Hyatt Gift Card Discounts eBay Caution
A reader emailed me to let me know that several sellers have great deals on Hyatt gift cards on eBay. Specifically this reader said:
Hey I don’t know if you’ve noticed but there are some very cheap Hyatt gift cards on Ebay right now. I have a seller willing to sell me via credit card directly $1000 for $650. I’m guessing my credit card would cover me for this, but have you heard of any scams involving Hyatt/Ebay? I’d be using these within the next two weeks, but I guess I’m concerned about them coming back on me later.
Whenever a seller lists an item on a marketplace such as eBay and Amazon and then asks you to circumvent that marketplace it should be a HUGE red flag. Yes, they can save seller fees, but they are also asking you to give up buyer protections that those marketplaces provide. Also, if they are processing your credit card directly, how do you know it is safe? No go for me.
If It Sounds Too Good To Be True…
It is true that you could perhaps save a bit more by going this route, but it is too risky in my opinion. I doubt Hyatt or the hotel would go after you if the card turns up bad later and you can prove you were scammed, but there are potentially so many hassles and headaches. As with purchasing any gift card, only get it from trusted sources and make sure your protections are in place.
Sure, the credit card might protect you, but imagine the hassle you will have to go through if the Hyatt card turns out to be a fake and if somehow this person steals your credit card info to make other fraudulent purchases. Maybe in the end you won’t be on the hook, but the hassle and headache isn’t worth saving a few extra dollars.
Discounts Elsewhere, But Still Fraud
I have covered in detail many deals over the past couple of years where it was possible to save over 20% off Hyatt gift cards from authorized retailers. I strategically buy during those deals and stockpile to use later. That has worked for me and overall is a better move in my opinion, but then again it isn’t free from fraud either.
Frequent Miler had cards stolen which were purchased directly from Hyatt. My way of thinking is that at least if you buy from Hyatt or an authorized distributor, you are more likely to get your money back, but it is still a mine field. A sad mine field.
In my opinion Hyatt needs to clean up their gift card operation to eliminate fraud. In the mean time, I suggest to you my readers, that you should probably stay away from great deals where the seller asks you to circumvent your own protections. It just doesn’t seem right. If you do buy on eBay, make sure to maximize portals and eBay Bucks to save more.
Good luck!
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the old king of travel rewards cards. Right now
bonus_miles_full
Learn more about this card and its features!
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Hyatt gift card holders in E-Certificate format BEWARE. Was holding $4000 in gift E Certificates accumulated via purchase directly from the Hyatt website. Went to check out at the Hyatt Key West Resort and Spa this morning (8-13-16) and every certificate I purchased in the year 2015, $1800 worth, had a zero balance. Needless to say I was shocked and upset. Got on the phone with Hyatt who investigated the issue and blamed the matter on their third party vendor. Hyatt replaced each one however the damage was done. As a Platinum member, I have lost confidence in their product. I will be in touch with their C suite come Monday as this matter is not finished as far as I am concerned. If you are holding e certificates check their values frequently. They are saying this is a widespread issue and have thrown their third party vendor under the bus. This is Hyatt’s responsibility. And they need to man up and take responsibility. And not blame it on a vendor. I will give them an opportunity to recover my service and business. And if they fail, I will relinquish my Platinum status with them. I was completely embarrassed and humiliated at the check out counter today. I will not be purchasing these certificates ever again. And may not stay at a Hyatt property ever again other then to burn my 500,000 points. Let’s see how Hyatt handles this
I only buy Hyatt from SVM on eBay and Amazon.
One of four Hyatt cards I bought from SVM had a zero balance.
This month I purchased a $500 Hyatt gift card on Ebay. I thought I was smart to purchase it one week before using it to avoid the risk of someone else using the balance before I could. But two days after I received the code someone used the balance. The Ebay seller had 100 percent positive feedback with over 1,000 sales. I agree it is very risky to buy Hyatt gift cards on the cheap.
Same thing happened to me! Luckily I was refunded the money under the eBay buyer protection policy but things got nasty between me and the seller. I gave him a REALLY hard time and eventually caught him in a lie. I also reported the incident to IC3 which is in partnership with the FBI. Unfortunately this person has several accounts set up on eBay. You can tell it’s the same person because all of the accounts are selling Hyatt gift cards, Starbucks gift cards, and Texas Instruments calculators. The accounts are all from New York (I think) and the positive reviews across all the accounts have many commonalities. I’ve reported a few of the accounts to eBay but unfortunately I don’t think they are doing enough to prevent it and Hyatt definitely needs better
Also, as a data point. If someone actively solicits your business on eBay, that’s a MAJOR red flag. I also had someone reach out to me to sell Hyatt e Gift cards on eBay, and I thankfully ignored him. I followed up a month later and this seller was no longer available and had been given several negative reviews for fraudulent cards.
I got caught up with this earlier this year. There’s rampant fraud with 2nd hand hyatt e gift cards on eBay, etc. Any gains I made in the discounts were offset by the losses I incurred when from 2 particular sellers on eBay.. Only buy from sellers like PayPal Digital or SVM, and if you can, stick with physical cards (the e cards will be secured, but will take time to get reimbursed if hacked).
re: the 2 cards I lost $ on, neither PayPal or eBay cover 2nd hand gift card sales, something I should have checked on and am kicking myself about. This hobby is all about learning from your mistakes, and this was one of the dumber ones I’ve made.
You said it Shawn, “If it sounds too good to be true…” I’ve read story after story about Hyatt Gift Card fraud, making me uneasy about my own stash. It seems their cards have been targeted more than others for some reason (easy prey?).
I believe you no longer get GC protection from eBay/PayPal so doesn’t matter how you buy them. I’d avoid Hyatt GC especially due to many incidence of fraud recently
Yup… Got scammed on eBay. Seller sent me deminations of $50, $25 and $100 which added up to $500 on a piece of paper. It was too good to pass up on. I paid $120 for $500 in Hyatt gift cards. Seems to me like seller either sold some of the numbers again after or used them somewhere else because about a month after three $50 gift cards were cleaned out. I tried to dispute it on PayPal, but the just kept ignoring me. I gave up and moved on then quickly used what was left on the cards. Besides, I still got a good deal out of them. I won’t purchase gift cards from anyone on eBay not named giftcardmall