Overview

• Amazon will pay $1 billion in civil penalties plus $1.5 billion in refunds to roughly 35 million Prime users, according to the FTC.
• Refund eligibility covers U.S. customers who enrolled via single-page checkout from June 23, 2019 to June 23, 2025, with phased distributions and minimum payments of about $51 expected within 90 days of the order taking effect.
• The order requires a clear opt-out during checkout, prominent disclosures of cost and auto-renewal before any charge, simple cancellation via the same channel used to enroll, and a ban on prompts such as “No, I don’t want free shipping.”
• An external independent monitor will oversee compliance and the consumer-compensation process.
• The accord followed early trial testimony after a Seattle federal judge affirmed Prime sign-ups fall under consumer-protection laws and found Amazon obtained billing details before fully disclosing terms; Amazon did not admit wrongdoing.