How to end a amazon prime membership

Amazon Prime(Opens in a new window) is a valuable service for many. For $139 per year, you enjoy a range of benefits, from free two-day shipping on most products to a vast lineup of streaming movies and TV shows via Amazon Video, a large music library through Amazon Music, unlimited photo storage from Amazon Photos, a monthly supply of free PC games through Prime Gaming, and a Kindle e-book lending library.

Table of Contents Show

Sign Into Amazon
Open the Prime Membership Page
End Membership
How to cancel your Amazon Prime subscription
Who could get a refund when canceling Amazon Prime?
Now you can close your Amazon account

You also have access to free two-hour delivery on groceries in certain cities, early access to special deals, free access to Audible audio series, and a host of other features. Altogether, it sounds like quite a package, but what if you decide a Prime membership is no longer for you?

Maybe it's no longer in the budget, or you signed up just for Prime Day and want to ditch the service. The good news is that if you're a paying member who hasn't used your benefit, you're eligible for a full refund of the current membership period, which should be processed within three to five days.

Sign Into Amazon

First, sign into the Amazon website with your username and password if you’re not already signed in. Hover over the Account & Lists section in the upper-right corner and click Sign In, then enter your account credentials.

Open the Prime Membership Page

Once you're signed into your account, you can begin the cancellation process one of two ways. You can go to Account & Lists > Account > Prime or open Account & Lists > Prime Membership. Either option places you at the Prime membership page with your account details.

End Membership

Under the Manage Membership section on the top right, click Update, cancel, and more and select End membership from the bottom of the drop-down menu. Amazon then flashes a page asking if you're sure you want to end your membership.

If you're not ready to cancel and want time to think about it, click Remind Me Later to get a reminder before your membership renews. If you are sure, click Cancel My Benefits.

Amazon then tries one last-ditch effort to keep you onboard with another page asking you to consider switching to a $14.99 monthly payment. If you're still resolute in your quest to cancel, click the Continue to Cancel button, and you'll finally be able to sever ties with your Prime account. If you'll miss the free shipping, there are still ways to avoid paying full price.

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Amazon Prime may have over 150 million subscribers, but if it lost its magic for you one way or another -- including after a free trial -- you can cancel your subscription and close out your account. You might even get a prorated refund for the amount of time left on your Prime subscription.

Amazon may not make it immediately simple to do either, and keep in mind that once you close out your Amazon account, you're going to lose access to quite a few services. Then again, if you rarely use the service, dropping the Prime subscription service means you won't pay the current fee of $12.99 a month, or $119 per year.

Below we'll show you how to cancel your Prime subscription, request a refund and close out your account. It isn't necessary to close your account if you're only interested in unsubscribing from Amazon Prime. We'll also sum up the Amazon services you'll no longer be able to use.

Before you close your Amazon account, cancel your Prime subscription.

Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET

How to cancel your Amazon Prime subscription

To cancel your Amazon Prime subscription, sign in to your Amazon account and click the Account drop-down. Then, select Prime Membership. Next, click Update, cancel and more under the Membership heading, followed by End membership. Alternatively, you can visit this support page and click the End Membership button to jump straight to the right page.

You'll have to confirm three different times you want to cancel your membership. Amazon will attempt to move you to one of several other options (also pictured below):

A monthly instead of yearly subscription
Receive an alert a few days before your subscription renews so you can decide then
Pause your membership on your renewal date
Cancel your membership on the renewal date

If you want to cancel your membership completely, you'll need to move past these other options to get to that point.

You'll be asked multiple times if you're sure you want to cancel Amazon Prime.

Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET

Who could get a refund when canceling Amazon Prime?

According to the terms and conditions, people who cancel without using any Prime benefits (such as free shipping or Prime Video) may be automatically eligible for a refund.

However, according to DoNotPay, you can request a partial refund for the remaining time. It seems to be hit or miss on whether or not you'll get one, but it's worth contacting Amazon support and asking.

I contacted Amazon's chat support while researching this article and was quickly told that there were no refunds given, but you may have better luck than I did, especially if you're fully closing out your account. DoNotPay recommends calling Amazon support or using the Contact Us form instead of chat.

It will take three to five days for Amazon to process any refunds. I suggest waiting until your refund is processed and in your bank account before fully closing your account.

Closing your account is permanent. You can't recover any information once it's done.

Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET

Now you can close your Amazon account

With your Prime membership canceled and payment returned, you can close your Amazon account if you'd like. Bear in mind, this is a permanent process and once it's done you'll lose any data tied to your account along with access to everything Amazon-related. If you change your mind in the future, you would need to sign up for a brand new Amazon account.

A few examples of what you'll lose access to: Prime Video, Amazon Music, Amazon Photos, Audible and all Kindle content in addition to free, faster shipping on Amazon Prime items.

To begin, download any data you have stored in your Amazon account, such as anything stored in Amazon Photos before proceeding. The easiest way to do that is to use the desktop app.

Amazon has a more complete list of everything linked to your account on this support page. After looking over the list, if you're interested in closing your account, visit this page on Amazon's site.

There, you'll be presented with a list of all the data and services linked to your account that will be deleted. Again, study it carefully to make sure there's nothing you need. For example, if you're a Whole Foods customer, your account at the grocer will also be deleted.

At the bottom of the list is a checkbox you'll need to select, followed by a final click on the button labeled Close My Account. Your request will be sent and processed.

Curious how to close other online accounts? We have your back. Here's how to close your Facebook account, leave Instagram or delete yourself from the internet altogether.