How to Get Amazon Reviews (the Right Way)

This article was originally published in 2017 and has been updated with fresh ideas for 2024.

When you shop online, you probably look at reviews before purchasing. Your buyers are no different. Especially if you sell your own brand or private label ASINs, getting lots of high-quality, genuine product reviews and ratings is important for success on the Amazon marketplace.

But buyers don't usually think to leave reviews on their own. You'll need to nudge them to do so, but without violating any of Amazon's policies. Keep reading to learn about different ways to request Amazon reviews safely.

The Vine Program

Long ago, Amazon sellers used to offer free products in exchange for product reviews. Around 2016, Amazon cracked down on that practice and no longer allows it. Sellers are strictly forbidden to offer anything in exchange for a product review: no coupons, discounts, bonus gifts, refunds, or free products.

However, for sellers with Amazon Brand Registry, there's a big exception: if you enroll your products in an official program called Amazon Vine, Amazon will allow specially selected reviewers to order your products for free. These reviewers are required to review the majority of the items they receive to keep their Amazon Vine status, and a badge is displayed next to their reviews to show that they are part of the Vine program.

To enroll products in Amazon Vine, you must be a brand owner enrolled in Brand Registry, have a professional selling account, and have active FBA listings with fewer than 30 reviews. Your FBA offers must also be in "new" condition, and certain categories are excluded, such as adult products, bulky items, and digital products.

A few other things to note:

Vine reviewers are not required to leave positive reviews. They are encouraged to leave completely honest reviews. But if your product is truly high quality and as described, that shouldn't be an issue.
Amazon Vine is not always free, though it was made more affordable in 2023. Formerly, sellers had to pay $200 when a product received its first Vine review, in addition to providing the product for free. In 2023, Amazon announced a multi-tier system: enroll two units (per parent ASIN) for free, up to 10 units for $75, and up to 30 units for $200. Of course, when considering how many units to enroll, you'll need to factor in the cost of providing those products for free.

For brand owners, Amazon Vine is a great way to get more product reviews.

Send Amazon Seller Review Requests

What if you're not brand registered, or your product already has more than 30 reviews? The next step is to request reviews from your regular buyers.

In recent years, rumors have spread among Amazon sellers that asking for reviews is against Amazon's policies. This is not true. Amazon still explicitly allows you to request feedback and reviews from your buyers as long as you follow certain rules when doing so.

What are those rules? Put simply, anything that might pressure buyers to leave only positive ratings is strictly forbidden. That includes any incentives, as previously mentioned, and it also includes language like, "If you're happy..." that implies a buyer should only leave a review if they are satisfied with the product. Amazon review requests should be completely neutral. Also, you are not allowed to send more than one request per order.

Penalties for product review manipulation include anything from your request message being blocked to your seller account being suspended. It's critical to request reviews only in a completely rule-abiding way. Keep reading to learn about two ways to send Amazon review requests while adhering to Amazon's review policies.

Use Amazon's Request a Review Button

One way to guarantee complete compliance with the policies is to use Amazon's built-in review request. While Amazon sometimes requests reviews for you, it also provides a "Request a Review" button on each Order Details page. Clicking it sends a message to your buyer that requests both seller feedback and a product review in the same message. Because Amazon writes the message, you are not subject to message restrictions or other penalties, and it's guaranteed to be safe.

To send this message in Seller Central:

Click on the hamburger menu at the top left.
Hover over Orders and select Manage Orders.
Click on any order that has already been delivered.
On the Order Details page, click "Request a Review."
When you receive the warning message reminding you not to request a review a second time through another channel, proceed past it to send the review request.

Of course, not every buyer will leave a review even when they receive this request. To get results, you'll need to send requests to as many buyers as possible. But, you'll also want to avoid sending them to buyers who have a known issue, e.g. those who initiated a return or contacted you with a problem already. In addition, Amazon won't send the message unless you click the button between five and 30 days after order delivery; you'll still be able to click it, only to receive an error message saying that the order isn't in the eligible window. If you click too soon, you'll have to go back in a few days and try again.

All of this is time-consuming and burdensome, especially as your business grows. Luckily, there's software out there to automate the process. FeedbackFive by eComEngine lets you program the number of days after delivery you want to have the message sent, and even time the message differently for different SKUs. For instance, you can ask for a review on a pack of gum five days after delivery while buyers are still excited about it, but give them almost 30 days to test out their new treadmill before leaving a review. Best of all, you can automatically exclude orders that were canceled, refunded, or shipped late, and even set up exclusions for buyers who contacted you or initiated a return (but didn't get a refund yet).

Customized Buyer-Seller Messaging Requests

Some sellers still prefer to send their Amazon seller review requests via Buyer-Seller Messaging, which allows you to send a customized email. There are some benefits to doing so as long as you abide by Amazon's Communication Guidelines.

First, you can customize the message to fit your brand. Amazon forbids images that are too large or unrelated to your brand, but your logo (without any mention of your website) or a tasteful lifestyle image of the product in use can go a long way toward customizing the message for your buyers. Writing the message in your brand's voice and telling a little bit of your brand story can help too--just don't make your message too long in the process. A sentence or two is plenty.

Next, you can choose to focus solely on asking for a product review, rather than requesting a review and seller feedback in the same message. (Of course, the same is true for sellers who only want to request seller feedback.) This might increase the chances that your buyer leaves a product review rather than getting distracted by the other link in the email.

Lastly, your buyers can reply to a Buyer-Seller Messaging email to get in touch with you directly, whereas the Amazon Request a Review message is sent by a different system. While you may not instruct your buyers to contact you with problems rather than leaving a negative review, you may consider ending your email with something like, "Feel free to reply to this email with any questions or concerns." Again, this is a personal touch that creates a better connection with your buyer and might have the effect of warding off some negative reviews.

Whatever you say in your message, make sure you include a direct link for the buyer to leave a review on the exact product they purchased from you. Making it as easy as possible to leave a review is the best way to get one!

Again, if writing these emails, copying and pasting them over and over, and making sure you include the right link each time sounds overwhelming, there's a better way. Software can automatically import the order and product information and fill in a templated message you create once. FeedbackFive does this too, and even includes pre-built templates you can activate right away. Customize as much or as little as you want.

Track Your Amazon Reviews

Besides helping your products sell better, Amazon reviews contain a wealth of information about your buyers' satisfaction and preferences. Track them to see how well your review requests are working and, especially if you get any negative reviews, how you can continue to improve your product and listing.

Brand-registered sellers can see basic review information within Seller Central, but FeedbackFive goes a step further by providing product review alerts. Get a notification within minutes when you receive a new review, or get a daily digest every 24 hours to stay up to date on the health of your listings.

Start Getting Amazon Reviews Today

Amazon product reviews are important to shoppers and Amazon alike; in addition, they can be beneficial for third-party merchants. Figuring out how to get Amazon reviews can seem like a lot of work, especially with Amazon's policies, but it doesn't need to be complicated. Sign up for a free trial of FeedbackFive today and automate the time-consuming task of requesting Amazon reviews.