BGH ruling: Amazon must temporarily reduce Prime prices for old customers

Anyone who has been a Prime customer with the online retailer Amazon for more than four years will pay less in the future. The company, which has its headquarters in Munich, lost a legal dispute over price increases in the third instance - at the Federal Court of Justice (BGH). (Ref. III ZR 205/25)

Amazon immediately announced consequences after the ruling from Karlsruhe became known. And that's not all for those affected: Another procedure is about getting money back.

Four years ago, Amazon increased the price of Prime subscriptions in Germany without explicitly asking customers for their consent. According to the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice center, millions of customers were affected. From the point of view of consumer advocates, the increase was illegal and they took it to court.

Since September 2022, Prime customers have paid 89.90 instead of 69 euros for annual billing, and 8.99 instead of 7.99 euros for monthly payments. The service offers, among other things, fast and free shipping as well as video and music streaming. Amazon justified the price increase at the time with increased costs.

What did the BGH decide?

The highest civil judges in Germany have declared the disputed regulations on price adjustments in the general terms and conditions ineffective due to a violation of the transparency requirement. The third civil senate in Karlsruhe decided that it was not sufficiently clear which rights the contractual partner was entitled to in connection with a price increase by Amazon. Customers are unduly disadvantaged by the lack of transparency.

In the lower courts, the Düsseldorf Regional Court and the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court had also declared the price adjustment clause for the German Prime membership program to be ineffective. Amazon took action against this at the BGH. Therefore, the case had not yet been legally decided.

What does the ruling mean for Prime customers?

For old customers, the old prices will apply again until further notice. “We do not agree with the ruling on the implementation of our price change, but will temporarily adjust the Prime contribution for customers whose membership began before September 15, 2022 and has remained unchanged since then,” said an Amazon spokeswoman. Affected customers should be informed of the current status before the next payment date.

What about fees that have already been paid?

Consumers can either request money back individually. Limitation periods must be taken into account. According to Iwona Husemann, legal advisor for consumer law at the consumer advice center, those affected can claim the last three years.

Or they join a class action lawsuit that the North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Center has already filed with the Hamm Higher Regional Court in December 2025, regardless of the outcome at the BGH (case I-13 VKl 1/25). According to Husemann, this goes back to the price increase. According to consumer advocates, how high the individual claim is depends, among other things, on how long the increased premium was paid and which Prime model was used.

In January, the Federal Office of Justice opened a so-called lawsuit register in which you can be registered as a person affected. According to the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer center, around 145,000 people have done this so far. Registration is still possible – up to three weeks after the end of the oral hearing.

How do consumer advocates react?

They are happy about protecting consumers from incalculable price increases. “The BGH has now made it clear: Not every price adjustment clause is a free pass for companies,” explained the board of the NRW consumer advice center, Wolfgang Schuldzinski.

What role does the judgment play beyond the specific case?

A supreme court clarification by the BGH on the effectiveness of unilateral price adjustment clauses in streaming or long-term obligations has a signal effect that goes beyond the Amazon case, explained Daniela Holzinger from the Consumer Protection Association (VSV). He has also started proceedings over price increases at Netflix, Apple TV and Wow.

The fact that the BGH has confirmed the line of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court strengthens the chances of success of the reclaim claims. However, you have to look closely at the specific clauses in each individual case.