German Court invalidates Amazon Prime price change clause

The German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has declared a price change clause in Amazon Prime’s terms and conditions invalid. The court ruled that the provisions violated transparency requirements under § 307 of the German Civil Code (BGB) by failing to clearly inform consumers of their rights during a price hike.

Specifically, the court found that the terms did not sufficiently clarify whether subscribers could simply object to a price adjustment or if their only recourse was to cancel the membership. The legal dispute originated from a 2022 price increase where Amazon notified members via email but only offered the option to cancel the subscription within 30 days rather than a direct objection to the new rate.