How to Cancel Your Amazon Prime Membership or Free Trial

The retail business is quickly moving online. If you need anything, you’ll invariably find it on Amazon. Hence, it’s only natural that people want to check all the benefits this huge platform offers.

Plenty of people opt for an Amazon Prime Membership free trial as a result. You might have tried it yourself. But there’s a minor problem with this option. Once the trial period expires, Amazon will automatically charge you a full year of membership.

That is, if you don’t manage to cancel it beforehand. Fortunately, the cancellation process isn’t complicated at all. This article will outline how to do it.

When Will Amazon Charge You a Membership Fee?

The clock starts ticking as soon as you start your free trial.  After you activate the option, Amazon Prime will allow you to use all the benefits of the membership for free. After 30 days expire, Amazon will automatically charge you for a yearly Amazon Prime membership.

If you didn’t intend to continue your membership, you’ve got to react quickly. Otherwise, you may permanently lose your money.

Luckily, you can easily check how much time you have left on your free trial. Just follow these instructions:

1. If you’re not already logged in, go to the Amazon sign-in page and log in. 
2. Hover your mouse over “Hello, [your name]” dropdown menu and choose Your Prime Membership from the list. This should take you to your Membership account screen.
   
3. Now, find the Next Payment section on the left side of the Membership menu. Here you can see when you can expect Amazon to charge you for the membership.
   

If you think you’ll forget the date, you can click on the Remind me before renewing button. If you do, Amazon will send you an email three days before your trial expires as a reminder.

How to Cancel an Amazon Prime Free Trial

After finding out that Amazon Prime could charge them for a full membership year, the majority of people rush to cancel the trial. However, this isn’t possible (or necessary). Instead, you can opt not to continue your membership after the trial ends.

This means that you can still use the full benefits of Amazon Prime before the trial expiration date. When the period finally ends, it won’t automatically renew the membership.

Here’s how you can do this:

1. Follow the first 2 from the previous section, this should lead you to your Prime Membership account.
2. Now, select the Do not continue my free trial option on the bottom-left side of the page.
   
3. Next, click the End My Benefits button on the following page.
   

This will stop the automatic renewal, however, you can still enjoy your favorite shows until your free trial ends.

How to Cancel an Amazon Prime Membership

If you’re already a member of Amazon Prime, you can cancel it at any time.  The process is relatively simple and it takes just a few steps.

1. Follow the steps from the above sections to reach your Amazon Prime Memberships screen.
2. Then, click the End Membership and Benefits button at the bottom-left side of the screen. 
3. Now, confirm your decision by clicking End My Benefits on the next screen. 

You can also use the instructions from the above section to receive a reminder of your membership renewal date.

The Consequences of Canceling Your Amazon Prime Membership

You may wonder what happens with your money if your cancelation arrives a bit late.  Well, there are two possibilities.

If you didn’t use any membership benefits since Amazon charged you, you’re eligible for a full refund. Therefore, even if you realize that you’ve lost money a month or two down the line, you can get it back.

On the other hand,  things get complicated if you used your benefits without knowing that your trial expired. In that case, you have a three-day window since your renewal to cancel the membership. However, Amazon can still charge you a portion of the money for the benefits that you’ve used.

If you’ve used Prime benefits after this three-day window, you won’t get your refund. Therefore, you might as well keep using it until your next renewal is due.

Avoid Complications by Tracking Your Dates

As you see, it’s relatively easy to cancel your Prime Membership. A problem emerges if you forget when it expires and still keep using the benefits. However, there’s an easy way to prevent any inconvenience. If you track your due date consistently, you can avoid this mistake. Amazon even provides reminders so you’re always up-to-date with your trial period.

On top of that, Amazon still offers a full refund if you’ve mistakenly entered into full membership. So even if you’re slightly inattentive, you can still rectify your mistake.

Did you like your Amazon Prime free trial? Why would you want to cancel it? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.