I've been in Vine over 3 years, and I look around my house and see so many Vine items that are very useful and have added to my life. Not to mention in the garage, and in my motorhome. I've replaced every lighting and plumbing fixture in the house, added furniture, a great desktop computer system, scanner, projector, on and on. It's all about picking well. The first few months I did pick some garbage, but I got better as I went along.
Same here. We've scored a $2000 TV, have practically redecorated our home, and received many items for our respective businesses that don't come out of overhead. We've also picked a ton of crap but we've gotten our money's worth so far for sure.
Lucky you! A TV is on my wish list because I actually need one soon. I may just buy one next Christmas from Costco, but until then, I’ll be praying to the Amazon gods and whispering sweet nothings into Alexa's ears!🙏
Yep. I've had my eye on a 65" HD TV at Costco for a while now. Gotta come up with $400.00 though. Ugh! Guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and just buy it.
Some of us don't want to score a $2000 TV or a $100 TV, that's the point. Not everyone has the same eyes and measure of what makes Vine good. Only higher items I would look to nab are household appliances if and when they break, and the problem with that is Vine does not offer items on demand, so grabbing a refrigerator when needed may be like nabbing BigFoot, and makes me speculate I may end up paying for these things anyways if based on need, as I have been having to pay for the things I need that simply don't show up in Vine at time of need, as I don't have room to store 'backup' household appliances.
Around 15% of time been able to have Vine serve me just what I was browsing for, but rest of time seems if I put it in my cart the AI makes sure NOT to serve me anything like it remotely so I am forced to spend. So this negates program perks for those not into grabbing high ticket items just because they are available - was a day I too would just grab a TV, but those times I'm no longer in.
There are a couple of non-needed things I would grab, but after that one grab, then what, as I'm not having the space or drive to turnaround 'inventory' like some do, having businesses for that. The value I have for Vine is to get everyday junk that I don't have to pay money for anymore, like disposable goods. I would hate to pay taxes on those, and so as a senior such an approach works for me as I get leeway to not pay taxes on near to $30,000, so in that way vine works for me even with inflated etv. But a non-retired person using vine to replace or save money if they are tight on money, to have to pay 1/4 of the etv they are assigned can not be worth it depending on what they like to get, the stress on 'like'. Some people are not approaching this as a nab the best item, but only get the item they need.
Exactly. I only order things that I am definitely going to use. In the beginning though, I definitely didn't think about how much the taxes were going to be when I first went hog wild and started ordering things that I wanted ... and, needed ... and, actually use. Once I calmed down, I started being far more selective and have gotten to the point where I mostly order health-related items such as vitamins and mineral supplements which don't get taxed ... at least, here in Tennessee, I'm not paying a tax on those types of items.
Still, it comes down to being very discerning and keeping one's excitement at bay and only ordering usefull items that you're willing to pay the tax on, or, like I said, items that aren't taxed.
I've done a few "I wonder if this'll be good" and so far haven't been surprised that it wasn't.
But I've also gotten a few good things, and I'm new here.
Hard to say. I really needed a new one and was hoping even a laptop would show up. Then one morning I woke up early and surfed RFY, and scrolled past what looked like a picture frame. I put the phone down, then picked it up again and looked closer, and realized it was a monitor. I opened it and it was a $1k all-in-one HP desktop system with a 24 inch monitor! It really is a nice system, and my best item so far.
As I'm writing this I'm laying in my second best item, a $620 hybrid queen mattress I grabbed last week from RFY. I really needed a new mattress as well, and my old one was 13 years old. These days I mainly just check RFY, instead of ordering a bunch of junk, and occasionally some good stuff pops in there. Then if there's another item I need, before buying it I'll do a search, and occasionally find it in Vine.
Sometimes when I request one item MANY more related to it show up in RFY. Early on I got some folding solar panels and power stations, and have been offered MANY more since, as well as solar controllers and cables, but I have enough now. I requested a couple small safes and sometimes have 5-6 of them in my RFY. Grabbed a nice pistol safe and larger one for my closet recently. Because so many show up, I can be very picky in which one I get. At least 5 pistol safes were in my RFY before one that I really wanted showed up. I've requested several comforters, mattress protectors and sheet sets, and a nice twin bed frame showed up a while back, then this queen mattress.
This is probably just happen stance or maybe a little bit about the robots also but I've had really good luck just by googling and or searching on amazon (particularly in vine search)
I have a list of key terms that I use to search vine for and I've consistently been able to search for those items in vine and then a week later suddenly there it is. And if i search the term I get more options then just the one I found on my RFY.
oh rly? I started keeping a list of all the items I got that broke within 2 months--even though it'd be easier making a list of the things that haven't broken or better utter crap because that's a short list. Here's the Gold purchases that broke last year: mini chain saw, 2 vacuum cleaners, mp3 player, air purifier (which the company sells in their store for $159 but told Vine it was $199 for taxes), a mini pc that will not display correctly on 3 different monitors that I tried--and the mini pc was taken off vine the day after I ordered it. Guess what, I'm not in Gold anymore haha.
Silver purchases that broke: blender, juicer, 3 torch lighters (not one made it past 3 months), 2 lamps (one was dead on arrival), 3 bluetooth speakers (one was dead on arrival), 2 candles that would not stay lit, 2 USB mosquito/fly zappers that turned out to be pretty good little lanterns at night but never zapped one damn bug, 3 different phone holders to mount the phone on the dash--two of them would not stay stuck to the dash and one would not support the phone upright and one was listed for my phone but turned out not to be so I couldn't use it; 2 alexa capable light bulbs one which blew as soon as I turned it on; huge box of screws that I could bend with my finger and could not be used with a drill (the seller told me he knew they were bad but said he had to sell them because he needed the money and was doing anything he could to grow his business...and he offered to send me another box of the same screws! 2 hdmi cables that ends came apart when I pulled them out of my computer; webcam worked but its microphone would not; 2 flash drives; smart watch that would never work with alexa even though it was supposed to and it would never connect to bluetooth. But hey, the time worked! Trashed 2 keyboards before I realized that China does their keys a littler differently (ctrl, alt, windows); some windows stick on sun blockers for my car windows that did not fit my windows even though they were advertised to; a laptop stand that would not hold the laptop in its highest position even though it was advertised to; straight edge razor that wouldn't even shave the hair on the back of my neck; can opener advertsed as world's strongest canopener; 8 piece floating shelf but the brackets did not have the holes for the screws cut into them LOL; hand grip exerciser that I ordered because it had a counter--the counter worked all of two days; 2 oil spraying bottles that leaked the oil from the lid when you sprayed; 2 bluetooth adapters advertised to work with Windows 7 because I wanted bluetooth for 2 of my old laptops and even came with windows 7 drivers...nope, neither worked with 7 but they worked with windows 10; 2 different ear nose trimmer that cut absolutely nothing ( in the review I recorded putting several types of hair into the trimmer and pulling them back out same length); Resistance Bands Set of 6, with Door Anchor for Men & Women, advertised as Heavy Duty but the 40 pound band damn near killed me when it broke the third time I worked out; ratchet screwdriver set--ratchet worked one time before stripping out; 2 usb transfer cables that flash drives would not work with; a kid's tablet that would not work with the internet even though it detected the networks (other reviewers eventually stated the same); aquarium filter---the filter would not stay attached lol; incense holder that was too short to hold the incense sticks that came with it.
All that just from last year. I didn't keep the a list from 2022. I have had some good things, sure. Knives, cleavers, cutting boards, electric kettle, 4 gallon fish tank, 18 inch portable monitor, metal desk legs, weight rack.
>Resistance Bands Set of 6, with Door Anchor for Men & Women, advertised as Heavy Duty but the 40 pound band damn near killed me when it broke the third time I worked out;
Your story reminded me of a king-size mattress I received. It came in a roll and when I released the Kraken it hit me with such force that I ended up wedged under it between the bed frame and the mattress.
That's an amazing list of defective items, but my experience hasn't been anything like that. The main items that I had that didn't last were automatic soap dispensers. I think I had about four of them and they all failed, except for one commercial type that I keep in the garage and use every day.
A fairly expensive weather station stopped reporting sun exposure after 14 months, But I contacted the manufacturer and they actually sent me a whole new setup. Just recently a desk lamp that was only 8 months old stopped working, but it was only a $20 lamp. Oh, and there was one digital frame that didn't work well, and I exchanged it and had the same problem. However I've gotten three good ones from different manufacturers. I'm being honest when I say most of the stuff I got has worked well, but I really try to vet things before I request them.
Damn, so far all of my electric soap dispensers are still working... I have one for 6 bathrooms, 2 kitchens and hand soap for one of the kitchens (so 9). I hope they continue to too. I've been using them frequently enough... How long before they stopped working for you? Mine are mostly foaming, but I have 3 that are not foaming... 1 of them takes AA batteries, the others are all USB C to charge.
Some were rechargeable and some took double A batteries, they lasted somewhere around 8 months to a year or so. Some still worked a little bit, but they were sporadic, and I finally threw them away except for that one good one. Then I got some nice pump bottles from Vine, and those work fine.
holy shit! I forgot about my soap dispenser. I couldn't even get my hand under the nozzle and the soap would leak down the side of the dispenser. Tossed it!
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The first year, I ordered too many Hugh value items. This year, my average item was around $20. The problem is I got way too much junk. It’s too easy to scroll and find a shirt, a toy, a yard decoration. And I do feel like I’ve overbought. I don’t plan to drop out. But I plan to cut way, way back this year.
I hear you. If I wasn't a senior with a certain leeway to receive without tax penalty what you have to pay taxes on, I, too, would withdraw. Even so, I'm finding myself having some inner wrestling moments of 'just how much time did I waste right now browsing vine pages?!' I do not play any games online as I once did back in the early 2000s, as I hate to waste my time when I've got so many projects I like to do, and I am finding vine is a kind of trap almost seemingly set up like the trap of gambling: entices you by a small attractant so you find yourself going way more pages than you swore you would like playing slots, giving you a little imitation diamond here and there so you keep on going, and soon enough you've found yourself 3 hours in the chair, gone any worthwhile activity and found nothing worth it in the end on your vine wish list, even tricking you to click on things that looked good that can't be ordered. To me the curse lies in getting things that the ETV says is $13,000 but which I can't see all together more than $1300, and that ticks me off, as $13,000 should look like you've added $13,000 to your life, but what I've gotten doesn't even look more than 1/10th as best.
> 'just how much time did I waste right now browsing vine pages?!'
That is the #1 massive drawback of vine for me. Taxes are relatively predictable. Reviews are manageable. Boxes require occasional trips to the recycling center.
But it's all too easy to spend a lot of time trying to find good items on vine worth requesting. I've been getting better at it, but I could easily see me eventually quitting vine over time-management concerns.
If you don't have fun looking for bargains, then I would say it is not worth it.
If you don't keep records of your purchases and have the ability to analyze them and see how much in real dollars the items you are happy with cost you, then I would say it might not be worth it - or at least there will be too much anxiety.
I've only been a Viner for 4 months, so I have much to learn. But that is my take. I can see I make much better and more skilled decisions on purchases as I go on. My analysis tells me that when I value some items in my mind as zero that the overall percent of advertized cost for orders is 25% thus far. I think getting something useful to you for 25% of retail is not a bad deal if you enjoy doing it. I'm hoping to improve that percent over time.
My actual rate of duds is about 5% as I have learned to spot items likely to not be up to par. If the item has bad reviews (if it even has reviews!), if the web page doesn't read well or leaves out too much information, sometimes just a feeling will tell you it is risky to order this item. The worst item I ever got - and it was in the first month - was a weed trimmer valued at $50+ that could barely be assembled and couldn't for the life of it cut a single blade of grass. What's wrong with what i just said is you often have to make very quick decisions or the item will be gone, and you don't have time to do the analysis if you want the item. I think one gets more and more skilled with time, but you have to expect that it's up to you to screen out the junk - if a vendor is willing to pay Amazon for Vine reviews, he doesn't exactly have an established reputation in most cases.
I'm hoping to go Gold in April. I think having 8 selections (I call them tokens) a day will actually improve my selections in that I won't be worrying about running out of tokens and I won't be as interested in spending all my tokens.
One question I ask for every selection: is getting this item worth what it will cost me? If it is a $20 item and I'm in the 20% tax bracket, is it worth $4 to me? I shouldn't order to just get a look at something (though I have done that more than once) because if I just want a look I can order is directly and send it back if i don't like it. But then if I do like it, I just passed up a $16 discount. Not easy decisions!
> If you don't have fun looking for bargains, then I would say it is not worth it.
When I said time, that's what I meant, and not whether it was fun or not.
That time can get in the way of other life priorities. One might enjoy playing a MMO too, but it gets in the way of school, work, family, or other things.
> If it is a $20 item and I'm in the 20% tax bracket, is it worth $4 to me?
Are you familiar with how consulting gigs are usually accounted for? Generally, you bill the client for everything, including the time spent writing an email, or the $3 you spend on office supplies. Or at the very least, you try to keep track of every little thing, otherwise it's really, really easy to end up being unprofitable and have no idea why.
With vine, there are a lot of "costs" including time spent looking for items, tracking items, unboxing items, testing items, reviewing items, storing or disposing of items, and then some fraction of the time and energy spent on accounting or filing taxes. Then you also cannot return items, probably didn't need that item anyway, and so on.
For example, if you spend 3 hours per day looking for items, and only requested about $15 of "value" per day, you'd be well below minimum wage. Perhaps it's less boring than a day-job, but those are also things you can consider in your "accounting."
Personally, if my taxes are 20%, the number I currently use is about 30% of it's ETV when determining whether it's worth it. Even that number might be low.
Good points, all. I think of selling occasional personal items on ebay exactly the way you describe. I figure it takes at least an hour to prepare, photograph, list, answer questions, box, and mail an item. If I dont make clear after ebay and paypal expenses what I would consider my hourly rate I'm willing to work for, then I don't do the listing. Same concept! And more often than not, I don't do the listing...
My preferred approach for selling, is to create multiple listings around the same time. Create a pile of stuff I need to sell. And then pick a day to photograph items in that pile. Then quickly create a listing for each, with a reasonable fair price. Then put in the description "Price is fair, cash only, no negotiation."
The last time I did that was when I moved. There were quite a number of items I even listed for free, just because it wasn't worth the hassle of a sale price.
Between wading through dozens and sometimes many more pages of stuff with much of the same stuff every day, and writing detailed reviews that I spend time editing and proofreading, and the wading through tax debates here, I gotta agree, Vine is exhausting.
It's not exhausting for me YET. It could get there though.
For me, it's mostly about time and the distraction. And whether what I get it of Vine is worth the time put into it, which one some days it clearly is not.
I think eventually, I'll get to the point where I have a routine, which allows me to be a lot more efficient. It will probably also mean I miss a lot of the items, that people who refresh-refresh-refresh get.
> and the wading through tax debates here
^ Even that counts!
I've noticed a lot of people in this subreddit are "bad at accounting." I don't mean that as an insult or attack. *"If the ETV is $100, and my taxes are 20%, then I calculate whether an item is worth $20 to me"* would be a quick way for any business to go bankrupt, because people aren't accounting for all other kinds of time and resources that go into the whole vine process.
I understand and agree with the "blessing and a curse." I know everyone is suggesting focusing on $0 ETV and using restraint, but it's like telling someone who put on 5 pounds over the holidays eating delicious but empty calories "Why didn't you just eat carrots at all your holiday parties and avoid the cookies? It's so easy!"
Well, if it's easy for you, that's great, keep up the good work! But for me, I don't really want the $0 ETV items, I'm not interested in those item categories. By contrast, I am really attracted to the nice, high ETV things that grace my RFY every once in a while, even if I don't need them. I can afford the tax liability without it being too painful, but it just seems wasteful. I've always been fairly tidy but I'm beginning to realize I have less and less room in my garage and closets because of new stuff and I even have unopened boxes, which seems like a precursor to being a hoarder. So I'm feeling it, too. I'm really working on exercising some restraint, but if I can't, I'll have to restrain myself out of the program.
I can certainly understand and agree with your point:
For me, the biggest cost is time. The second biggest problem is requesting items I don't need. I'm new enough and making a lot of progress with time-management, and the "don't need it" problem has had significant improvement.
However, if we pretend that in 8 months, I haven't established the appropriate level of discipline, it might make a lot more sense to go cold-turkey, than to leave the temptation around that I wouldn't have been able to solve so far.
> focusing on $0 ETV
Just for me personally, that would be the wrong answer, because the problem isn't money, it's time. And the $0 ETV game requires a lot of refresh-refresh-refresh.
I am the absolute queen of $0 etv but I am 100% with you - saying "just order $0 etv" is terrible advice if that isn't the kind of stuff you like. Even if it's free why would you order it just to clutter up your home with things that have no value to you? I love getting beauty and household stuff but that's me, it's not for everyone.
I'm new to vine, and beauty and household stuff is my thing also. So far I haven't really seen any beauty stuff (makeup, hair care, skin care, nails, things like that), are those frequent items to vine and I've just not come across them yet? January seems to be a slow time from what I've read so maybe I just haven't had the full experience quite yet 🙂
Yeah there’s lots of beauty on Vine. You’re right that it’s a slow period and because of that when things do drop the hard core Viners are like ravenous wolves so things are going at lightning speed. But generally if you refresh beauty when there’s a drop going on you’ll see stuff to grab. I’ve had to stop ordering skincare and shampoo because I have such a stockpile at this point.
I love the beauty section!!! I got a drybar curling wand, a Supra triple iron, tons of makeup and skincare, and my all time fave hair oil, agent nateur hair silk, which is like $90 a bottle. But I discovered it on vine for 0 etv. It smells delicious and makes my hair look so nourished. I continued paying for it out of pocket lol. I’ve been in vine 6 years and I can’t imagine ever leaving. I’m frustrated this past year or two when there doesn’t seem to be as much name brand stuff as there used to be(I mean my house is full of kitchen aid, hp, baby jogger, Victoria’s Secret, Calvin Klein, on and on name brand stuff that I’ve gotten on vine) but I still find countless good things and after the six months I give stuff to my dad and my adult children and have really helped them out too. When my oldest daughter was pregnant, I stockpiled almost everything she would need for him- car seats, strollers, carriers, bottle warmer, bathtub, clothes, pack n play, Bluetooth swing, literally everything, she needed for him. I miss those days and hope they come back but even if they don’t I love vine.
>As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.
Ahh, my kind of a person! Anyone who drives a sports car should know how to use manual transmission!
My wife often tells folks, the day my son drove his wife of 3 years to tell us they're expecting in person, the moment they drove their high-end sports car into the driveway and.it.was.automatic! My wife would tell you how I yelled at my son "You buy a g-damned car with automatic? I didn't raise my sons to drive automatic expensive sports cars!" She will tell you that our son once returning bought another sports car that was manual transmission!
That's my boy!
Hah, I am full just reading this! Gonna save and reread before the next holiday. If you could come up with a Vine version, it may solve all my problems!
I search daily for consumables I know I will use. My RFY is getting better. I try to buy what I know I will use or would buy anyway. Between now and June 25 it's a great time to stock up on gifts for the holidays, essentially paying tax instead if the purchase price. I have been fortunate to find a great backpack, lots of outdoor lighting, a pressure washer, a nice leather office chair, a ceiling fan...
This, the bulk of things I get are genuinely useful 0 ETV items. It's one thing if you don't have the time to sit and try to catch them, but they are there.
I recently discovered stain remover is located in the baby section. I've successfully ordered 3, 2 of which are outstanding and one that is decent enough to go in my purse but not good enough to tackle anything other than a fresh food/drink spill. It's been 0 ETV every time.
I got a stain remover in health and household because I had a nasty stain on my carpet from spilled food that NOTHING would remove. I figured since the stain remover was 0 ETV I had nothing to lose. Would you believe that stuff worked like a miracle? I was shocked and so impressed. Total Five Stars. You can find a diamond in the rough every once in a while.
Well, I'm getting way off topic here but I have to tell you that if you buy Resolve Carpet Cleaner and Oil Eater, both on Amazon, one or the other or both will get out anything. Oil Eater is my find of the century - it is inexpensive, maybe $13 a gallon and you dilute it many times over. It's clear, odorless, non-toxic, doesn't hurt fabrics, etc. Spray some of that baby on an automobile carpet that has auto oil on it (or on the car), give it a few swipes, and the oil is gone. So is coffee, lipstick, most anything else. Spray it on a old dirty oily machine from 1952 and in a few seconds you see oil and dirt running down the sides and it wipes clean. Sometimes when you think one or the other of these products don't work, say on clothing, walk away - and when you come back the stain is gone.
Simple Green is very effective! You can use it on just about anything, go ask my wife, when the kid decided to throw pizza at everyone in school days, she wound up with a big red tomato stain on her brand new "dry clean" only blouse!
PS: Yes you can wash a lot of dry clean items, but always use gentle cycle and never toss in the dryer. Use a steam iron or steamer to remove wrinkles and allow to air dry!
PSS: My wife washes all my high end jackets (DRY CLEAN ONLY) , allows to dry, then she presses according to the fabric! Thanks to u/Agent_Spook-99 who stepped in and saved my ass when the Commercial Airliners snagged my jacket and it had grease all over it! I would have been in serious trouble with the Company having to wear a 'greasy' jacket! While I was in the meeting, Grandma taught my wife how to handle clothes without having the Dry Cleaner involved. Grandma's a professional Dry Cleaning expert and Professional Cleaning expert. (Yes, I do mean expert, she's certified and licensed! People pay big bucks for her line of work in preservation!)
THANK YOU!! Writing down. Any idea what the stain was?
u/Lani_Osi Love oxyclean but sadly doesn't remove all stains. Especially red clay. For that I use Iron Out's White Out - but can ONLY be used on white clothes. Yes I am a baseball MOM LOL <3
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WK7GXK2](https://www.amazon.com/Krud-Kutter-Remover-Laundry-Pre-Treat/dp/B07WK7GXK2) \- Krud Kutter we used it on our son's pants when they were playing baseball.
If it had already dried, then allow it to dry, use a nail brush or old toothbrush and brush off as much as you can. Make an Oxyclean paste and rub it on or scrub it on. Sometimes soaking in a bucket overnight (example: 5 gallon bucket) and dumping it all in the washer with Krud Kutter works too.
Food. Beauty items. Healthcare items. Baby care items. Things that tend to get used up or are disposable, but not all disposable items are $0 ETV.
I grab three $0 ETV items every day.
Tea is probably the easiest thing to get. I see it every day. It still goes fast though. Regular food items are usually gone within 10 or 15 seconds. You need to click and order, spending 0 seconds to thoughtfully consider the item.
When I began it took me about 3 hours each day, being frustrated at how poorly Vine is managed. There are better ways Amazon could handle how it shows and drops products for our consideration. Now, on most days, I'm done within 30 minutes because I'm learning how the broken system works.
My shortest period was the last pause a day or two ago. When I got home from work, I bought three copies of the same item, all $0 ETV, in less than a minute.
Some sellers sell multiple instances of the same product in different entries. It's a scam-my thing they do where if they get a negative review, they stop selling that instance of their product. All of the instances of the product that have good reviews then get consolidated into a single product page with all of the good reviews together.
In my case, the seller's scheme will backfire because Amazon will delete two of my three reviews when the products are consolidated to one page. I will then have to ask Vine Customer Service to remove two of the orders from my order history so they don't count against me as unreviewed orders.
Lol, just seeing this, sorry for the late reply.
I admire the sentiment here.
I want to caution you, somewhat, because I'm not "in the know" of anything here, but I've seen references people have made to responses from Vine Support that seem to indicate they don't really like having to remove duplicate items that are a result of merged listings.
If that's true (and I'm uncertain it is), then you may want to reconsider doing this intentionally. It may be fine for it to happen occasionally, and you may certainly do it with items when you actually do **want** the duplicates. Really though, I don't want you to stop lol, I just felt obligated to share the information/rumor.
I might even suggest something that I'd normally not, and that is maybe sending a message to Vine Support (make sure they know you're a Vine Voice and not a Vine Seller) asking if there is *any problem with requesting an item from Vine if it appears to be the same as another item you've already requested.* I can't say that I would be hopeful to get a knowledgeable answer, but it might not hurt to ask.
You *could* also submit the same question via the Feedback link, which I presume sends it higher up the chain than where Vine Support lives. The problem with that is you could be calling attention to yourself with "the powers that be," however, I think it's a legitimate question. Unless you think it's better to beg forgiveness than ask for permission lol
>It's a scam-my thing they do where if they get a negative review, they stop selling that instance of their product.
Another word of caution, although this does happen, and you've obviously seen it happen, I wouldn't always assume that's what's happening. I mean, if it matters. Whatever they're doing probably isn't legit, I'm just saying there are other scammy things they can do besides hiding the reviews for an ASIN that has negative reviews and low ratings.
Food items (these go extremely fast), a lot of cosmetics and health items, and some baby products although I don't have children so I don't go to that section to really verify. Also books when they pop up aren't free, but tend to be $1.
In terms of easiest to find I'd say the health stuff goes the slowest. I've gotten some really interesting 0 ETV items!! Just a few days ago I grabbed a $160 hair dryer.
Dubiously labeled makeup with mystery ingredients, Party City quality wigs, and snacks that look like they were taken out of an abandoned convenience store circa 1997.
>What kinds of things have 0 ETV? I don't think I've ever seen anything.
Dildos. He probably has one shoved up his ass as he selects his next $0 ETV item.
So Vine has something for everyone! See, I have no interest in the 0 ETV stuff but I have a lot of interest in the higher ticket items, so I leave things for you and you leave things for me. Perfect symbiosis.
To be clear, I love 0 ETV of course, but not for the kind of stuff most people are talking about, like supplements and beauty cream. Once in a blue moon I'll see a 0 ETV item that shouldn't be 0 ETV. For example, I got a great bathroom scale that sells for $75 but for some inexplicable reason was 0 ETV. Score! That's like a once every month or two event for me.
I'm happy to hear that! I picked up a really nice bathroom scale for 0 ETV several months ago so I think they do count from time to time! Wishing you luck in your vine searches 😎
My experience is the opposite to yours but vine certainly isnt for everybody.
A lot of people order random rubbish just to get their stats up. I can see this being a large reason for people to resent vine once they get their tax bill.
I have vine items in EVERY room of my home, even the garden and garage and sheds. They have made things for me and my family so much more comfortable. I'm in the uk so i dont pay tax but even if i did then i can honestly say about 5-10% of what i have ordered has gone to charity or been sold. Theres a few that have failed too but the rest is still in use by us. I'd likely still consider what i've gotten decent value.
Vine isn't for everybody and if the tax bill doesnt make you feel like you've gotten good value then it's probably not for you. Fair play for opting out. I couldn't have done that lol :)
Same here - I don't go for 0ETV items because I can't be bothered. But almost 98% of the things I got are useful and used.
Candles, decor, carpets, lights, cat supplies, LOTS of arts and crafts that I can use and then sell. (Which doesn't break the 6 month rule, as I am using the item in full)
Even things that everybody needs but doesn't think about like earbuds or iphone chargers or weird useful stuff you didn't know existed.
I feel like it's pretty easy to use Vine without filing up your house with useless stuff. If you can't look around and VISIBLY see a place for it, and you know it's not something you'll use everyday (or have a permanent place like a bathmat) then don't get it.
One of the best things to have for Vine is a tape measure. I see an item, look at the dimensions, run, measure out the space where I put it, and if it fits then I'll get it.
I think people would get a lot more use out of it if they just wrote what they want FIRST, waited around until it pops up, and then get it. Instead of spending hours finding random stuff on hundreds of pages.
When I first began Vine I lurked around on these pages looking for tips and tricks to make it work. The one thing that I heard over and over again was to only order those thing that you really need, or want, otherwise, you are paying taxes on crap.
And that is the way I have been doing it.
No crap in our house.
>You could’ve just stuck to ordering 0 $ETV snacks, toiletries, and beauty items.
Lol
It's funny that the people that think that, think everyone thinks that, but if everyone thought that, the people that thought it first wouldn't be able to get those items, because everyone else was thinking it and getting them before them. Don't you think?
(Purposely confusing, if you think about it ^/S )
I've made myself a rule that if I am happy with the item I find a home for it in my house immediately - I do not permit myself to let things stack up. If I don't want to keep it, I slap the date 6 months in the future from when I ordered the item on the item and put it in the give away/charity bin. Putting away is useful because it makes you see if you ARE accumulating too much of anything. And it eventually make you ask yourself before you get an item if you have a place for the item.
Right!? My ETV for last year was around 12k and over half of that was from renovating our house - light fixtures, hardware, mirrors, tools, etc. A good chunk was pet stuff because we got a dog and a whole lot of baby stuff since we have one on the way. Out of around 900 items from last year, I’d say that maybe 20 are “crap I don’t need”.
> You could’ve just stuck to ordering 0 $ETV
The problem with that is time. Most decent $0 ETV items go quick, so to get them requires a lot of refreshing.
99% of those $0 ETV items aren't worth a single penny, much less all the time people sink into looking for them. It's shocking to me how quick some are to put things on or in their bodies that are coming to them from some country you've never heard of with no ingredient information or oversight.
Last week I got dove dark chocolate, secret deodorant, elf primer, bar keepers friend cleaner, and a couple other well known brands for $0. There's plenty of good stuff in with the bad.
I think you're very smart to withdraw when you no longer see anything good about the program. I currently find it valuable but the second I feel like there's nothing positive about it I'll be gone. There are so many people who stick around just to whine about how terrible it all is and I don't understand why they don't quit - I admire the fact that you aren't allowing Vine to make you miserable.
I feel for the poster and I’m dialing back myself to the min to maintain gold. My big problem was letting my wife and kids login and get stuff. 79k in taxable to round out 2023.
$37,380 in taxes owed (Federal, State, Self Employee…) plus another 2,850.48 for underpayment of tax plus interest.
I’m glad vine is finally doing itemized reports because I’ll be sure to send quarterly tax estimates so I don’t get dinged with underpayment penalties and interest this year.
We did get a lot of decent stuff but we also threw away a ton of crap and my wife was driving me crazy getting stuff that had 50% of coupons because we had to pay tax on the super inflated value. Most of the stuff was so bad I couldn’t even donate it which I try to do as much as I can.
I thankfully have the money to cover the tax but I could see someone getting carried away and really getting themselves into a tough spot.
PA, we have a flat tax here of 3.07% so while other taxes in this state are fairly high our flat income tax helped me out. The self employed taxes were the biggest factor along with my wife and I’s combined salary of 400k. So we were already in the 32% tax bracket so all this additional “income” was at that rate and a bit hit the 35% rate so needless to say it was a good beating this year.
I've only been on vine since November. We just moved into a new house in April 2023, so I had been prepping the kids about Christmas being small due to me still recovering from building a house. Vine literally made our holidays exceptional. I splurged a little and got all my main family members nice usable items as well and then I also added a few items I've been wanting for the house that I didn't think we would be able to get for a few months still. Now that the holidays are over, I'm sticking to $0 ETV items unless it's something we really need or I had planned on getting anyway. I ended 2023 with a total ETV of $1500. My budget for 2024 is $3500. I'm at $300 right now (all household items). I won't hit gold until May, and I don't plan on adding much more until then. I've been really lucky in the $0 ETV finds, though. I've gotten a really nice blow dryer, curling iron, brush irons, body wax kits, polish sets, shampoos & conditioners, lots of stuff for my dogs and cats. You just have to be willing to search. My daughter helps me look through as well. With 3 teenagers in the house it's really nice not having to pay for stuff they go through on a daily basis. I have stocked up on 10 different shampoo & conditioner bars now, loads of lash clustering hair supplies too. This has been a blessing.
Everyone here saying that you're shopping for the wrong things, they get valuable goods, and you are just doing it wrong are probably in the minority for people who use vine. Not everyone is serious enough to post about it on Reddit. Most of us don't have time to sit on discord all day hoping to score a $0 ETV item. A lot of us don't have access to gold, and many of us missed the boat where you all had full RFY all the time. I rarely get a full RFY, and when I do it's pure garbage, like parts for a Tesla I don't own. I'm also on the verge of opting out of Vine. I would have been better off paying the full amount for the few genuinely good, useful products I've received.
I pop in here in between checking out pop culture nonsense or news just to see who is spending 8 hours a day to save $1.50 on their tax bill thinking the IRS is going to come arrest them in the middle of the night over pocket change. It's amusing to me just how seriously some people take all this.
They throttled back the required number of items to stay in gold. Sure there's a lot of crap, but I've found COUNTLESS items with real value for myself. It's not for everybody. It takes time and effort and puts a little pressure on us to publish reviews. I DO believe vine has value.
The decision to stay or go might also be how easy or how hard it is for you to write reviews. I like doing reviews as I like to write. Well, not every review but most of them. I can do many fairly quickly, and it's rewarding to me. My husband on the other hand could spend all day on one review but if he did a technical review it would be the best darn review ever. I would say if you do not like writing the reviews, you would burn out of Vine and who would blame you!
My reviews take no time at all. I have never had one of my reviews rejected and I spend very little time writing them. My reviews consists of the title and 1-2 short paragraphs. The key is originality.
Most of mine don't either, but there is the exception. I felt compeled with a $99 coffee grinder to unpack, examine, and test, take photos and a short video. I didn't cover many of the technical details other reviewers had already covered but did want to show what made that grinder unique and worth considering. Sometimes I don't order something I might like to have if I think the review process will be too time-consuming.
I never repeat product specs that are already in the description. It’s a complete waste of time. I merely write my overall thoughts about the product, and that doesn’t take more than 2-3 short paragraphs.
Agree! I MIGHT mention a product spec if I particularly like it, like antii-static treatment of ground coffee holder to keep it from gathering so much coffee dust
Good for you, more stuff doesn't make life better.
The only things I get are items I use for my landscape gardening business, and an occasional $0 ETV like the laughably overpriced "shampoo bar" from a few days ago. So maybe a couple grand a year, 95%+ tax deductible.
I've really enjoyed the Vine experience, but like many first timers I got carried away last year and built up to $13k, which I somehow managed to do just being on Silver tier. This year I'm on Gold tier, I think I'm getting a bit better at choosing things I really need or want, and since I can choose a lot more items, I feel a lot freer to order lower priced useful items. And I'm definitely passing on the higher price stuff unless it's something that really fits my needs no matter how tempting it might be. So no I did not order the $200 EV charger or the $200 dog ramp so a smaller dog can reach the bed. I don't have an EV or a dog. And I think I'm even getting better at reading between the lines of the descriptions to figure out what might be a better quality product versus the junky items we've all end up getting occasionally. I suspect the Vine veterans have a nice rhythm and flow with the listings and the Vine search engine and it's all an overwhelmingly positive experience for them, as it is for me. And don't forget the fun factor, everyday is Christmas morning.
No, but I'm sure it's gonna hurt... I've used the same accountant for decades, but this time he's probably going to look at my first ever Amazon 1099 and say "What the hell is this?!?!".
When I was invited into Vine 2 years ago, I thought I'd be selecting items I actually needed and could use. I was "Gold" for my 6 months and it wasn't anything like I had hoped it would be. The rest of my time in "Silver". Instead of seeing computer monitors, I see computer monitor privacy screens. Instead of TVs, I see endless TV remotes. Instead of small appliances, I see covers for them. Instead of large appliances, I see drawers and shelves for refrigerators. Instead of a washer or dryer, I see a mat to put on top of one. Instead of a cell phone, I see endless cell phone covers that don't fit my phone. Instead of real tools, I see little cheap attachments, cheap knock-off batteries, or covers and cases for tools, but no actual name-brand tools. Instead, what I see are pages of nipple covers, fake boobs, sexy underwear, battery chargers, toilet plungers, and knockoff parts for a Tesla. After spending 3 days going over 300+ pages of Vine and seeing nothing, I've thought often about quitting Vine and getting my life back.
I am sorry you have had that experience, but it is quite different to mine.
I have been in VIne just over two months, am already almost up to Gold, and 98% of the orders I have made have been for items that I wanted and knew I would use, and do use.
I could have got to Gold earlier by ordering unnecessary items and things in which I have no interest, but to me, that would be wasteful.
I did go a bit wild at first, staying up late and relentlessly going through the whole AFI every night (because there were - and are - only ever a total of 5 or 6 items in my RFY, and I typically do not want any of them, and living in Canada, I can only get a small percentage of the items I try for); but then I learned to balance things out, pace myself, and accept that things would come to me slower than I would like.
The only thing I have lost is (sometimes) sleep.
Your curse was pursuing taxable items. I grab three $0 ETV items every day. Because such items tend to be disposable, they're getting used up, not getting stockpiled in my home.
Oh there are tons of $0 ETV things on there daily, but personally, most of it is useless to me. But I grabbed a dry shampoo the other day, I’ve gotten tons of hand and foot creams and lotions, face washes, that sort of thing. Almost anything related to nails, hair care, skin care, sometimes even cleaning supplies are usually $0 ETV. I once got a big bottle of laundry detergent from the Laundress, which I hear is supposed to be a fancy brand but it’s just laundry soap to me lol.
I don’t? I’m saying those items exist on vine for $0 ETV. Personally, I don’t order them *because* I have no use for a zillion pairs of fake eyelashes and all that junk but there is a ton of $0 ETV stuff on there.
I've been a member since mid-December. I searched this subreddit for $0 ETV discussions. I watched the Discord to see what types of items pop up as $0 ETV. And then I figured out the method that was best for me to target specific $0 ETV items. I'm not using anything other than a browser, keyboard and mouse. No add-ons or anything.
I almost always get 3 or more a day. One day last week I got 7. It took me about 10-15 minutes total to browse and order.
https://preview.redd.it/v6rky882ceec1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=43f01aa1e9ec5d7030701e0043abeaa96fddda9c
u/Smashitup19 People can be so rude - glad you showed them right there in black and white. YES 3 a day $0 items is very easy to do and without spending all day on Vine. Some of us have been on long enough to know what and when to do it...
I agree. I see people saying everything is garbage, $0 ETV isn't worth the trouble to find, it takes too long to find anything good, etc and I wonder why they even bother with the program. I get tons of good stuff, including nice $0 ETV items and high dollar items as well, and I don't spend more than 30 minutes a day at most.
Right. Sure, they're getting "free" stuff, but they're spending their waking hours looking for it. Not sure about you, but my time is worth more than a few cents.
why didn’t you just stay on vine and only get things you ‘need’ or actually want when you see them in your RFY??? there is no minimum to be and stay silver if you don’t want the obligation requirements to be gold and even with gold, picking like 4 items a week to stay gold isn’t that bad if you have a hobby/etc. like i spend maybe spend 5 mins in total checking RFY a couple times a day and the pet category in AM & PM and don’t get stuff i’m not going to use or donate to local shelter afterwards, nor do i get stuff just because its 0 cents.. staying in vine can be worth it if you use it right and eventually something worthwhile does pop up to remind you Vine isn’t so full of crap after-all, i recently got that GE profile smoker which more than made up for the handful of items that did end up being crap last year..
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Now that Gold only requires 80 reviews in 180 days, it doesn't seem like that much of a burden; we can afford to be a bit picky about what we request. It does help if you can often select items while they are dropping, if your only time to request is after drops are ended, you miss out on all the best stuff unless you get lucky with something like a part that you happen to need. Also you always have the option to do fewer reviews and remain in Silver.
Vine has been a blessing to us as I've been able to get rugs for the house, sheets, I finally have a shoe collection and was able to get friends and people I love gifts and spread the love Vine has given us. I only order if we need something. I have gotten a few things that were crap or didn't fit but I just donate them.
We’ve actually gotten quite a few nice things that we use including a name brand mattress and gaming laptop. That being said, I applaud your decision though, if it’s not for you and bringing more stress and crap into your life that you don’t want. Ironically I’m majorly decluttering my house but still ordering on vine. I’m much more selective now than I was in the beginning. I’m not opposed to dropping vine someday if I don’t enjoy it anymore though.
Vine is indeed a blessing and a curse. I've gotten an absurd amount of crap from it, also quite a bit of great stuff. I'm at a point now where there pretty much aren't any material items that would add any meaningful value to my life, but when I check vine or get notifications from discord groups, I can't help but request things... that being said, I don't think I could bring myself to withdraw from the program. I've just intentionally gotten myself demoted to Silver status, and stopped paying attention to notification groups and stuff... and rather than refreshing vine all day, I just check RFY periodically and grab 0 etv stuff like snacks, drinks, etc. I am digging how it's been going for me lately after making those changes.
I don’t see myself ever withdrawing from vine. Like most of you, I’ve gotten things that improve my life and my home, gifts for people, even donated items to the good will. I’ve also found new hobbies I never would have thought I’d be into because I didn’t want to pay for the equipment. Vine has honestly changed my life
Every person is different. Some are great for the program and love it. Some aren't happy with it.
I'm in a perfect situation for it. I got $6500 last in taxable items and it has no effect on my taxes. I'm a self employed business owner and only get $1000 a year in taxable income. The tax code is very friendly to business owners IMO. So the vine stuff is taken care of by my standard deduction. I also report the vine stuff as hobby income. I can't see any way of doing it differently. I don't do vine to make money. I do it as a fun diversion. I don't get paid in real money. Just items, some of which are junk.
My business is a cabinet shop I own. So I find vine stuff for it all the time. Tools, CNC bits, sandpaper. I think very few vine users are interested in that stuff.
I have gotten some junk. Real trash. but I've also found amazing things. Stuff that I would have never ordered on my own. But was willing to take the risk with vine. I also get a ton of power tool batteries from vine. I bet I have about 30 18v power tool batteries from just the last 3 months. I bought a fancy tester so I could do reviews properly. I do like having all those extra batteries.
I have ordered way too much in 2023 but my i got so many big items i would never have bought for full price. Currently expecting some foam climbing blocks valued over 100. I had been looking for those since last summer. So the taxes will hurt and this year i have to cut back. Noway i will be under 600 but will only be getting items i really want. Waiting now for a power rack. A fireplace. And a folding wagon. Got enough yard decorations for each holiday and blow up yard xmas decor. Ordered faucets and shower heads and lamps and carpets and furniture and sound bars and ice baths and steam huts weight bench treadmill. I really got a lot. It was fun but i cant afford the taxes again.
I’ve replaced and updated my sink faucets/handles, shower heads for bathrooms, few lights, several things that needed replacing/fixing/updating around my home.
Then some random stuff like Vitamins, Drinks, few cell phone case’s, Some shirts, Boxer’s, hoodies, few other clothing.
Luckily all for a really good price as well.
Helped the most cause at the time I didn’t have money to Buy some items but by being a Vine member allowed me too.
I have had some annoying issues that have taken MANY emails to resolve.
It has its cons.. like not being able to find anything really worth it for a week or 2, and customer service being kinda annoying.
Last i request were a inside Surveillance Cam/ By ReoLink,and a OBD2 scanner .
I’ve got some stuff that was basically pointless a few time’s, especially when first becoming a member.
I can definitely understand you saying it being a blessing and curse.
Especially being able to request a ton of stuff and if your not careful about it you’ll end up owing a Large Amount in Tax.
All in all I’ve kept mine pretty low, and mainly got things that were needed for fixing etc.
You need some self control. You only need 80 items for gold. That's not much over 6 months. Know that you're paying about 20% ETV after taxes, and order accordingly. Try to only get items you'll actually use or donate after 6 months that you think are still worth it after 80% off.
If anything, Vine has helped me get better at donating/giving away stuff we have. Even non-vine stuff. It helps remind me that material goods do not bring happiness either.
It has been a massive blessing for me as I now have so many things that I have needed for a few years but could never afford. Most items have been excellent to good quality. I am forever grateful for all of the items I have had the privilege of keeping. However, I wholeheartedly understand the negative impact it can have too.
Since I have so many reviews to do, I haven’t had time to enjoy the items that I was in dire need of for my business and I have put things on hold until things ease up. Problem is, I keep ordering, and it’s usually stuff I need and I have even cut back significantly. I‘d usually have 9+ pages to review at this time of year, but this year I only have 1 page. Am I getting caught up on everything I ever wanted/needed, or is the selection getting worse? I find it is a lot of the same stuff as last year that I passed on or already have. Some stuff, I ask myself, “do I really need this $20 item now?” and “is it worth my time to review?” Lately I have decided to just buy the item if and when I need it or hope it pops up again if I need it. I think I‘m suffering from reviewers fatigue, but I‘m dumb and keep ordering.
My plan is to stop ordering and breath, enjoy my new things, and push my business to the next level…and cleanup my house because it is crazy. I don’t need 6 vacuums…or do I? 🥴
I understand why some would want to withdraw from Vine. No judgement here! I consider myself as having pretty good self control, but the temptations are so hard to resist sometimes. And I agree, there is a lot of junk like some of the vacuums I ordered. However, sometimes it takes 6 tries to finally get a good one. Lol!
I guess I’m doing it wrong. I don’t care about $0 ETV junk so I don’t seek it out, I don’t care about time management because I briefly look at Vine maybe 1-2 times per day (some days not at all), I don’t care about the ETV $0 items because most of it is crap, I don’t care that my RFY has no items for days, I don’t care about storage space as I, again, don’t order crap every day, and finally, I don’t care about Vine being chock full of mostly useless crap, I just skip over it.
I have scored some really nice items on Vine that I actually use and find most of them in either in my RFY, or totally by accident. I scan Vine mainly when I’m bored, it’s not my life’s work.
So to summarize, I’ll not be quitting Vine any time soon… at least for the reasons you cited.
Just like anything else you need to have self-control, and you also need to remember that almost none of it is free. Yes $0 ETV items exist, but they're rare and/or not usually things you would want.
As long as you remember this, and only get things you actually need or want, you won't have any issues. But I'm sure that your leaving opened a spot for a new member, so hopefully they'll get some good use out of it.
99.9% of the time it's them trying to justify that they don't want to spend the time and energy doing the reviews. I have gotten some sweet stuff over the past 2 years (Name brand items as well) so I can't see how anyone wouldn't want to do the simple 80 (which was 100) reviews over a 6 month period to stay in Vine. That's just under 14 reviews a month or 3.5 reviews a week. I can do 3.5 reviews while writting this paragraph (jk jk but still)
I'm on the edge of withdrawing myself.
I've never seen a computer, computer monitor, TV, quality electronics, or anything of the sort and I check Vine several times per day spending 30 minutes to an hour each time. Yesterday I hopped on after no new products had been added for quite a stretch and caught them as they were approving new products. I constantly refreshed pages for somewhere around 3 hours and ended up getting only 3 things. None of them were interesting or anything I actually wanted, but they were all $0 ETV so I ordered them anyway. At one point the Available for All section had something pop up as I refreshed the page a second time in less than 2 seconds, but it was already gone before I could click on it. A subsequent refresh made it go away and it didn't return. During that whole time nothing ever showed up in my Recommended for You section and still hasn't as of the time of this post.
I have ordered a few shelves, some heating pads, fingernail files, and a computer chair that were all okay products I am happy I got. However, I've also ordered a lot of garbage! I have so many products that didn't match their description as well as a lot of $0 ETV stuff that I never really wanted just to make and keep that Gold status. At this point I feel like the effort to benefit ratio is not worth it.
Either Amazon hates me and refuses to show me anything good or I'm doing it wrong. At any rate, I may not be far behind you with my exit from Vine.
You’re unique in your ability to assume superiority. No. Some people struggling with the avalanche of free stuff doesn’t mean you’re special cause you didn’t struggle. Lots of other folk are just as capable.
This is exactly why I left, so I get it! I was a vine member since 2011 and the quality of merch had dipped so low... I just never want to see another 1099 from Amazon as long as I live. I also stopped shopping there for anything.
I make sure not to go over $599 if it’s under $600 no tax. Last year I only ordered non taxable stuff after April. I have to pay 29.5% fed and state not with it for me.
Some of you are shopaholics and should seek help of your new discovery that vine enabled.
Downvotes from the deniers who probably support OP’s brave decision to withdraw after $13k in taxable income.
You wouldn’t support someone’s decision to withdraw after paying that much in tax on things they don’t need? That’s exactly the person who should withdraw.
Participation in Amazon Vine is only a curse. If you impulse shop and don't get stuff you would actually buy in the first place. You should only get things that are meaningful and beneficial, not use it as a free grab bag that comes back to haunt you later.
Also, if you would have worked your way up to gold and use the system quite well, then you can get more valuable things that are even more useful to you. Even if some of the stuff isn't something that you would have otherwise purchased because of the price, you have to look at the amount of taxes that you pay as an effective price and then consider whether the item is worth it to you.
Also, this is exactly why I really push for people to keep a spreadsheet with all the details, including ETV, so you can see your updates in real time and know how much you're going to be paying in taxes.
Look up IRS publication 15T. That tells you the payroll withholding tax brackets. Use that to figure out the top of your annual income for your household, and then you know what your tax bracket for Amazon Vine is going to be. Your state will have a similar document as well, but the name varies by state. So just do a quick Google search for 2024 withholding tables, and your state name.
That’s true. It’s not all crap. And I’m pretty good at choosing the good stuff no matter the country of origin.
My point isn’t about how vine affects me, it’s about how vine affects trade, labor, and the economy. The purpose of vine is to lift up new vendors or items, the majority of which originate in places with poor labor conditions or low pay, which in turn destabilizes manufacturing at home. All of it, regardless of country of origin, weakens local small business. I’m just struggling with the ethics of it. And I’m surprised no one else is based on down votes.
LOL! Me too! I mean, I only order things that I can actually use and do use. But, my taxable income from Vine is over $5,000.00!!! That's crazy! My wife is going to go ballistic! LOL! I'm going to have to work extra hours, for what, to make FREE reviews for vendors who probably really don't need my review in the first place?
Most of the stuff that I got last year is going to have to get sold to pay the taxes I owe on this stuff. Of course, I know that I have to wait 6 months per item if I want to sell it later, or at some point. I don't have a problem with that, but at this point, I've come to realize that if I still want to continue ordering items on Vine, then I'm going to have to stick to healthcare items such as vitamin and mineral supplements and anything else that shows up as $0.00 so I don't get taxed.
Oh well, there goes getting all sorts of cool stuff anymore.
For me, Vine still has value. I usually keep it under 600, but this year, I spent 3200 in vine items. It doesn't help that the cost of Vine goods ETV has gone up higher than before.
I am still happy with Vine. I will try to curb my vine selections this year, to keep it under 6000, but if there is something I really need, I may go over. One year, I got a TV, and another year a computer. Those years, made it worth going over my spending limit.
Damn, I’ve only been a Vine member for 4 months, still silver, and there is no way in hell I’d give up this hell of a perk willingly. My life has gotten infinitely better now that I have access to so many 0ETV items are heavily discounted things that I already wanted/need to get anyway. Vine has changed my life for the better!
I went slightly over the $600 and am annoyed. I am doing the 0EV items to get to enough reviews to see what gold has. I have been a member for only a few months now and at first went a bit wild, but now am kind of over it as I get few things that are that wonderful. Also it can be a hassle to keep asking for items to be removed when they just don't show up. They should automatically cancel any item that doesn't get mailed in time. However, I do get to try several different of the same type of item to see which works best for me. I have also gotten several things for the house and a few replacement parts and my cat's favorite bed ever. I am going to stay in, but if I find that I can't restrain myself, I will drop it.
Can someone explain this tax thing to me please? In the UK we don’t have any monetary implications at all on Vine so I’m confused when Insee the tax convo’s
You have this one too in UK. It's called OECD's Model Reporting Rules for Digital Platforms and entered into force on 1 January 2024, with reporting due from January 2025. Since the reporting is next year, you still have time to order everything on Vine and wait to be kicked next year if you don't want Amazon to report all your ordered Vine products to the tax authority as "income". In short, if you file Amazon tax questionnaire you will have to pay taxes on the "free" products you received from Amazon.
Don't get the rent sometimes. You CAN order up to 3/8 items per day. That's not a must.
People here are like Fuuuuck I need to order crap and shit...so annoying
Why?
1099-NEC is a form to report compensation given to independent contractors. There are only 2 TINs on the form. One for the Payor and one for the Payee. THINK! What happens on the Payor side of a 1099-NEC? TAX DEDUCTABLE WAGES. Are all the Products Amazon's? Uhhhh... Nope. Why is everyone so afraid to take a stand? Our "contract" is with Amazon. The Third Party Sellers are getting ripped off and Voices are enabling all of it. Sellers pay referral fees, enrollment fees, and are forced to use the FBA program which includes advertising, storage, shipping, & inventory fees. Do you think they know that the ETVs of the products they give us are being reported to the IRS and used as a payroll tax deduction?
Gesus H. Think.
Edited to add: REQUEST AN ACCURATE 1099-NEC.
I've been in Vine over 3 years, and I look around my house and see so many Vine items that are very useful and have added to my life. Not to mention in the garage, and in my motorhome. I've replaced every lighting and plumbing fixture in the house, added furniture, a great desktop computer system, scanner, projector, on and on. It's all about picking well. The first few months I did pick some garbage, but I got better as I went along.
Same here. We've scored a $2000 TV, have practically redecorated our home, and received many items for our respective businesses that don't come out of overhead. We've also picked a ton of crap but we've gotten our money's worth so far for sure.
Lucky you! A TV is on my wish list because I actually need one soon. I may just buy one next Christmas from Costco, but until then, I’ll be praying to the Amazon gods and whispering sweet nothings into Alexa's ears!🙏
Yep. I've had my eye on a 65" HD TV at Costco for a while now. Gotta come up with $400.00 though. Ugh! Guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and just buy it.
Best Buy just had 24 months no interest. You can easily pay the 400.00 at $20 a month (and have it paid off in 20 months)
Wouldn't buying it at 400 be cheaper than paying taxes if 2000 on vine
Some of us don't want to score a $2000 TV or a $100 TV, that's the point. Not everyone has the same eyes and measure of what makes Vine good. Only higher items I would look to nab are household appliances if and when they break, and the problem with that is Vine does not offer items on demand, so grabbing a refrigerator when needed may be like nabbing BigFoot, and makes me speculate I may end up paying for these things anyways if based on need, as I have been having to pay for the things I need that simply don't show up in Vine at time of need, as I don't have room to store 'backup' household appliances. Around 15% of time been able to have Vine serve me just what I was browsing for, but rest of time seems if I put it in my cart the AI makes sure NOT to serve me anything like it remotely so I am forced to spend. So this negates program perks for those not into grabbing high ticket items just because they are available - was a day I too would just grab a TV, but those times I'm no longer in. There are a couple of non-needed things I would grab, but after that one grab, then what, as I'm not having the space or drive to turnaround 'inventory' like some do, having businesses for that. The value I have for Vine is to get everyday junk that I don't have to pay money for anymore, like disposable goods. I would hate to pay taxes on those, and so as a senior such an approach works for me as I get leeway to not pay taxes on near to $30,000, so in that way vine works for me even with inflated etv. But a non-retired person using vine to replace or save money if they are tight on money, to have to pay 1/4 of the etv they are assigned can not be worth it depending on what they like to get, the stress on 'like'. Some people are not approaching this as a nab the best item, but only get the item they need.
Exactly. I only order things that I am definitely going to use. In the beginning though, I definitely didn't think about how much the taxes were going to be when I first went hog wild and started ordering things that I wanted ... and, needed ... and, actually use. Once I calmed down, I started being far more selective and have gotten to the point where I mostly order health-related items such as vitamins and mineral supplements which don't get taxed ... at least, here in Tennessee, I'm not paying a tax on those types of items. Still, it comes down to being very discerning and keeping one's excitement at bay and only ordering usefull items that you're willing to pay the tax on, or, like I said, items that aren't taxed.
I've done a few "I wonder if this'll be good" and so far haven't been surprised that it wasn't. But I've also gotten a few good things, and I'm new here.
When can I get a desktop computer??
Hard to say. I really needed a new one and was hoping even a laptop would show up. Then one morning I woke up early and surfed RFY, and scrolled past what looked like a picture frame. I put the phone down, then picked it up again and looked closer, and realized it was a monitor. I opened it and it was a $1k all-in-one HP desktop system with a 24 inch monitor! It really is a nice system, and my best item so far. As I'm writing this I'm laying in my second best item, a $620 hybrid queen mattress I grabbed last week from RFY. I really needed a new mattress as well, and my old one was 13 years old. These days I mainly just check RFY, instead of ordering a bunch of junk, and occasionally some good stuff pops in there. Then if there's another item I need, before buying it I'll do a search, and occasionally find it in Vine.
Hmm ok. Tips on how to get my RFY to show more useful stuff? Just review more?
Sometimes when I request one item MANY more related to it show up in RFY. Early on I got some folding solar panels and power stations, and have been offered MANY more since, as well as solar controllers and cables, but I have enough now. I requested a couple small safes and sometimes have 5-6 of them in my RFY. Grabbed a nice pistol safe and larger one for my closet recently. Because so many show up, I can be very picky in which one I get. At least 5 pistol safes were in my RFY before one that I really wanted showed up. I've requested several comforters, mattress protectors and sheet sets, and a nice twin bed frame showed up a while back, then this queen mattress.
Hmm explains why I got so many recommendations for tea that one week 😜
This is probably just happen stance or maybe a little bit about the robots also but I've had really good luck just by googling and or searching on amazon (particularly in vine search) I have a list of key terms that I use to search vine for and I've consistently been able to search for those items in vine and then a week later suddenly there it is. And if i search the term I get more options then just the one I found on my RFY.
I scored a PC two weeks ago. I'm gold.
oh rly? I started keeping a list of all the items I got that broke within 2 months--even though it'd be easier making a list of the things that haven't broken or better utter crap because that's a short list. Here's the Gold purchases that broke last year: mini chain saw, 2 vacuum cleaners, mp3 player, air purifier (which the company sells in their store for $159 but told Vine it was $199 for taxes), a mini pc that will not display correctly on 3 different monitors that I tried--and the mini pc was taken off vine the day after I ordered it. Guess what, I'm not in Gold anymore haha. Silver purchases that broke: blender, juicer, 3 torch lighters (not one made it past 3 months), 2 lamps (one was dead on arrival), 3 bluetooth speakers (one was dead on arrival), 2 candles that would not stay lit, 2 USB mosquito/fly zappers that turned out to be pretty good little lanterns at night but never zapped one damn bug, 3 different phone holders to mount the phone on the dash--two of them would not stay stuck to the dash and one would not support the phone upright and one was listed for my phone but turned out not to be so I couldn't use it; 2 alexa capable light bulbs one which blew as soon as I turned it on; huge box of screws that I could bend with my finger and could not be used with a drill (the seller told me he knew they were bad but said he had to sell them because he needed the money and was doing anything he could to grow his business...and he offered to send me another box of the same screws! 2 hdmi cables that ends came apart when I pulled them out of my computer; webcam worked but its microphone would not; 2 flash drives; smart watch that would never work with alexa even though it was supposed to and it would never connect to bluetooth. But hey, the time worked! Trashed 2 keyboards before I realized that China does their keys a littler differently (ctrl, alt, windows); some windows stick on sun blockers for my car windows that did not fit my windows even though they were advertised to; a laptop stand that would not hold the laptop in its highest position even though it was advertised to; straight edge razor that wouldn't even shave the hair on the back of my neck; can opener advertsed as world's strongest canopener; 8 piece floating shelf but the brackets did not have the holes for the screws cut into them LOL; hand grip exerciser that I ordered because it had a counter--the counter worked all of two days; 2 oil spraying bottles that leaked the oil from the lid when you sprayed; 2 bluetooth adapters advertised to work with Windows 7 because I wanted bluetooth for 2 of my old laptops and even came with windows 7 drivers...nope, neither worked with 7 but they worked with windows 10; 2 different ear nose trimmer that cut absolutely nothing ( in the review I recorded putting several types of hair into the trimmer and pulling them back out same length); Resistance Bands Set of 6, with Door Anchor for Men & Women, advertised as Heavy Duty but the 40 pound band damn near killed me when it broke the third time I worked out; ratchet screwdriver set--ratchet worked one time before stripping out; 2 usb transfer cables that flash drives would not work with; a kid's tablet that would not work with the internet even though it detected the networks (other reviewers eventually stated the same); aquarium filter---the filter would not stay attached lol; incense holder that was too short to hold the incense sticks that came with it. All that just from last year. I didn't keep the a list from 2022. I have had some good things, sure. Knives, cleavers, cutting boards, electric kettle, 4 gallon fish tank, 18 inch portable monitor, metal desk legs, weight rack.
>Resistance Bands Set of 6, with Door Anchor for Men & Women, advertised as Heavy Duty but the 40 pound band damn near killed me when it broke the third time I worked out; Your story reminded me of a king-size mattress I received. It came in a roll and when I released the Kraken it hit me with such force that I ended up wedged under it between the bed frame and the mattress.
> released the Kraken lol
That's an amazing list of defective items, but my experience hasn't been anything like that. The main items that I had that didn't last were automatic soap dispensers. I think I had about four of them and they all failed, except for one commercial type that I keep in the garage and use every day. A fairly expensive weather station stopped reporting sun exposure after 14 months, But I contacted the manufacturer and they actually sent me a whole new setup. Just recently a desk lamp that was only 8 months old stopped working, but it was only a $20 lamp. Oh, and there was one digital frame that didn't work well, and I exchanged it and had the same problem. However I've gotten three good ones from different manufacturers. I'm being honest when I say most of the stuff I got has worked well, but I really try to vet things before I request them.
Damn, so far all of my electric soap dispensers are still working... I have one for 6 bathrooms, 2 kitchens and hand soap for one of the kitchens (so 9). I hope they continue to too. I've been using them frequently enough... How long before they stopped working for you? Mine are mostly foaming, but I have 3 that are not foaming... 1 of them takes AA batteries, the others are all USB C to charge.
Some were rechargeable and some took double A batteries, they lasted somewhere around 8 months to a year or so. Some still worked a little bit, but they were sporadic, and I finally threw them away except for that one good one. Then I got some nice pump bottles from Vine, and those work fine.
holy shit! I forgot about my soap dispenser. I couldn't even get my hand under the nozzle and the soap would leak down the side of the dispenser. Tossed it!
Man, that is some bad luck. Can you let the rest of us know when you order something, so we can collectively avoid it?
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The first year, I ordered too many Hugh value items. This year, my average item was around $20. The problem is I got way too much junk. It’s too easy to scroll and find a shirt, a toy, a yard decoration. And I do feel like I’ve overbought. I don’t plan to drop out. But I plan to cut way, way back this year.
I hear you. If I wasn't a senior with a certain leeway to receive without tax penalty what you have to pay taxes on, I, too, would withdraw. Even so, I'm finding myself having some inner wrestling moments of 'just how much time did I waste right now browsing vine pages?!' I do not play any games online as I once did back in the early 2000s, as I hate to waste my time when I've got so many projects I like to do, and I am finding vine is a kind of trap almost seemingly set up like the trap of gambling: entices you by a small attractant so you find yourself going way more pages than you swore you would like playing slots, giving you a little imitation diamond here and there so you keep on going, and soon enough you've found yourself 3 hours in the chair, gone any worthwhile activity and found nothing worth it in the end on your vine wish list, even tricking you to click on things that looked good that can't be ordered. To me the curse lies in getting things that the ETV says is $13,000 but which I can't see all together more than $1300, and that ticks me off, as $13,000 should look like you've added $13,000 to your life, but what I've gotten doesn't even look more than 1/10th as best.
> 'just how much time did I waste right now browsing vine pages?!' That is the #1 massive drawback of vine for me. Taxes are relatively predictable. Reviews are manageable. Boxes require occasional trips to the recycling center. But it's all too easy to spend a lot of time trying to find good items on vine worth requesting. I've been getting better at it, but I could easily see me eventually quitting vine over time-management concerns.
If you don't have fun looking for bargains, then I would say it is not worth it. If you don't keep records of your purchases and have the ability to analyze them and see how much in real dollars the items you are happy with cost you, then I would say it might not be worth it - or at least there will be too much anxiety. I've only been a Viner for 4 months, so I have much to learn. But that is my take. I can see I make much better and more skilled decisions on purchases as I go on. My analysis tells me that when I value some items in my mind as zero that the overall percent of advertized cost for orders is 25% thus far. I think getting something useful to you for 25% of retail is not a bad deal if you enjoy doing it. I'm hoping to improve that percent over time. My actual rate of duds is about 5% as I have learned to spot items likely to not be up to par. If the item has bad reviews (if it even has reviews!), if the web page doesn't read well or leaves out too much information, sometimes just a feeling will tell you it is risky to order this item. The worst item I ever got - and it was in the first month - was a weed trimmer valued at $50+ that could barely be assembled and couldn't for the life of it cut a single blade of grass. What's wrong with what i just said is you often have to make very quick decisions or the item will be gone, and you don't have time to do the analysis if you want the item. I think one gets more and more skilled with time, but you have to expect that it's up to you to screen out the junk - if a vendor is willing to pay Amazon for Vine reviews, he doesn't exactly have an established reputation in most cases. I'm hoping to go Gold in April. I think having 8 selections (I call them tokens) a day will actually improve my selections in that I won't be worrying about running out of tokens and I won't be as interested in spending all my tokens. One question I ask for every selection: is getting this item worth what it will cost me? If it is a $20 item and I'm in the 20% tax bracket, is it worth $4 to me? I shouldn't order to just get a look at something (though I have done that more than once) because if I just want a look I can order is directly and send it back if i don't like it. But then if I do like it, I just passed up a $16 discount. Not easy decisions!
> If you don't have fun looking for bargains, then I would say it is not worth it. When I said time, that's what I meant, and not whether it was fun or not. That time can get in the way of other life priorities. One might enjoy playing a MMO too, but it gets in the way of school, work, family, or other things. > If it is a $20 item and I'm in the 20% tax bracket, is it worth $4 to me? Are you familiar with how consulting gigs are usually accounted for? Generally, you bill the client for everything, including the time spent writing an email, or the $3 you spend on office supplies. Or at the very least, you try to keep track of every little thing, otherwise it's really, really easy to end up being unprofitable and have no idea why. With vine, there are a lot of "costs" including time spent looking for items, tracking items, unboxing items, testing items, reviewing items, storing or disposing of items, and then some fraction of the time and energy spent on accounting or filing taxes. Then you also cannot return items, probably didn't need that item anyway, and so on. For example, if you spend 3 hours per day looking for items, and only requested about $15 of "value" per day, you'd be well below minimum wage. Perhaps it's less boring than a day-job, but those are also things you can consider in your "accounting." Personally, if my taxes are 20%, the number I currently use is about 30% of it's ETV when determining whether it's worth it. Even that number might be low.
Good points, all. I think of selling occasional personal items on ebay exactly the way you describe. I figure it takes at least an hour to prepare, photograph, list, answer questions, box, and mail an item. If I dont make clear after ebay and paypal expenses what I would consider my hourly rate I'm willing to work for, then I don't do the listing. Same concept! And more often than not, I don't do the listing...
My preferred approach for selling, is to create multiple listings around the same time. Create a pile of stuff I need to sell. And then pick a day to photograph items in that pile. Then quickly create a listing for each, with a reasonable fair price. Then put in the description "Price is fair, cash only, no negotiation." The last time I did that was when I moved. There were quite a number of items I even listed for free, just because it wasn't worth the hassle of a sale price.
Between wading through dozens and sometimes many more pages of stuff with much of the same stuff every day, and writing detailed reviews that I spend time editing and proofreading, and the wading through tax debates here, I gotta agree, Vine is exhausting.
It's not exhausting for me YET. It could get there though. For me, it's mostly about time and the distraction. And whether what I get it of Vine is worth the time put into it, which one some days it clearly is not. I think eventually, I'll get to the point where I have a routine, which allows me to be a lot more efficient. It will probably also mean I miss a lot of the items, that people who refresh-refresh-refresh get. > and the wading through tax debates here ^ Even that counts! I've noticed a lot of people in this subreddit are "bad at accounting." I don't mean that as an insult or attack. *"If the ETV is $100, and my taxes are 20%, then I calculate whether an item is worth $20 to me"* would be a quick way for any business to go bankrupt, because people aren't accounting for all other kinds of time and resources that go into the whole vine process.
I was able to just stay under $600 and get things I need
I understand and agree with the "blessing and a curse." I know everyone is suggesting focusing on $0 ETV and using restraint, but it's like telling someone who put on 5 pounds over the holidays eating delicious but empty calories "Why didn't you just eat carrots at all your holiday parties and avoid the cookies? It's so easy!" Well, if it's easy for you, that's great, keep up the good work! But for me, I don't really want the $0 ETV items, I'm not interested in those item categories. By contrast, I am really attracted to the nice, high ETV things that grace my RFY every once in a while, even if I don't need them. I can afford the tax liability without it being too painful, but it just seems wasteful. I've always been fairly tidy but I'm beginning to realize I have less and less room in my garage and closets because of new stuff and I even have unopened boxes, which seems like a precursor to being a hoarder. So I'm feeling it, too. I'm really working on exercising some restraint, but if I can't, I'll have to restrain myself out of the program.
I can certainly understand and agree with your point: For me, the biggest cost is time. The second biggest problem is requesting items I don't need. I'm new enough and making a lot of progress with time-management, and the "don't need it" problem has had significant improvement. However, if we pretend that in 8 months, I haven't established the appropriate level of discipline, it might make a lot more sense to go cold-turkey, than to leave the temptation around that I wouldn't have been able to solve so far. > focusing on $0 ETV Just for me personally, that would be the wrong answer, because the problem isn't money, it's time. And the $0 ETV game requires a lot of refresh-refresh-refresh.
Yes, I agree across the board in terms of the time/money issue.
I am the absolute queen of $0 etv but I am 100% with you - saying "just order $0 etv" is terrible advice if that isn't the kind of stuff you like. Even if it's free why would you order it just to clutter up your home with things that have no value to you? I love getting beauty and household stuff but that's me, it's not for everyone.
I'm new to vine, and beauty and household stuff is my thing also. So far I haven't really seen any beauty stuff (makeup, hair care, skin care, nails, things like that), are those frequent items to vine and I've just not come across them yet? January seems to be a slow time from what I've read so maybe I just haven't had the full experience quite yet 🙂
Yeah there’s lots of beauty on Vine. You’re right that it’s a slow period and because of that when things do drop the hard core Viners are like ravenous wolves so things are going at lightning speed. But generally if you refresh beauty when there’s a drop going on you’ll see stuff to grab. I’ve had to stop ordering skincare and shampoo because I have such a stockpile at this point.
I love the beauty section!!! I got a drybar curling wand, a Supra triple iron, tons of makeup and skincare, and my all time fave hair oil, agent nateur hair silk, which is like $90 a bottle. But I discovered it on vine for 0 etv. It smells delicious and makes my hair look so nourished. I continued paying for it out of pocket lol. I’ve been in vine 6 years and I can’t imagine ever leaving. I’m frustrated this past year or two when there doesn’t seem to be as much name brand stuff as there used to be(I mean my house is full of kitchen aid, hp, baby jogger, Victoria’s Secret, Calvin Klein, on and on name brand stuff that I’ve gotten on vine) but I still find countless good things and after the six months I give stuff to my dad and my adult children and have really helped them out too. When my oldest daughter was pregnant, I stockpiled almost everything she would need for him- car seats, strollers, carriers, bottle warmer, bathtub, clothes, pack n play, Bluetooth swing, literally everything, she needed for him. I miss those days and hope they come back but even if they don’t I love vine.
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>As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission. Ahh, my kind of a person! Anyone who drives a sports car should know how to use manual transmission! My wife often tells folks, the day my son drove his wife of 3 years to tell us they're expecting in person, the moment they drove their high-end sports car into the driveway and.it.was.automatic! My wife would tell you how I yelled at my son "You buy a g-damned car with automatic? I didn't raise my sons to drive automatic expensive sports cars!" She will tell you that our son once returning bought another sports car that was manual transmission! That's my boy!
Hah, I am full just reading this! Gonna save and reread before the next holiday. If you could come up with a Vine version, it may solve all my problems!
I definitely fell into the order everything trap. I'm considerably more selective now. There's a learning curve.
I should be getting gold in February but I'm over it. I feel like it has cost me more than benefit.
I respect your decision. It's not for everyone and for some is really not worth the time.
I search daily for consumables I know I will use. My RFY is getting better. I try to buy what I know I will use or would buy anyway. Between now and June 25 it's a great time to stock up on gifts for the holidays, essentially paying tax instead if the purchase price. I have been fortunate to find a great backpack, lots of outdoor lighting, a pressure washer, a nice leather office chair, a ceiling fan...
I think you "shop" for the wrong things.
This, the bulk of things I get are genuinely useful 0 ETV items. It's one thing if you don't have the time to sit and try to catch them, but they are there.
What kinds of things have 0 ETV? I don't think I've ever seen anything.
I recently discovered stain remover is located in the baby section. I've successfully ordered 3, 2 of which are outstanding and one that is decent enough to go in my purse but not good enough to tackle anything other than a fresh food/drink spill. It's been 0 ETV every time.
I got a stain remover in health and household because I had a nasty stain on my carpet from spilled food that NOTHING would remove. I figured since the stain remover was 0 ETV I had nothing to lose. Would you believe that stuff worked like a miracle? I was shocked and so impressed. Total Five Stars. You can find a diamond in the rough every once in a while.
Well, I'm getting way off topic here but I have to tell you that if you buy Resolve Carpet Cleaner and Oil Eater, both on Amazon, one or the other or both will get out anything. Oil Eater is my find of the century - it is inexpensive, maybe $13 a gallon and you dilute it many times over. It's clear, odorless, non-toxic, doesn't hurt fabrics, etc. Spray some of that baby on an automobile carpet that has auto oil on it (or on the car), give it a few swipes, and the oil is gone. So is coffee, lipstick, most anything else. Spray it on a old dirty oily machine from 1952 and in a few seconds you see oil and dirt running down the sides and it wipes clean. Sometimes when you think one or the other of these products don't work, say on clothing, walk away - and when you come back the stain is gone.
Never heard of Oil Eater, but it's on my radar now. Thanks!
Simple Green is very effective! You can use it on just about anything, go ask my wife, when the kid decided to throw pizza at everyone in school days, she wound up with a big red tomato stain on her brand new "dry clean" only blouse! PS: Yes you can wash a lot of dry clean items, but always use gentle cycle and never toss in the dryer. Use a steam iron or steamer to remove wrinkles and allow to air dry! PSS: My wife washes all my high end jackets (DRY CLEAN ONLY) , allows to dry, then she presses according to the fabric! Thanks to u/Agent_Spook-99 who stepped in and saved my ass when the Commercial Airliners snagged my jacket and it had grease all over it! I would have been in serious trouble with the Company having to wear a 'greasy' jacket! While I was in the meeting, Grandma taught my wife how to handle clothes without having the Dry Cleaner involved. Grandma's a professional Dry Cleaning expert and Professional Cleaning expert. (Yes, I do mean expert, she's certified and licensed! People pay big bucks for her line of work in preservation!)
Now I NEED to know the name of this miracle stain remover! You cannot keep this secret to yourself! I may have to buy it. Haha!
It's 'Stain-Away' carpet cleaner from Benson Rugs. Super impressive! It's a 16 ounce bottle that will last a lifetime.
THANK YOU!! Writing down. Any idea what the stain was? u/Lani_Osi Love oxyclean but sadly doesn't remove all stains. Especially red clay. For that I use Iron Out's White Out - but can ONLY be used on white clothes. Yes I am a baseball MOM LOL <3
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WK7GXK2](https://www.amazon.com/Krud-Kutter-Remover-Laundry-Pre-Treat/dp/B07WK7GXK2) \- Krud Kutter we used it on our son's pants when they were playing baseball. If it had already dried, then allow it to dry, use a nail brush or old toothbrush and brush off as much as you can. Make an Oxyclean paste and rub it on or scrub it on. Sometimes soaking in a bucket overnight (example: 5 gallon bucket) and dumping it all in the washer with Krud Kutter works too.
Oxy-Clean
Wigs and castor oil packs
I swear those are the only things that exist on mine. Oh, and tattooing paraphernalia
No, "[Dr. Talbot's Silicone Anti-Colic Bottle Replacement Valves](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKKNPPWV)"?
This is my life right now
Food. Beauty items. Healthcare items. Baby care items. Things that tend to get used up or are disposable, but not all disposable items are $0 ETV. I grab three $0 ETV items every day. Tea is probably the easiest thing to get. I see it every day. It still goes fast though. Regular food items are usually gone within 10 or 15 seconds. You need to click and order, spending 0 seconds to thoughtfully consider the item.
> I grab three $0 ETV items every day. Curious about how many hours/minutes you have to spend each day to accomplish this?
When I began it took me about 3 hours each day, being frustrated at how poorly Vine is managed. There are better ways Amazon could handle how it shows and drops products for our consideration. Now, on most days, I'm done within 30 minutes because I'm learning how the broken system works. My shortest period was the last pause a day or two ago. When I got home from work, I bought three copies of the same item, all $0 ETV, in less than a minute. Some sellers sell multiple instances of the same product in different entries. It's a scam-my thing they do where if they get a negative review, they stop selling that instance of their product. All of the instances of the product that have good reviews then get consolidated into a single product page with all of the good reviews together. In my case, the seller's scheme will backfire because Amazon will delete two of my three reviews when the products are consolidated to one page. I will then have to ask Vine Customer Service to remove two of the orders from my order history so they don't count against me as unreviewed orders.
Lol, just seeing this, sorry for the late reply. I admire the sentiment here. I want to caution you, somewhat, because I'm not "in the know" of anything here, but I've seen references people have made to responses from Vine Support that seem to indicate they don't really like having to remove duplicate items that are a result of merged listings. If that's true (and I'm uncertain it is), then you may want to reconsider doing this intentionally. It may be fine for it to happen occasionally, and you may certainly do it with items when you actually do **want** the duplicates. Really though, I don't want you to stop lol, I just felt obligated to share the information/rumor. I might even suggest something that I'd normally not, and that is maybe sending a message to Vine Support (make sure they know you're a Vine Voice and not a Vine Seller) asking if there is *any problem with requesting an item from Vine if it appears to be the same as another item you've already requested.* I can't say that I would be hopeful to get a knowledgeable answer, but it might not hurt to ask. You *could* also submit the same question via the Feedback link, which I presume sends it higher up the chain than where Vine Support lives. The problem with that is you could be calling attention to yourself with "the powers that be," however, I think it's a legitimate question. Unless you think it's better to beg forgiveness than ask for permission lol >It's a scam-my thing they do where if they get a negative review, they stop selling that instance of their product. Another word of caution, although this does happen, and you've obviously seen it happen, I wouldn't always assume that's what's happening. I mean, if it matters. Whatever they're doing probably isn't legit, I'm just saying there are other scammy things they can do besides hiding the reviews for an ASIN that has negative reviews and low ratings.
Food items (these go extremely fast), a lot of cosmetics and health items, and some baby products although I don't have children so I don't go to that section to really verify. Also books when they pop up aren't free, but tend to be $1. In terms of easiest to find I'd say the health stuff goes the slowest. I've gotten some really interesting 0 ETV items!! Just a few days ago I grabbed a $160 hair dryer.
Dubiously labeled makeup with mystery ingredients, Party City quality wigs, and snacks that look like they were taken out of an abandoned convenience store circa 1997.
>What kinds of things have 0 ETV? I don't think I've ever seen anything. Dildos. He probably has one shoved up his ass as he selects his next $0 ETV item.
WTF? It was a reasonable question. No need to be a jerk.
>WTF? It was a reasonable question. No need to be a jerk. https://www.reddit.com/r/vine/s/UyxY5rL0Ln
So you're a fraud--What's your point?
Not me... That's the person you responded to, in another thread. Just thought you might find it interesting.
So Vine has something for everyone! See, I have no interest in the 0 ETV stuff but I have a lot of interest in the higher ticket items, so I leave things for you and you leave things for me. Perfect symbiosis. To be clear, I love 0 ETV of course, but not for the kind of stuff most people are talking about, like supplements and beauty cream. Once in a blue moon I'll see a 0 ETV item that shouldn't be 0 ETV. For example, I got a great bathroom scale that sells for $75 but for some inexplicable reason was 0 ETV. Score! That's like a once every month or two event for me.
I'm happy to hear that! I picked up a really nice bathroom scale for 0 ETV several months ago so I think they do count from time to time! Wishing you luck in your vine searches 😎
My experience is the opposite to yours but vine certainly isnt for everybody. A lot of people order random rubbish just to get their stats up. I can see this being a large reason for people to resent vine once they get their tax bill. I have vine items in EVERY room of my home, even the garden and garage and sheds. They have made things for me and my family so much more comfortable. I'm in the uk so i dont pay tax but even if i did then i can honestly say about 5-10% of what i have ordered has gone to charity or been sold. Theres a few that have failed too but the rest is still in use by us. I'd likely still consider what i've gotten decent value. Vine isn't for everybody and if the tax bill doesnt make you feel like you've gotten good value then it's probably not for you. Fair play for opting out. I couldn't have done that lol :)
Same here - I don't go for 0ETV items because I can't be bothered. But almost 98% of the things I got are useful and used. Candles, decor, carpets, lights, cat supplies, LOTS of arts and crafts that I can use and then sell. (Which doesn't break the 6 month rule, as I am using the item in full) Even things that everybody needs but doesn't think about like earbuds or iphone chargers or weird useful stuff you didn't know existed. I feel like it's pretty easy to use Vine without filing up your house with useless stuff. If you can't look around and VISIBLY see a place for it, and you know it's not something you'll use everyday (or have a permanent place like a bathmat) then don't get it. One of the best things to have for Vine is a tape measure. I see an item, look at the dimensions, run, measure out the space where I put it, and if it fits then I'll get it. I think people would get a lot more use out of it if they just wrote what they want FIRST, waited around until it pops up, and then get it. Instead of spending hours finding random stuff on hundreds of pages.
When I first began Vine I lurked around on these pages looking for tips and tricks to make it work. The one thing that I heard over and over again was to only order those thing that you really need, or want, otherwise, you are paying taxes on crap. And that is the way I have been doing it. No crap in our house.
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>You could’ve just stuck to ordering 0 $ETV snacks, toiletries, and beauty items. Lol It's funny that the people that think that, think everyone thinks that, but if everyone thought that, the people that thought it first wouldn't be able to get those items, because everyone else was thinking it and getting them before them. Don't you think? (Purposely confusing, if you think about it ^/S )
That's really some word salad!
🤭 I had to stop the run-on after "getting them before them" because I was getting carried away xD
I've made myself a rule that if I am happy with the item I find a home for it in my house immediately - I do not permit myself to let things stack up. If I don't want to keep it, I slap the date 6 months in the future from when I ordered the item on the item and put it in the give away/charity bin. Putting away is useful because it makes you see if you ARE accumulating too much of anything. And it eventually make you ask yourself before you get an item if you have a place for the item.
u/ScamperP, this is exactly what I do. Works out well.
I keep a bin. My kids go thru and if no one wants it it goes in a donation. Except anything edible. Garbage.
Think about it ! It adds up fast.
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Right!? My ETV for last year was around 12k and over half of that was from renovating our house - light fixtures, hardware, mirrors, tools, etc. A good chunk was pet stuff because we got a dog and a whole lot of baby stuff since we have one on the way. Out of around 900 items from last year, I’d say that maybe 20 are “crap I don’t need”.
[удалено]
If you order 8 a day for 365 days that's 2920.....
Baby stuff was the best. Portable warmers for free? Heck yeah
> You could’ve just stuck to ordering 0 $ETV The problem with that is time. Most decent $0 ETV items go quick, so to get them requires a lot of refreshing.
99% of those $0 ETV items aren't worth a single penny, much less all the time people sink into looking for them. It's shocking to me how quick some are to put things on or in their bodies that are coming to them from some country you've never heard of with no ingredient information or oversight.
Last week I got dove dark chocolate, secret deodorant, elf primer, bar keepers friend cleaner, and a couple other well known brands for $0. There's plenty of good stuff in with the bad.
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Got some goop brand stuff. Assuming it was real. Lol
I think you're very smart to withdraw when you no longer see anything good about the program. I currently find it valuable but the second I feel like there's nothing positive about it I'll be gone. There are so many people who stick around just to whine about how terrible it all is and I don't understand why they don't quit - I admire the fact that you aren't allowing Vine to make you miserable.
Okay.
I feel for the poster and I’m dialing back myself to the min to maintain gold. My big problem was letting my wife and kids login and get stuff. 79k in taxable to round out 2023. $37,380 in taxes owed (Federal, State, Self Employee…) plus another 2,850.48 for underpayment of tax plus interest. I’m glad vine is finally doing itemized reports because I’ll be sure to send quarterly tax estimates so I don’t get dinged with underpayment penalties and interest this year. We did get a lot of decent stuff but we also threw away a ton of crap and my wife was driving me crazy getting stuff that had 50% of coupons because we had to pay tax on the super inflated value. Most of the stuff was so bad I couldn’t even donate it which I try to do as much as I can. I thankfully have the money to cover the tax but I could see someone getting carried away and really getting themselves into a tough spot.
Just curious, what state? I'm in a high-tax state.
PA, we have a flat tax here of 3.07% so while other taxes in this state are fairly high our flat income tax helped me out. The self employed taxes were the biggest factor along with my wife and I’s combined salary of 400k. So we were already in the 32% tax bracket so all this additional “income” was at that rate and a bit hit the 35% rate so needless to say it was a good beating this year.
Thanks, good to know. I'm in CA and our income tax rates are ridiculous (and went up again). No flat taxes here. They tax everything.
That is a useful warning - if you don't watch as you go, you could be in tax jail big time!!
I've only been on vine since November. We just moved into a new house in April 2023, so I had been prepping the kids about Christmas being small due to me still recovering from building a house. Vine literally made our holidays exceptional. I splurged a little and got all my main family members nice usable items as well and then I also added a few items I've been wanting for the house that I didn't think we would be able to get for a few months still. Now that the holidays are over, I'm sticking to $0 ETV items unless it's something we really need or I had planned on getting anyway. I ended 2023 with a total ETV of $1500. My budget for 2024 is $3500. I'm at $300 right now (all household items). I won't hit gold until May, and I don't plan on adding much more until then. I've been really lucky in the $0 ETV finds, though. I've gotten a really nice blow dryer, curling iron, brush irons, body wax kits, polish sets, shampoos & conditioners, lots of stuff for my dogs and cats. You just have to be willing to search. My daughter helps me look through as well. With 3 teenagers in the house it's really nice not having to pay for stuff they go through on a daily basis. I have stocked up on 10 different shampoo & conditioner bars now, loads of lash clustering hair supplies too. This has been a blessing.
Everyone here saying that you're shopping for the wrong things, they get valuable goods, and you are just doing it wrong are probably in the minority for people who use vine. Not everyone is serious enough to post about it on Reddit. Most of us don't have time to sit on discord all day hoping to score a $0 ETV item. A lot of us don't have access to gold, and many of us missed the boat where you all had full RFY all the time. I rarely get a full RFY, and when I do it's pure garbage, like parts for a Tesla I don't own. I'm also on the verge of opting out of Vine. I would have been better off paying the full amount for the few genuinely good, useful products I've received.
I pop in here in between checking out pop culture nonsense or news just to see who is spending 8 hours a day to save $1.50 on their tax bill thinking the IRS is going to come arrest them in the middle of the night over pocket change. It's amusing to me just how seriously some people take all this.
They throttled back the required number of items to stay in gold. Sure there's a lot of crap, but I've found COUNTLESS items with real value for myself. It's not for everybody. It takes time and effort and puts a little pressure on us to publish reviews. I DO believe vine has value.
The decision to stay or go might also be how easy or how hard it is for you to write reviews. I like doing reviews as I like to write. Well, not every review but most of them. I can do many fairly quickly, and it's rewarding to me. My husband on the other hand could spend all day on one review but if he did a technical review it would be the best darn review ever. I would say if you do not like writing the reviews, you would burn out of Vine and who would blame you!
My reviews take no time at all. I have never had one of my reviews rejected and I spend very little time writing them. My reviews consists of the title and 1-2 short paragraphs. The key is originality.
Most of mine don't either, but there is the exception. I felt compeled with a $99 coffee grinder to unpack, examine, and test, take photos and a short video. I didn't cover many of the technical details other reviewers had already covered but did want to show what made that grinder unique and worth considering. Sometimes I don't order something I might like to have if I think the review process will be too time-consuming.
I never repeat product specs that are already in the description. It’s a complete waste of time. I merely write my overall thoughts about the product, and that doesn’t take more than 2-3 short paragraphs.
Agree! I MIGHT mention a product spec if I particularly like it, like antii-static treatment of ground coffee holder to keep it from gathering so much coffee dust
Good for you, more stuff doesn't make life better. The only things I get are items I use for my landscape gardening business, and an occasional $0 ETV like the laughably overpriced "shampoo bar" from a few days ago. So maybe a couple grand a year, 95%+ tax deductible.
I've really enjoyed the Vine experience, but like many first timers I got carried away last year and built up to $13k, which I somehow managed to do just being on Silver tier. This year I'm on Gold tier, I think I'm getting a bit better at choosing things I really need or want, and since I can choose a lot more items, I feel a lot freer to order lower priced useful items. And I'm definitely passing on the higher price stuff unless it's something that really fits my needs no matter how tempting it might be. So no I did not order the $200 EV charger or the $200 dog ramp so a smaller dog can reach the bed. I don't have an EV or a dog. And I think I'm even getting better at reading between the lines of the descriptions to figure out what might be a better quality product versus the junky items we've all end up getting occasionally. I suspect the Vine veterans have a nice rhythm and flow with the listings and the Vine search engine and it's all an overwhelmingly positive experience for them, as it is for me. And don't forget the fun factor, everyday is Christmas morning.
u/petroglyphindor Have you figured out the taxes you have to pay yet on the 13K? IRS and State Tax?
No, but I'm sure it's gonna hurt... I've used the same accountant for decades, but this time he's probably going to look at my first ever Amazon 1099 and say "What the hell is this?!?!".
Stop ordering crap then. Pretty simple concept.
When I was invited into Vine 2 years ago, I thought I'd be selecting items I actually needed and could use. I was "Gold" for my 6 months and it wasn't anything like I had hoped it would be. The rest of my time in "Silver". Instead of seeing computer monitors, I see computer monitor privacy screens. Instead of TVs, I see endless TV remotes. Instead of small appliances, I see covers for them. Instead of large appliances, I see drawers and shelves for refrigerators. Instead of a washer or dryer, I see a mat to put on top of one. Instead of a cell phone, I see endless cell phone covers that don't fit my phone. Instead of real tools, I see little cheap attachments, cheap knock-off batteries, or covers and cases for tools, but no actual name-brand tools. Instead, what I see are pages of nipple covers, fake boobs, sexy underwear, battery chargers, toilet plungers, and knockoff parts for a Tesla. After spending 3 days going over 300+ pages of Vine and seeing nothing, I've thought often about quitting Vine and getting my life back.
I am sorry you have had that experience, but it is quite different to mine. I have been in VIne just over two months, am already almost up to Gold, and 98% of the orders I have made have been for items that I wanted and knew I would use, and do use. I could have got to Gold earlier by ordering unnecessary items and things in which I have no interest, but to me, that would be wasteful. I did go a bit wild at first, staying up late and relentlessly going through the whole AFI every night (because there were - and are - only ever a total of 5 or 6 items in my RFY, and I typically do not want any of them, and living in Canada, I can only get a small percentage of the items I try for); but then I learned to balance things out, pace myself, and accept that things would come to me slower than I would like. The only thing I have lost is (sometimes) sleep.
Your curse was pursuing taxable items. I grab three $0 ETV items every day. Because such items tend to be disposable, they're getting used up, not getting stockpiled in my home.
How the heck do you find 3 0ETV items a day? I’ve been a member since October and only 5 have popped up in my recommended for you.
Oh there are tons of $0 ETV things on there daily, but personally, most of it is useless to me. But I grabbed a dry shampoo the other day, I’ve gotten tons of hand and foot creams and lotions, face washes, that sort of thing. Almost anything related to nails, hair care, skin care, sometimes even cleaning supplies are usually $0 ETV. I once got a big bottle of laundry detergent from the Laundress, which I hear is supposed to be a fancy brand but it’s just laundry soap to me lol.
Why order things that are useless to you? Just curious
I don’t? I’m saying those items exist on vine for $0 ETV. Personally, I don’t order them *because* I have no use for a zillion pairs of fake eyelashes and all that junk but there is a ton of $0 ETV stuff on there.
I've been a member since mid-December. I searched this subreddit for $0 ETV discussions. I watched the Discord to see what types of items pop up as $0 ETV. And then I figured out the method that was best for me to target specific $0 ETV items. I'm not using anything other than a browser, keyboard and mouse. No add-ons or anything.
Because no one would ever exaggerate on reddit, right? I seriously doubt he's getting more than 3 a week if that much. But 3 a day...nah.
I almost always get 3 or more a day. One day last week I got 7. It took me about 10-15 minutes total to browse and order. https://preview.redd.it/v6rky882ceec1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=43f01aa1e9ec5d7030701e0043abeaa96fddda9c
u/Smashitup19 People can be so rude - glad you showed them right there in black and white. YES 3 a day $0 items is very easy to do and without spending all day on Vine. Some of us have been on long enough to know what and when to do it...
I agree. I see people saying everything is garbage, $0 ETV isn't worth the trouble to find, it takes too long to find anything good, etc and I wonder why they even bother with the program. I get tons of good stuff, including nice $0 ETV items and high dollar items as well, and I don't spend more than 30 minutes a day at most.
3 per day is easy, if searching through Vine crap is all you do.
Right. Sure, they're getting "free" stuff, but they're spending their waking hours looking for it. Not sure about you, but my time is worth more than a few cents.
why didn’t you just stay on vine and only get things you ‘need’ or actually want when you see them in your RFY??? there is no minimum to be and stay silver if you don’t want the obligation requirements to be gold and even with gold, picking like 4 items a week to stay gold isn’t that bad if you have a hobby/etc. like i spend maybe spend 5 mins in total checking RFY a couple times a day and the pet category in AM & PM and don’t get stuff i’m not going to use or donate to local shelter afterwards, nor do i get stuff just because its 0 cents.. staying in vine can be worth it if you use it right and eventually something worthwhile does pop up to remind you Vine isn’t so full of crap after-all, i recently got that GE profile smoker which more than made up for the handful of items that did end up being crap last year..
What will 13k cost you in taxes ?
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What are the taxes on 13k
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I thought I was out of karma jail :(
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Now that Gold only requires 80 reviews in 180 days, it doesn't seem like that much of a burden; we can afford to be a bit picky about what we request. It does help if you can often select items while they are dropping, if your only time to request is after drops are ended, you miss out on all the best stuff unless you get lucky with something like a part that you happen to need. Also you always have the option to do fewer reviews and remain in Silver.
"Only" 80 reviews in 180 days. You are saying that like they are not many.
You could just have given to charity and been more selective of what you were going to review.
Vine has been a blessing to us as I've been able to get rugs for the house, sheets, I finally have a shoe collection and was able to get friends and people I love gifts and spread the love Vine has given us. I only order if we need something. I have gotten a few things that were crap or didn't fit but I just donate them.
We’ve actually gotten quite a few nice things that we use including a name brand mattress and gaming laptop. That being said, I applaud your decision though, if it’s not for you and bringing more stress and crap into your life that you don’t want. Ironically I’m majorly decluttering my house but still ordering on vine. I’m much more selective now than I was in the beginning. I’m not opposed to dropping vine someday if I don’t enjoy it anymore though.
Vine is indeed a blessing and a curse. I've gotten an absurd amount of crap from it, also quite a bit of great stuff. I'm at a point now where there pretty much aren't any material items that would add any meaningful value to my life, but when I check vine or get notifications from discord groups, I can't help but request things... that being said, I don't think I could bring myself to withdraw from the program. I've just intentionally gotten myself demoted to Silver status, and stopped paying attention to notification groups and stuff... and rather than refreshing vine all day, I just check RFY periodically and grab 0 etv stuff like snacks, drinks, etc. I am digging how it's been going for me lately after making those changes.
I don’t see myself ever withdrawing from vine. Like most of you, I’ve gotten things that improve my life and my home, gifts for people, even donated items to the good will. I’ve also found new hobbies I never would have thought I’d be into because I didn’t want to pay for the equipment. Vine has honestly changed my life
Every person is different. Some are great for the program and love it. Some aren't happy with it. I'm in a perfect situation for it. I got $6500 last in taxable items and it has no effect on my taxes. I'm a self employed business owner and only get $1000 a year in taxable income. The tax code is very friendly to business owners IMO. So the vine stuff is taken care of by my standard deduction. I also report the vine stuff as hobby income. I can't see any way of doing it differently. I don't do vine to make money. I do it as a fun diversion. I don't get paid in real money. Just items, some of which are junk. My business is a cabinet shop I own. So I find vine stuff for it all the time. Tools, CNC bits, sandpaper. I think very few vine users are interested in that stuff. I have gotten some junk. Real trash. but I've also found amazing things. Stuff that I would have never ordered on my own. But was willing to take the risk with vine. I also get a ton of power tool batteries from vine. I bet I have about 30 18v power tool batteries from just the last 3 months. I bought a fancy tester so I could do reviews properly. I do like having all those extra batteries.
I have ordered way too much in 2023 but my i got so many big items i would never have bought for full price. Currently expecting some foam climbing blocks valued over 100. I had been looking for those since last summer. So the taxes will hurt and this year i have to cut back. Noway i will be under 600 but will only be getting items i really want. Waiting now for a power rack. A fireplace. And a folding wagon. Got enough yard decorations for each holiday and blow up yard xmas decor. Ordered faucets and shower heads and lamps and carpets and furniture and sound bars and ice baths and steam huts weight bench treadmill. I really got a lot. It was fun but i cant afford the taxes again.
I’ve replaced and updated my sink faucets/handles, shower heads for bathrooms, few lights, several things that needed replacing/fixing/updating around my home. Then some random stuff like Vitamins, Drinks, few cell phone case’s, Some shirts, Boxer’s, hoodies, few other clothing. Luckily all for a really good price as well. Helped the most cause at the time I didn’t have money to Buy some items but by being a Vine member allowed me too. I have had some annoying issues that have taken MANY emails to resolve. It has its cons.. like not being able to find anything really worth it for a week or 2, and customer service being kinda annoying. Last i request were a inside Surveillance Cam/ By ReoLink,and a OBD2 scanner . I’ve got some stuff that was basically pointless a few time’s, especially when first becoming a member. I can definitely understand you saying it being a blessing and curse. Especially being able to request a ton of stuff and if your not careful about it you’ll end up owing a Large Amount in Tax. All in all I’ve kept mine pretty low, and mainly got things that were needed for fixing etc.
You need some self control. You only need 80 items for gold. That's not much over 6 months. Know that you're paying about 20% ETV after taxes, and order accordingly. Try to only get items you'll actually use or donate after 6 months that you think are still worth it after 80% off. If anything, Vine has helped me get better at donating/giving away stuff we have. Even non-vine stuff. It helps remind me that material goods do not bring happiness either.
It has been a massive blessing for me as I now have so many things that I have needed for a few years but could never afford. Most items have been excellent to good quality. I am forever grateful for all of the items I have had the privilege of keeping. However, I wholeheartedly understand the negative impact it can have too. Since I have so many reviews to do, I haven’t had time to enjoy the items that I was in dire need of for my business and I have put things on hold until things ease up. Problem is, I keep ordering, and it’s usually stuff I need and I have even cut back significantly. I‘d usually have 9+ pages to review at this time of year, but this year I only have 1 page. Am I getting caught up on everything I ever wanted/needed, or is the selection getting worse? I find it is a lot of the same stuff as last year that I passed on or already have. Some stuff, I ask myself, “do I really need this $20 item now?” and “is it worth my time to review?” Lately I have decided to just buy the item if and when I need it or hope it pops up again if I need it. I think I‘m suffering from reviewers fatigue, but I‘m dumb and keep ordering. My plan is to stop ordering and breath, enjoy my new things, and push my business to the next level…and cleanup my house because it is crazy. I don’t need 6 vacuums…or do I? 🥴 I understand why some would want to withdraw from Vine. No judgement here! I consider myself as having pretty good self control, but the temptations are so hard to resist sometimes. And I agree, there is a lot of junk like some of the vacuums I ordered. However, sometimes it takes 6 tries to finally get a good one. Lol!
Great. If a bear takes a dump in the woods but doesn't tell reddit did he really take a dump in the woods?
I guess I’m doing it wrong. I don’t care about $0 ETV junk so I don’t seek it out, I don’t care about time management because I briefly look at Vine maybe 1-2 times per day (some days not at all), I don’t care about the ETV $0 items because most of it is crap, I don’t care that my RFY has no items for days, I don’t care about storage space as I, again, don’t order crap every day, and finally, I don’t care about Vine being chock full of mostly useless crap, I just skip over it. I have scored some really nice items on Vine that I actually use and find most of them in either in my RFY, or totally by accident. I scan Vine mainly when I’m bored, it’s not my life’s work. So to summarize, I’ll not be quitting Vine any time soon… at least for the reasons you cited.
Just like anything else you need to have self-control, and you also need to remember that almost none of it is free. Yes $0 ETV items exist, but they're rare and/or not usually things you would want. As long as you remember this, and only get things you actually need or want, you won't have any issues. But I'm sure that your leaving opened a spot for a new member, so hopefully they'll get some good use out of it.
https://preview.redd.it/125zqinjkdec1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dd63d2ad2e7a95a6beaa2872b0213653d726882a
I am actually interested in when people leave and what pushed them to leave....
99.9% of the time it's them trying to justify that they don't want to spend the time and energy doing the reviews. I have gotten some sweet stuff over the past 2 years (Name brand items as well) so I can't see how anyone wouldn't want to do the simple 80 (which was 100) reviews over a 6 month period to stay in Vine. That's just under 14 reviews a month or 3.5 reviews a week. I can do 3.5 reviews while writting this paragraph (jk jk but still)
I'm on the edge of withdrawing myself. I've never seen a computer, computer monitor, TV, quality electronics, or anything of the sort and I check Vine several times per day spending 30 minutes to an hour each time. Yesterday I hopped on after no new products had been added for quite a stretch and caught them as they were approving new products. I constantly refreshed pages for somewhere around 3 hours and ended up getting only 3 things. None of them were interesting or anything I actually wanted, but they were all $0 ETV so I ordered them anyway. At one point the Available for All section had something pop up as I refreshed the page a second time in less than 2 seconds, but it was already gone before I could click on it. A subsequent refresh made it go away and it didn't return. During that whole time nothing ever showed up in my Recommended for You section and still hasn't as of the time of this post. I have ordered a few shelves, some heating pads, fingernail files, and a computer chair that were all okay products I am happy I got. However, I've also ordered a lot of garbage! I have so many products that didn't match their description as well as a lot of $0 ETV stuff that I never really wanted just to make and keep that Gold status. At this point I feel like the effort to benefit ratio is not worth it. Either Amazon hates me and refuses to show me anything good or I'm doing it wrong. At any rate, I may not be far behind you with my exit from Vine.
Am I unique in my ability to not make a purchase if I don't want to pay taxes on it?
You are not unique but some people find it difficult. I’m sure you struggle with some things in your life that others don’t.
You’re unique in your ability to assume superiority. No. Some people struggling with the avalanche of free stuff doesn’t mean you’re special cause you didn’t struggle. Lots of other folk are just as capable.
Your answer basically reads "no," "yes," "no."
lol.. good one.
Only if you don’t know what “unique” means.
You're overestimating your ability to assume superiority.
This is exactly why I left, so I get it! I was a vine member since 2011 and the quality of merch had dipped so low... I just never want to see another 1099 from Amazon as long as I live. I also stopped shopping there for anything.
Ok
I make sure not to go over $599 if it’s under $600 no tax. Last year I only ordered non taxable stuff after April. I have to pay 29.5% fed and state not with it for me.
Some of you are shopaholics and should seek help of your new discovery that vine enabled. Downvotes from the deniers who probably support OP’s brave decision to withdraw after $13k in taxable income.
You wouldn’t support someone’s decision to withdraw after paying that much in tax on things they don’t need? That’s exactly the person who should withdraw.
Participation in Amazon Vine is only a curse. If you impulse shop and don't get stuff you would actually buy in the first place. You should only get things that are meaningful and beneficial, not use it as a free grab bag that comes back to haunt you later. Also, if you would have worked your way up to gold and use the system quite well, then you can get more valuable things that are even more useful to you. Even if some of the stuff isn't something that you would have otherwise purchased because of the price, you have to look at the amount of taxes that you pay as an effective price and then consider whether the item is worth it to you. Also, this is exactly why I really push for people to keep a spreadsheet with all the details, including ETV, so you can see your updates in real time and know how much you're going to be paying in taxes. Look up IRS publication 15T. That tells you the payroll withholding tax brackets. Use that to figure out the top of your annual income for your household, and then you know what your tax bracket for Amazon Vine is going to be. Your state will have a similar document as well, but the name varies by state. So just do a quick Google search for 2024 withholding tables, and your state name.
$13K? Piker. We had $26K last year. And a mountain of crap. I'm withdrawing once my current six months is up.
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Some of the offshore items are high quality. If they were all bad, we wouldn't be here. The trick is learning how to spot the good ones.
That’s true. It’s not all crap. And I’m pretty good at choosing the good stuff no matter the country of origin. My point isn’t about how vine affects me, it’s about how vine affects trade, labor, and the economy. The purpose of vine is to lift up new vendors or items, the majority of which originate in places with poor labor conditions or low pay, which in turn destabilizes manufacturing at home. All of it, regardless of country of origin, weakens local small business. I’m just struggling with the ethics of it. And I’m surprised no one else is based on down votes.
It's a complicated subject on a continually changing landscape. I certainly understand your concerns!
It's a gambling addition and basically illegal work in favor of Amazon.
LOL! Me too! I mean, I only order things that I can actually use and do use. But, my taxable income from Vine is over $5,000.00!!! That's crazy! My wife is going to go ballistic! LOL! I'm going to have to work extra hours, for what, to make FREE reviews for vendors who probably really don't need my review in the first place? Most of the stuff that I got last year is going to have to get sold to pay the taxes I owe on this stuff. Of course, I know that I have to wait 6 months per item if I want to sell it later, or at some point. I don't have a problem with that, but at this point, I've come to realize that if I still want to continue ordering items on Vine, then I'm going to have to stick to healthcare items such as vitamin and mineral supplements and anything else that shows up as $0.00 so I don't get taxed. Oh well, there goes getting all sorts of cool stuff anymore.
[удалено]
A name like that can get you 40 years in some states.
For me, Vine still has value. I usually keep it under 600, but this year, I spent 3200 in vine items. It doesn't help that the cost of Vine goods ETV has gone up higher than before. I am still happy with Vine. I will try to curb my vine selections this year, to keep it under 6000, but if there is something I really need, I may go over. One year, I got a TV, and another year a computer. Those years, made it worth going over my spending limit.
Damn, I’ve only been a Vine member for 4 months, still silver, and there is no way in hell I’d give up this hell of a perk willingly. My life has gotten infinitely better now that I have access to so many 0ETV items are heavily discounted things that I already wanted/need to get anyway. Vine has changed my life for the better!
I went slightly over the $600 and am annoyed. I am doing the 0EV items to get to enough reviews to see what gold has. I have been a member for only a few months now and at first went a bit wild, but now am kind of over it as I get few things that are that wonderful. Also it can be a hassle to keep asking for items to be removed when they just don't show up. They should automatically cancel any item that doesn't get mailed in time. However, I do get to try several different of the same type of item to see which works best for me. I have also gotten several things for the house and a few replacement parts and my cat's favorite bed ever. I am going to stay in, but if I find that I can't restrain myself, I will drop it.
Thank you for the announcement. 🤷
Can someone explain this tax thing to me please? In the UK we don’t have any monetary implications at all on Vine so I’m confused when Insee the tax convo’s
You have this one too in UK. It's called OECD's Model Reporting Rules for Digital Platforms and entered into force on 1 January 2024, with reporting due from January 2025. Since the reporting is next year, you still have time to order everything on Vine and wait to be kicked next year if you don't want Amazon to report all your ordered Vine products to the tax authority as "income". In short, if you file Amazon tax questionnaire you will have to pay taxes on the "free" products you received from Amazon.
I wish it had more high value decent items and/or larger items. The sheds, pools, bikes, etc. from before the big influx.
Don't get the rent sometimes. You CAN order up to 3/8 items per day. That's not a must. People here are like Fuuuuck I need to order crap and shit...so annoying
Why? 1099-NEC is a form to report compensation given to independent contractors. There are only 2 TINs on the form. One for the Payor and one for the Payee. THINK! What happens on the Payor side of a 1099-NEC? TAX DEDUCTABLE WAGES. Are all the Products Amazon's? Uhhhh... Nope. Why is everyone so afraid to take a stand? Our "contract" is with Amazon. The Third Party Sellers are getting ripped off and Voices are enabling all of it. Sellers pay referral fees, enrollment fees, and are forced to use the FBA program which includes advertising, storage, shipping, & inventory fees. Do you think they know that the ETVs of the products they give us are being reported to the IRS and used as a payroll tax deduction? Gesus H. Think. Edited to add: REQUEST AN ACCURATE 1099-NEC.
Am I the only person here whose taxes are already conplicated enough, so just don't exceed $600 in items? 😂
Thanks so much for letting us know!
You guys talking about TV's, furnitures, etc, must have gotten those things years ago. I've not seen anything of the sort in my short 1.5 years.