- Amazon is now paying refunds as part of its $2.5 billion deal
- Of that amount, $1.5 billion will go to eligible Prime subscribers in the US.
- It’s automatic refunds that are happening now, with manual claims coming in 2026.
Amazon has begun the process of paying refunds to Prime subscribers who are eligible to claim a portion of the $2.5 billion settlement the retail giant previously agreed to with the Federal Trade Commission.
As we reported last month, $1.5 billion of that settlement is money that will be returned to affected customers in the US (and the remaining $1 billion is a civil penalty, in fact the largest ever imposed by the FTC).
NBC News highlighted that Amazon began making automatic payments to eligible Prime customers in early November and that these payments will continue through December 24, the FTC confirmed.
Amazon agreed to make these payments as a settlement related to allegations that the company made it unnecessarily difficult to cancel a Prime membership and that it used “dark patterns” (deceptive tactics) to enroll customers in a subscription without their fully informed consent.
It’s important to note that Amazon did not accept that it did anything wrong here, but made the decision to settle, rather than endure a protracted legal battle over the matter. In a statement at the time, Amazon said: “Amazon and our executives have always followed the law, and this agreement allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for customers.”
In any case, the matter is done and dusted, and payments are on the way. But how do you know if you’re in line to receive a payment and how (and when) you’ll get that refund? And how much will it be? We’ve answered all those key questions.
Who is eligible?
To be eligible for a refund now, you must be a customer in the United States who signed up for Amazon Prime between June 23, 2019 and June 23, 2025. You must have obtained your subscription through what the FTC calls a “challenged enrollment flow,” which means: “The universal Prime decision page, shipping selection page, single-page checkout, or Prime Video enrollment flow.”
To check when you started subscribing to Prime, you can head to the Amazon app or website and choose Account > Memberships and subscriptionsand then select ‘Payment history‘ to see when you signed up for your Prime plan.
However, note that in any 12-month period after signing up, you must not have used more than three ‘Amazon Prime Benefits’ to qualify for the cashback. That means the various services and extras associated with a Prime membership, and includes Prime Music or Prime Video deals that Prime members get for free (or Luna game streaming services, for example). Therefore, if you used four (or more) of those services within the same one-year period, you are excluded from the refund.
In addition to this, if you tried to cancel Amazon Prime within that same time period, but didn’t end up abandoning the service, you are also owed a refund. In this case, you must have started the cancellation process but not fully completed it (either because you abandoned the attempt or were persuaded to abandon the cancellation). However, these customers will need to manually request a claim (and we’ll come back to that in a moment).
How do you get a refund?
At this point, Amazon is applying automatic refunds to customers it determines are due for payment and who signed up through a “disputed enrollment flow.” If you fall into this category, Receive an email from Amazon sometime between now and December 24, 2025.. This email will allow you to make your refund and receive the money through PayPal or Venmo.
Note that you must accept the Amazon email refund within 15 days if you want a digital payment, so keep an eye on your inbox over the next month (and your spam folder, as always, in case the Amazon email is classified as junk and diverted there).
If you do not claim the refund through this email, Amazon will mail you a check to the default shipping address that is linked to your Prime membership. So if you prefer a check, ignore the email and wait. Once received, the check must be cashed within 60 days.
How much will the refund be?
Those who get paid will receive a refund of their Amazon Prime subscription fees, until maximum amount that is capped at $51.
What happens next?
Please wait until you receive the email from Amazon, as indicated, to claim the digital refund payment, or until you receive a check in the mail.
If you don’t receive any of those automatic refunds, but believe you qualify for a payment based on the criteria outlined above, you’ll need to use the manual claim process that Amazon will roll out in 2026. As mentioned, those who abandoned a cancellation of their Prime subscription will also need to request the refund manually.
We don’t yet know exactly how this process will work (but it will involve some type of form) or exactly when it will happen, but the FTC says it will update the Amazon Refund Program page to let people know when this manual claim process begins. So, keep an eye on that.
As the FTC notes, beware of scams that could be related to Amazon Prime refunds. The organization reminds us: “The FTC will never ask you to pay to get a refund. Don’t pay anyone who promises a refund in exchange for a fee. And don’t give personal information to anyone who contacts you promising a refund.”
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