More than 130,000 consumers have now entered the class action lawsuit filed by the North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Center against the price increase on Amazon Prime. This was announced by the consumer advice center. Those affected can therefore continue to participate in the lawsuit.
Amazon increased the price for the Prime subscription in Germany in the summer of 2022. According to the consumer advice center, “millions of consumers” were affected. From the perspective of consumer advocates, the increase is unlawful.
OLG Düsseldorf: Price adjustment clause invalid
A lawsuit against Amazon before the regional court and in the second instance before the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court was decided in favor of the consumer advice center in both instances. The judges declared the price adjustment clause for the German Prime membership program to be ineffective. Because Amazon has appealed against this to the Federal Court of Justice, the decision is not yet legally binding.
Against this background, the consumer advice center filed a class action lawsuit (ref. I-13 VKl 1/25) with the responsible Hamm Higher Regional Court in December 2025. The Federal Office of Justice opened a so-called lawsuit register in January. If the lawsuit is successful, registered consumers could get back overpaid contributions, said Alina Baumann from the North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Center. “Depending on the tariff, this can currently be up to around 60 euros. If the procedure lasts longer, this amount can increase further.”
It is not yet clear when the Hamm Higher Regional Court will deal with the case. According to the BfJ, registration in the register is possible up to three weeks after the end of the oral hearing.
Amazon: Have informed customers transparently
Since September 2022, Prime customers have been paying 89.90 instead of 69 euros when billed annually, and 8.99 instead of 7.99 euros when billed monthly. In return, you get faster, free shipping, photo storage, and a movie deal. The reason for the price increase at the time was increased costs.
Amazon had already rejected the allegations again at the beginning of the year. “We informed customers about the changes to the Prime membership fee transparently and in compliance with applicable law,” said an Amazon spokesman when asked.
Customers always have the right to cancel their Prime membership at any time. “We have repeatedly provided clear information about this in our communications.” Because they disagreed with the ruling of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, they filed an appeal with the Federal Court of Justice.