$15 to $20 per review, as that seems to be good if it's one page, or the going rate. Mahalo pays its editors $15 for Mahalo Greenhouse reviews, at least that's what I last heard. If it involves a lot of extra research then you might want to pay reviewers more for their reviews.
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If you're talking tech products, I'm seeing rates going for around $30-$40 on places like getafreelancer.com and MCpressonline.com . But no mention is made of whether the reviewer is paying any shipping costs or whether the reviewer is keeping the product. MC Online pays extra for screen shots and graphics, too. I'm seeing rates go up from there: one freelancer has a $50 minimum, plus product.

Freelance reviewing seems to be a little different than straight freelance writing in rates. When you look at freelance writing offers, often the company needing the writing will say that rewrites are fine. That's probably the reason they pay a little less. When you write a review, you know it's going to be looked at repeatedly as people look at buying the product, so it's important it be completely original, and that the reviewer be able to stand behind it. Just a guess, but that's why I think product reviewers can command more money.

Hope this helps. I could be more exact if you filled out the terms a little.
Source(s):
http://www.getafreelancer.com
http://www.mcpressonline.com

And numerous searches with different keywords, uncovering a slew of freelance writers' sites and offers on jobs sites and Craigslist

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You need to consider how much effort is required to carry out the review, and the skills of the people involved. You want the reviewers to benchmark and test an item, and spend time with the item in order before writing a comprehensive review.

To me that sounds like more than $15-$20 worth of effort.

So how much time is needed to, say, review a laptop?

Benchmarking: Variable depending on the item. Let's say two hours - one hour to benchmark using a standard benchmark suite, and one hour to record and write up the results. (It's probably more - how long do benchmarks run for, and how much handholding do they require while they run? Will the reviewer need to get 'hands on' to fix problems running the benchmark tool?)

Testing: Again variable, but maybe four hours is a nice average.

Writing the review: One hour? Two? Let's assume 'quality' and go for two hours.

Recording the video: It might be a 5 minute review, but it might take an hour to record it.

That's about nine hours per item. Minimum wage in the US seems to be an average of about $7 per hour, so something in the region of $63 per review if you stick with minimum wage.

Or $100 if you want to (a) attract reviewers, (b) reward the effort, and (c) retain reviewers who have done a good job.
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