Are you an Amazon Prime subscriber? Guess what?
They probably owe you $51.
On Sept. 25, Amazon settled a two-year civil suit with the Federal Trade Commission. In a news release, the FTC said Amazon will be required to pay a $1 billion civil penalty, provide $1.5 billion in refunds to consumers harmed by shady enrollment practices and cease unlawful subscriber and cancellation practices for Prime.
According to the FTC, it’s the largest civil suit that stemmed from a rule violation and the second-highest restitution award obtained by the FTC.
“Today, the Trump-Vance FTC made history and secured a record-breaking, monumental win for the millions of Americans who are tired of deceptive subscriptions that feel impossible to cancel,” said FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson. “The evidence showed that Amazon used sophisticated subscription traps designed to manipulate consumers into enrolling in Prime, and then made it exceedingly hard for consumers to end their subscription. Today, we are putting billions of dollars back into Americans’ pockets, and making sure Amazon never does this again.”
Here’s how to get your Amazon Prime refund.
Based on a court order, individual customers can receive a maximum of $51 from the $2.5 billion Amazon Prime settlement. The specific amount each customer receives is determined by the total Amazon Prime membership fees paid throughout their subscription period.
According to Axiosthe refund is for eligible subscribers who enrolled in Prime between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025. Affected consumers will receive payouts in two phases. The first group will automatically receive payments within 90 days, while the second group will need to complete a form once the initial payout period concludes.
The first wave includes subscribers who joined Prime through a “challenged enrollment flow” and used no more than three Prime benefits within any 12-month period. Refunds for this group will be capped at $51.
As per the civil suit, the FTC accused Amazon and several of its executives of deliberately misleading millions of consumers into signing up for Prime, in violation of both the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA). According to the FTC, Amazon designed deceptive and confusing user interfaces that tricked consumers into enrolling in Prime without their clear consent or awareness.
Amazon now must do the following:
Amazon released a statement responding to the FTC settlement.
“Amazon and our executives have always followed the law and this settlement allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for customers,” said Amazon spokesperson Mark Blafkin.”We work incredibly hard to make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up or cancel their Prime membership, and to offer substantial value for our many millions of loyal Prime members around the world. We will continue to do so, and look forward to what we’ll deliver for Prime members in the coming years.”
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