The “Make money writing Amazon reviews” scam. And how to actually make a profit.

This made me laugh because she was pretending to scan books but her phone case was empty. Screenshot of instagram by author.

I try to be diligent in muting keywords on Instagram. ‘Digital marketing’, ‘Canva’, ‘Master resell rights’. This keeps my feed clean of the influencer side hustle content. The Tupperware parties of the millennial generation.

But sometimes things sneak through. All of a sudden while I’m mid-browse of cottage garden content I start seeing “You can make $83k a year writing Amazon reviews!” videos.

And then much to my horror I see some mutuals replying “info please” in the comments. Nooo.

The scheme always seems to be targeting moms. I am a mom and this irritates me. I am already tired and strung out because a toddler has been trying to stick his tiny hands in my mouth all day. I don’t need some predatory Instagram scammer trying to sell me stuff.

Screenshot of instagram by author.

The story will go something like “I wanted to make an extra $500 while I was 6 months pregnant and now I’m a millionaire simply by scanning children’s books.”

And then you go to their website and it’s a course that costs somewhere between $100 and $300. For a 45-minute pre-recorded video promising you the secret.

Screenshot of where those influencer pages go, by author. I even found one selling a Master Resale Rights course on how to make money writing Amazon product reviews 🤯

This the secret of how you actually make money writing Amazon reviews:

Option 1:

You spend a lot of time and energy writing thorough and well-written reviews for free. You record review videos for free. You scan everything you’ve ever purchased through the Amazon app and craft high-quality, thoughtful reviews. For free.

Once you’ve established yourself as a professional reviewer and have over 100 reviews, you apply for the Amazon Vine program, which is invite only.

Amazon will send you random stuff. Which you’ll review. For free.

Then you can sell the stuff if you want. And that’s how you make money. By being an eBay seller.

Here’s a great video (that’s free!) explaining the process in detail, with helpful tips and realistic advice if you’d like to give this a try: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn0qqaKMVKs

Option 2

Simply build a large, engaged social media following of 20k+.

Apply to join Amazon’s Influencer program.

Companies will send you free products to review, and you’ll earn a 1% commission of each purchase from your affiliate link.

And that’s how you make money. By being a social media influencer.

This influencer has 60k followers. She’ll post product suggestions, and send you her affiliate link to purchase.

Getting paid directly for reviews is explicitly forbidden in the Amazon ToS and will get your account banned. All these instagram grifters are making $2k a month by selling misleading $100 courses.

And I have added ‘Amazon reviews’ to my mute list. Stay safe out there folks.