As others have said, they don't hand out products in exchange for reviews. You can get all the products you want, and review nothing. There is no exchange of goods for services.
Amazon's Vine TOS says,
"We do not require that you write a review but we do take this into account when determining who the best reviewers are to keep in Amazon Vine."
If you receive promotional products with no expectation of anything in return, is that considered taxable income? From what I've read, it is, they just aren't reported unless they're over $600 in a year, so that pen you got at the vendor's booth is not reportable, unless it's solid gold.
It's promotional giveaways. It probably should be on 1099-MISC and Amazon appears to be reducing it's tax burden by fraudulently claiming we're paid contractors. However, what I'd like to know, would it have made a difference to our bottom line if Amazon had reported it on MISC vs NEC? What I'm reading says, probably not. It looks like all 1099 income is taxed either at the 15.3% self employed rate, or as Hobby income (which I think I understand is just considered at your normal tax bracket?). Generally, unless you have expenses related to Vine, hobby is supposed to be the cheaper (and more appropriate, regardless of the amount) option.
FWIW, I am not any kind of financial professional. I just try to follow the logic of the fine print.
