If you paid for Amazon Prime between June 23, 2019 and June 23, 2025, you may be owed up to $51 under the Amazon Prime subscription membership settlement, a $2.5 billion resolution between the Federal Trade Commission and Amazon announced in September 2025. Roughly 35 million consumers are expected to receive refunds, some automatically and some after filing a claim. The deadline to file is July 27, 2026.
Who Qualifies for a Refund
Three conditions have to be met. You must be a U.S. Amazon Prime customer. You must have signed up for Prime between June 23, 2019 and June 23, 2025 through one of the specific enrollment flows the FTC challenged, or you must have tried to cancel through Amazon’s online cancellation process during that same window. And you must have used only a limited number of Prime benefits in any 12-month period after enrolling.
You don’t need to work out on your own whether your sign-up went through a “challenged enrollment flow.” Amazon runs that analysis and notifies eligible customers directly.
The benefit-usage count determines how you get paid:
- Three or fewer benefits used in a 12-month period: eligible for an automatic refund, with no action required.
- Between three and ten benefits used: must file a claim form to receive payment.
Benefits include individual uses of services such as Prime Video, Amazon Music, and free two-day shipping. Each use counts separately. Shipping three orders counts as three benefits, not one.
How Much You Can Get and How It’s Paid
The maximum payout is $51, calculated from the Prime membership fees you actually paid during the covered period. Automatic refunds were distributed between November 12 and December 24, 2025 through PayPal or Venmo. Consumers who didn’t collect those digital payments were mailed a paper check to the default shipping address on their Prime account. Checks must be cashed within 60 days.
If you didn’t receive an automatic payment but believe you qualify, watch your mail and email. Amazon began sending claim notices in January 2026.
How To File a Claim
If you received a notice, you can file in one of two ways:
- Online at veritaconnect.com/subscriptionmembershipsettlement, which is the fastest option.
- By email, sending a completed form to info@subscriptionmembershipsettlement.com.
Claims are due by July 27, 2026. Amazon has 30 days to review each submission, and payments on approved claims are expected by September 2026. You can choose to receive the refund by check, PayPal, or Venmo.
For questions about your claim, contact the settlement administrator at admin@SubscriptionMembershipSettlement.com or 1-888-999-8094. Amazon’s own customer service does not have information about settlement eligibility or payments, so don’t start there.
Watch Out for Settlement Scams
The FTC has warned that scammers are using the settlement as cover to steal money and personal information. Some people have received texts claiming a product was recalled or defective and offering a “full refund” if they click a link. Those are phishing attempts.
Two rules to hold onto. The FTC will never ask you to pay money to receive a refund, and neither will Amazon. Anyone offering “special access” or a “guaranteed refund” in exchange for a fee is running a scam.
Don’t click links in unsolicited texts or emails about the settlement. Go directly to SubscriptionMembershipSettlement.com or to the FTC’s page at ftc.gov/enforcement/refunds/amazon-refunds. The FTC recommends bookmarking that page for updates.
What the Settlement Was About
The FTC sued Amazon on June 21, 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, alleging violations of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA), a 2010 law that requires online sellers to clearly disclose subscription terms, obtain informed consent before charging, and provide a simple way to cancel.
According to the complaint, Amazon used manipulative interface designs, which regulators call “dark patterns,” to funnel consumers into Prime subscriptions they never intended to buy. Checkout buttons didn’t clearly indicate that clicking them meant agreeing to a $14.99 monthly recurring charge. Cancellation, meanwhile, ran through a five-page process that offered discounts, prompts to “Remind Me Later,” options to pause rather than cancel, and personalized “savings” statistics. Clicking “Keep My Benefits” or “Remind Me Later” sent the user back to the beginning. The FTC said the flow’s purpose was to thwart cancellation rather than enable it.
On September 17, 2025, with a jury trial already underway, the court granted part of the FTC’s motion for summary judgment, ruling that Prime is subject to ROSCA and that Amazon violated the law by collecting billing information before disclosing all material subscription terms. Eight days later, on September 25, 2025, the parties filed a stipulated final order. The FTC approved it 3-0. Amazon did not admit wrongdoing.
The $2.5 billion total breaks into a $1 billion civil penalty — the largest ever for an FTC rule violation — and a $1.5 billion consumer refund fund overseen by a court-appointed claims supervisor serving a two-year term. Half of the penalty was due within 14 days of the order; the remaining $500 million is due within 18 months.
The order also requires Amazon to change how it handles Prime going forward. Checkout must include a clear, conspicuous button to decline Prime, and misleading phrasings like “No, I don’t want Free Shipping” are specifically prohibited. Amazon must disclose cost, charge frequency, auto-renewal, and cancellation procedures before enrollment. Cancellation must be as simple as sign-up: not difficult, not costly, not time-consuming. An independent third-party supervisor monitors compliance with the refund distribution. The restrictions apply to Amazon for ten years.