– It all started last winter when I innocently posted a review for a heated vest I had bought on Amazon. I was happy with this fun new way to beat the winter and wanted to share it with others, so I gave it five stars. But soon after I clicked “Submit”, I got an email from Amazon which said something like, “Congratulations! You’ve been selected to join Amazon Vine for writing helpful reviews!” I was already aware of Amazon Vine since I had seen product reviews from other people in the program – typically called “Vine Voices.” The basic idea of this program is that you can order stuff from Amazon for free, as long as you agree to review at least 80% of the things you order. “Hey, that’s cool”, I thought, “Who doesn’t like free stuff?…