Time is running out to grab your cut of Amazon’s massive $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
If you accidentally ended up paying for a Prime membership or struggled to cancel one, you could be owed up to $51, but the deadline to submit a claim is fast approaching on Monday, July 27.
The payout stems from an FTC lawsuit alleging Amazon used deceptive design tactics to trick customers into signing up for Prime subscriptions and intentionally made the cancellation process confusing.
While Amazon paid $1 billion in civil penalties, the remaining $1.5 billion was earmarked directly for affected consumers.
Automatic refunds were disbursed to the first wave of users late last year, but millions of additional shoppers are eligible for the second payout phase, provided they act before the deadline.
Who qualifies for a refund?
You don’t need to currently hold an active Prime account to file a claim, but you must meet all four of the following criteria:
- You must be a U.S. consumer.
- You enrolled in Amazon Prime between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025 through a challenged checkout page, OR attempted to cancel during that period and were unable to do so.
- You used fewer than 10 Prime benefits (such as streaming Prime Video, using free shipping, or Prime Reading) during any 12-month period of your enrollment.
- You did not already receive an automatic refund during Phase 1 (which was paid out in late 2025 to ultra-low usage customers who used 3 or fewer benefits).
- If you used between 4 and 9 Prime benefits, you were not eligible for the automatic Phase 1 payment — meaning you must manually file a claim before the July 27 deadline to receive your payout.
How to file your claim
Filing takes less than five minutes online through the official administrator at SubscriptionMembershipSettlement.com.
First, check your inbox for a message sent from subscriptionmembershipsettlement.com in January, which contains a unique Claim ID and PIN to expedite the process.
If you can’t find that notice, simply select the option stating “I DO NOT have a Claim ID and PIN” on the homepage to manually enter your name, address, and Amazon account details.
You can choose to receive your payout via direct deposit, PayPal, Venmo, or check. Once the July 27 filing window closes, Amazon will review all submitted claims, with approved payouts expected to be disbursed in late 2026.
Follow Tom’s Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Subscribe to Tom’s Guide on YouTube and follow Tom’s Guide Entertainment on TikTok and Instagram.