Refunds Going Out in $2.5 Billion Amazon Prime Settlement: Are You Getting a Check?

In September, Amazon agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for a total of $2.5 billion. Now, the e-commerce giant has begun emailing those who are eligible for a refund with details on when to expect a refund and how to get it.

The settlement is one of the largest in FTC history, with $1 billion going toward civil penalties and $1.5 billion going to Amazon customers.

The lawsuit centered on what the FTC described as "manipulative, coercive or deceptive user-interface designs" that "trick" consumers into joining Amazon Prime and make it difficult or confusing to cancel the automatically renewing membership program. As part of the settlement, Amazon denies any wrongdoing.

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If you've ever accidentally joined Amazon Prime or enrolled without realizing that the membership would auto-renew indefinitely until you canceled, you might be entitled to a payout from this settlement. If you decided to cancel Amazon Prime only to find it confusing or complicated to actually do so, you might also qualify.

Here's what you need to know about the case itself and about the payouts that will be rolling out in the next few months.

What is the FTC lawsuit against Amazon about?

The original complaint (PDF) filed by the FTC in 2023 focuses on a two-part problem:

1. Amazon Prime is so easy to join that, according to the lawsuit, customers are accidentally enrolled without realizing it.
2. Once enrolled, the process to cancel Amazon Prime is unnecessarily confusing and complicated, according to the FTC complaint.

On the first point, the FTC describes multiple "enrollment flows" using vague language that doesn't make it clear that you're signing up for the shopping membership, let alone agreeing to let that membership auto-renew indefinitely until you cancel.

One example cited in the lawsuit was the shipping options page. At the top of the list of shipping options displaying different prices and speed options, the default selection was "FREE Same-Day Delivery with a free trial of Amazon Prime" or similar phrasing that would enroll you into Amazon Prime if you didn't actively change it to one of the other shipping options.

On the other end, the FTC alleged that the cancellation process was an unnecessarily complicated multistep process with repeated "save offers" that shoppers had to navigate through before they could finally end their Prime membership.

In Amazon's motion to dismiss the case, filed in 2023 a few months after that original complaint, the company denied the FTC's claims, arguing that the enrollment and cancellation processes for Amazon Prime "comply with current law" and that members who want to end their memberships are "given multiple simple mechanisms to cancel."

While the settlement is not an admission of guilt on the company's part, Amazon did agree to make its enrollment pages more transparent and its cancellation process more straightforward, along with the $2.5 billion in penalties and customer refunds.

How much does Amazon have to pay as part of the settlement?

As part of the agreement with the FTC, Amazon must pay $1 billion in civil penalties to the commission. It will also put $1.5 billion into a consumer fund used to provide refunds to eligible consumers.

Those eligibility requirements are discussed in more detail below. But payouts will be capped at $51 per eligible customer.

Payout levels will be tied to the number of Amazon Prime benefits you used while enrolled. That would include things such as taking advantage of free two-day shipping or watching a show on Amazon Prime Video.

Other key terms of the $2.5 billion Amazon Prime settlement

In addition to the $2.5 billion in penalties and consumer refunds, the court order also requires the company to agree to the following terms to make the Amazon Prime enrollment process more transparent and the cancellation process more straightforward:

• Amazon must use clear language (such as "join Prime") on sign-up pages, rather than potentially misleading language (such as "Yes, I want free 2-day shipping").
• If the membership automatically renews, that must be indicated on all sign-up pages along with the dates that charges and renewals will happen.
• Sign-up pages also need to clearly display the price and prominently display the decline option. That is, if you don't want to join Prime, the option to not join can't be a small link saying, "No thanks, I don't want free shipping."
• Amazon must get customers' informed consent before charging them for any good or service. Informed consent means you're aware of what you're signing up for, the fees involved, the auto-renewal feature and any other important terms.
• Canceling a membership or turning off the auto-renewal feature can't be "difficult, costly, confusing or time consuming."

Who is eligible for a payout in the $2.5 billion Amazon Prime settlement?

If you meet the criteria below, you're entitled to a full refund of the fees paid during the eligible subscription period, up to the $51 maximum:

• You enrolled in Amazon Prime from June 23, 2019, to June 23, 2025.
• You did so via a "challenged enrollment flow." That's one of the following four enrollment pages that were cited as deceptive by the FTC:
  • Universal Prime Decision page: The sign-up page where the buttons read something like "Yes, I want free shipping" or "No thanks, I don't want free shipping" even though clicking "Yes, I want free shipping" actually means you're signing up for Prime, not just agreeing to free shipping on that order.
  • Shipping Option Select page: This page typically showed up while you completed your order and includes different shipping options at different speeds and prices. The default, preselected option is usually something such as "FREE Same-Day Delivery with a free trial of Amazon Prime." Choosing that (or failing to change that default selection) would enroll you in Amazon Prime.
  • Prime Video enrollment flow: If you tried to sign up for a subscription to just Prime Video, only to realize you'd been enrolled in an Amazon Prime membership, you might be eligible for a claim in the settlement. That includes if you clicked on a "Watch with Prime" button under a movie or show you wanted to watch.
  • Single Page Checkout: This one looked similar to the "Universal Prime Decision" page, except that it was embedded in the checkout process such as the "shipping option select" page. Clicking on the button (which often displayed language like "Fast FREE Delivery" or "Try Prime FREE for 30 Days" would enroll you in the membership even if you didn't ultimately complete the checkout process. It was discontinued in 2022 following pressure from the FTC.
• After enrolling in Prime via one of these processes, you used no more than 10 Prime benefits in any given 12-month period that your subscription was active.
• You're also eligible to make a claim if you attempted to cancel your Prime subscription but were unsuccessful — even if you didn't originally sign up through one of the "challenged enrollment flows." That includes starting the cancellation process, but failing to complete it or starting it but inadvertently choosing one of the "save offers" such as "remind me later," "keep my benefits," "switch to monthly payments" or "pause membership."

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How to get the Amazon Prime settlement refund

There are three groups of eligible consumers in this settlement, and payouts will go to customers in order of which group they fall under.

• The first group includes those who enrolled through one of the "challenged enrollment flows" above and used three or fewer Prime benefits during any 12-month period after enrollment. If you're in this first group, you don't need to do anything. Amazon will automatically send out your payment in the first round of payouts (see more on that below).
• The second group includes those who enrolled through one of the "challenged enrollment flows" above and used from three to 10 benefits during any 12-month period after enrollment. If you're in this group, you'll need to file a claim form that Amazon will send out. If you don't receive a form from the company, you'll also be able to find it on the settlement website once it's launched.
• The third group includes those who unsuccessfully attempted to cancel their Prime membership, regardless of how they enrolled. If you're in this group, you need to file a claim form. The same information applies as that mentioned for the second group.

If you're not sure which group you fall under, you can wait to see if you receive a payout in the first round. If you don't get a payout, you can file a claim to see if you're eligible once the claim forms go out.

When will you get your Amazon Prime refund?

The payout process began earlier this month, with the automatic payments going out to members of the first group above. This process will run from November 12 through December 24, according to the FTC.

The refund will come in the form of a PayPal or Venmo payment and you should accept the payment within 15 days of receipt. Check those accounts regularly throughout this automatic refund window.

If you miss the 15-day acceptance window, Amazon will mail a check to the default shipping address that was listed on your Amazon Prime subscription

For those in the second and third groups who aren't eligible for automatic payments, you should expect to receive a claim form from December 24 to January 23, the FTC told CBS News.

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