of upcoming studies you may qualify for.
Patients and caregivers can earn $120/hour while helping advance medical research.
Game App Testing
KashKick is a newer app that pays you to answer surveys, test new games (up to $150 each!), and redeem money-saving offers.
With the slogan “get paid to have fun,” KashKick is rated 4.3-stars in the Google Play store.
Getting Started With Amazon Product Testing
Hopefully this post shed some light on the sometimes confusing world of Amazon product testing.
In summary, there are 3 main angles to go about it:
- Get accepted to Amazon Vine.
- Score discounted products through RebateKey or other rebate platforms — with no reviews required.
- Join the Amazon Associates or Amazon Influencer programs.
If this is a side hustle you want to try, the first thing to do is start writing reviews. (Or apply for the Influencer program, if you already have a bit of social following.)
That expresso machine you got for Christmas? Your replacement phone? Your shampoo?
Everything is fair game.
Start finding products around your house and write reviews. The more you do, the better they will get, which is especially important if you want Amazon to take notice.
When you’re ready for more products, you can check out some of the partner programs above.
If you’re expecting to get paid back, make sure you read and understand the process, so you do everything correctly to get your money paid back.
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