BGH ruling on Amazon Prime: price increase declared ineffective

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. Here are the most important questions and answers on the topic.

What is it about?

Four years ago, Amazon increased the price of its Prime subscription 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 consumer advice center's point of view, the increase was illegal and they took the matter 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. Amazon's Prime package includes, among other things, shipping advantages as well as video and music streaming offers. 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 Amazon's General Terms and Conditions (GTC) to be ineffective due to a violation of the transparency requirement. The third civil senate in Karlsruhe decided that the regulations do not make it sufficiently clear which rights the contractual partner is 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. Fees that have already been paid are the subject of a separate procedure.

What about subscription fees that have already been paid?

Consumers can request money back individually. However, limitation periods must be taken into account. According to Iwona Husemann, legal advisor for consumer law at the NRW Consumer Center, those affected can claim the last three years.

Alternatively, long-standing Prime customers can 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 Federal Court of Justice (Az. 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 register 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, it is said – until three weeks after the end of the oral hearing.