How to Become a Product Tester and Get Free Amazon Products for Review
Everyone loves free stuff.
Being an Amazon product tester is one of those cool jobs you hear about, but never really know for sure whether or not it’s a real thing. The crazy part is it’s definitely real. There’s no hourly wage or anything, of course, but you can be compensated in the form of free products, discounts, and even commission if your approach is right.
Fortunately, there are a multitude of sites out there completely dedicated to pairing sellers in need of promotion with buyers who are happy to do such.
You might question what the catch must be, but remember that we’re in a very digital era where buyers and sellers have had to take in-person tactics formerly known, for example, as setting up a promotional table at a festival and giving away free samples in hopes that the recipient might enjoy the product and spread the word and applying them to our newer way of encountering products.
As is the case for just about everything online these days, you just need to weed through the questionable sites and find the legitimate ones that are going to put free products at your fingertips.
Join Amazon’s Influencer Program
Have a large following on social media? Use it to your advantage. Amazon’s Influencer Program allows you to qualify as a product influencer based on the quantity of people you’re able to call friends and family on social media.
It’s not rocket science to see why this program exists. With a large following, it can already be concluded that you have the power to influence people and that you’ve already established yourself as an attractive, trust-worthy source to others.
Amazon is interested in partnering with people such as this because your following automatically becomes their audience the moment you promote products. Your promotion drives traffic to the marketplace, therefore increasing profits for the marketplace. You get free products. Your following gets items that interest them. Everybody wins.
Enroll in VIP Power Club
Sign up for VIP Power Club and instantly get connected to sellers who are looking for buyers to obtain their products and leave an honest review. VIP Power Club is completely free to join, which is amazing.
What’s unique about VIP Power Club is that everything is handled via email, so there’s no need to navigate their website or install a browser extension in order to catch a good deal. Emails are proactively sent to you weekly, and you simply reply and let them know that you’re interested in one of the products.
How to sign up for the VIP Power Club:
- Register here.
- Review emails with coupons for newly released Amazon products
- Once your preferred product is received, post an honest review within 7 days
Check Out LootHoot
Another cool outlet for Amazon product testing, LootHoot allows you to snag deals for anywhere from 40 to 100% off.
Perhaps the most Amazon compliant, LootHoot prides themselves on not bending the rules to encourage or require reviews of its product testers. This lack of pressure on the buyers is admirable and maybe worth looking into it if only for that.
LootHoot reiterated that:
- Their products are discounted and reviews are not encouraged.
- Members cannot be penalized, rewarded, or rated for leaving or not leaving a review, nor can their accounts be suspended for not leaving one.
- Like the Amazon Vine program, sellers cannot choice which members take advantage of their deals.
- Actual Amazon account information is no longer requested during member sign-up, so reviews are not monitored by their site.
How to get started on LootHoot:
- Join here for free.
- Select your preferred Amazon product and obtain its coupon code
- Use said code to finalize your purchase on Amazon
- Test your received product and leave an honest review on Amazon
Sign Up for Rebate Platforms
You can also use rebate portals to obtain free or steeply discounted Amazon products and poise yourself to sellers as a dedicated reviewer. Often, these portals will use your review likelihood to create a rating that sellers can see before choosing to work with you or not. If you are likely to leave detailed, positive reviews for the products you obtain, sellers are that much more attracted to you. The more the attraction, the more products you’ll acquire.
There are a multitude of rebate platforms you can join to obtain steeply discounted or free products, such as:
The sites vary in how they handle the transactions, but ExtremeRebate, for example, suggests you request an item you’re interested in and await approval. It’s during this time that sellers will review your rating, which ExtremeRebate bases on your tendency to leave positive reviews historically. If accepted, you are able to then purchase the item and then supply ExtremeRebate with your order ID to confirm purchase and request reimbursement.
There’s not much more to it.
Buyers and sellers alike are drawn to rebate portal services. Buyers get free products that they would usually otherwise be willing to spend money on anyway, and sellers get their products into consumer hands, traffic to their store increases, and there’s always potential for your positive review.
Since you’re purchasing the product at full price, the product’s ranking will improve on Amazon. On the contrary, had the seller provided you with a coupon or discount up front, their ranking would deteriorate.
Socialize on Samurai.Social
One of the coolest new rebate platforms is Samurai.Social. It prides itself on the concept that “everyone is a micro influencer”, and they’re right.
You likely already have multiple social media accounts and you motivate others just by posting, whether you realize it or not. A shared quote here, a motivational meme there… you are constantly impacting the people around you.
Samurai.Social pairs sellers with buyers with the opportunity to not only obtain free Amazon products via rebate, but also the opportunity to do promotional campaigns on your social media accounts.
How to get the most out of Samurai.Social:
- Find your preferred product and apply for approval
- Sellers usually agree to 100% rebates
- User-friendly extension can be used to buy the product on Amazon, among other supported vendors
- Promote the product as agreed upon
- Reliable escrow system protects both
- New products are added daily, so check back often
Join Amazon’s Vine program
Amazon’s Vine program is the marketplace’s attempt to highlight honest reviewers among those who may be falsifying information in exchange for free products. While that exchange would go against Amazon’s TOS, it’s challenging for them to crack down on all offenders. Hence, the voices of Amazon Vine.
In this case, you can’t just snap your fingers and become a Vine member overnight. There is no application or account to create. In order to be invited to join the choir of Vine Voice reviewers with Amazon, you simply need to establish yourself as an honest, detailed, thoughtful reviewer.
Create authenticity by ensuring that you are leaving detailed reviews across a multitude of products. Focus on your niche. For example, if you’re an interior designer, your expertise would be best lent to fabrics, home decor, etc. With a bit of consistency, you may be invited to hang on the Vine.
Start Small with Amazon’s Associates Program
Not sure the power of your voice just yet? Start influencing on a smaller scale by joining Amazon Associates. Do you tend to blog as it is about products you already love? Did you drop the name of your favorite air fryer in your last Facebook post and you’re curious who felt motivated enough by you to actually buy the same one?
With Amazon’s Associates program, you can create a custom link for said air fryer and provide it within your post. It’ll bring your interested friend straight to the product on the marketplace. If an order is placed, you’ll get a small commission from the sale, and that’s it. Keep on eye on your commissions and take note as to the simple power of your voice.
Know that the Amazon Influencer program is an extension of this process, granting you your own entire Amazon URL and compiling all of your recommended products for easy access in areas where hyperlinking isn’t favored, such as within Instagram posts.
Check Out TestZon
TestZon has hundreds of products for you to choose from. It’s ideal for spotting highly discounted or even completely free products in exchange for an honest review “if you want to”.
Locate a product you like, get approval from the seller, and then receive and test your product. Once a review is submitted within a certain amount of days, the seller will refund you via PayPal.
Be quick! Some of the best product freebies go fast, and sellers have caps on the amount of products they’re willing to trade for reviews.
No need for qualms about whether you’ll receive a faulty product or whether you’ll actually receive your rebate. TestZon is rated highly trustworthy on scam meters so you can be assured it’s a legitimate transaction.
Join Other Amazon Reviewer Trader Sites
These websites allow members to create an account in order to receive free or steeply discounted items on Amazon in exchange for reviews. These sites include Cashbackbase, AMZDiscover, Snagshout, and more.
Each site has its preferred transactional means and incentives for luring promotional buyers, but, in general, interested buyers provide their basic information including interests. Some sites require approval in order to qualify as a reviewer trader, and not all applications will be accepted. Some are more geared towards the seller (like AMZDiscover) but most strive to protect both parties.
Apply to Tomoson
Best for those with a large following on multiple social media channels, Tomoson connects influencers with brands that seek deeper promotion. The coolest part about Tomoson is that, in addition to getting the promoted product for free, you’ll also be compensated for your time (sometimes +$1,000!).
Once you achieve about 1,000 followers on one of your social media channels, it’s a great time to start applying for Tomoson campaigns.
Be Yourself
If you have one of those MLM Instagram friends who switches products and companies at the drop of a hat but speaks to each of them as if they’re all equally amazing, you’ll understand exactly why it’s crucial to retain genuineness on social media, especially as a product tester. Once your following can sense that you’re simply in it for the products and your own personal benefit, you will lose all credibility.
When sellers are providing you with a free product, you are still exchanging said product for your reputation. Ensure that you are selecting products that you can likely positively and truthfully promote to your friends and family.
Bonus points if you can pick products where you have experience using its competitors, so your outlook is fair. Be sure to continue to include other actual aspects of your life so that your social media feed cannot be mistaken for advertisements.
People buy from people they like, and people are influenced by people they trust. Your loyal following will believe in the products the same way that you do as long as you continue to show up “real”.
Also, network and continue to put yourself out there genuinely on social media. The bigger your following grows, the less you personally know those who are getting to know you. Right now, you might have a friend on social media with a store on Amazon, and you might just be the next person they approach for product promotion.
Final Thoughts
There are a plethora of legitimate ways that you can score free Amazon products for review.
Beyond the “winning” of free items, you also benefit in general as a product tester as your influencer vibes will create trust and increase loyalty from your following, particularly when they are motivated to acquire the same products and are equally pleased with their quality.
The bigger your following, the better your opportunities for partnering with sellers for promotional campaigns.
The more authentic and likeable you appear on social media, the larger your following will be. So, start showing up genuinely today and get your hands on those free products tomorrow.
