Money that expires
Up to $200 arrives October 1 and is gone in 60 days
WHAT CHANGED?
Starting Thursday, October 1, Amazon begins sending automatic payments to millions of people who were not eligible for this money a month ago.
The money comes from the Federal Trade Commission's $2.5 billion Prime settlement with Amazon. The first round covered only people who used fewer than 10 Prime benefits a year and capped payments at $51. This month the commission announced a revised order: the cap is now $200, and people who used 11 to 20 benefits in a year are covered too.
You file nothing. Amazon has already paid more than $845 million this way, by PayPal, Venmo or paper check.
There is one catch worth marking on a calendar. Payments expire 60 days after the issue date. An email from PayPal or Venmo that sits unopened, or a check that goes into a drawer, quietly becomes worth nothing.
WHO IS AFFECTED?
You had Prime in the U.S. and signed up through one of the challenged enrollment paths between June 23, 2019 and June 23, 2025, or tried to cancel online and could not.
You used no more than 20 Prime benefits in any 12-month period after you enrolled. Free shipping on an order, a Prime Video show, a members-only discount, each of those counts as one.
You do not have to be a Prime member now, and you do not have to have complained, filed a claim, or heard a word from anyone about it. The full rules are on the FTC's Amazon refunds page.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
For most people this is somewhere between $51 and $200 arriving without being asked for. The first round paid up to $51. The revised order adds a supplemental payment of up to $149 on top of that, which is where the $200 total comes from.
Here is the part I would want my own mother to hear. Money that shows up unannounced is exactly the kind of money people lose. It lands in an email account checked twice a week, from a sender you do not recognize, about a case you never followed. Sixty days later it is gone, and nobody sends a second notice.
The one tell: a real payment never costs anything to collect, and the commission is not calling anyone about these refunds. If a call, text or email asks for a fee, a gift card, a bank login or your Social Security number to release one, it is a scam. Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
WHAT TO DO
Watch the email address attached to your Amazon account over the next several weeks and open anything from PayPal or Venmo about a settlement payment instead of deleting it, and if a paper check arrives, deposit it well inside the 60 days. If you believe you qualify and nothing has come by April 2027, when the commission says all payments will be finished, call the settlement administrator at 1-888-999-8094. Pay no one, ever, to collect money that is already yours.
While you are at it, take two minutes to search your name on MissingMoney.com, the free search run with the state unclaimed-property offices. Old refunds, deposits and uncashed checks end up there more often than people think.
Amazon is one payout. Most settlements are not automatic, and each notice carries several dates where only one of them is yours to meet. The Settlement & Refund Recovery System shows the 12 real places money sits waiting for people, how to read a notice so you never file a day late, and comes with a tracker so no payment slips past you.
One question for you: has an Amazon payment already shown up for you, or has anyone called or texted you about one? Hit reply and tell me. I read every reply, and what you tell me decides what I cover next.
Know a Prime member who never opens a PayPal email? Forward this to them, or send them your personal sign-up link so they get the next one too.
SOURCE: the FTC's Amazon refunds page
Written by Ellen Marsh
Retirement Money Brief is educational information only — not financial, tax, or legal advice. We will never ask you for an account number, Social Security number, password, or payment.