You've seen them in grocery stores, walmarts, and some supermarkets. Coinstar. Bring your jugs of coins, dump them in, and it counts and sorts it for you. I was skeptical at first and I knew they kept a portion of your monies to pay for their service. The percentage at my local coin star (Walmart Kunia) was 9.X% I can't remember exactly. That can be a lot if you're dumping in a load of change. I was just putting pennies in there to see how this thing really worked.
Well, here's the pros and cons to what I found.
Pro's:
-If you get a gift certificate/e-certificate in lieu of cash you pay NO FEES. That's right. $0 is lost.
The machine I went to had the following e-certificate options: Applebees, Chilis, Starbucks, Itunes, and Nike.
-It's quick and fun. You pour your coins in, lift the handle up and load it into the machine. As the machine counts, you can watch the screen and watch the numbers go up.
-No sorting needed
-Got odd coins mixed in? It spits it back out at the bottom. I had a military coin and a pressed coin that I had hidden in the bunch. WHEW!
Cons:
-9% fee if you choose to get cash back.
-Must load slowly. If you load the coins too fast, it backs up.
-Noisy. Be prepared for stares as you load your money and start coinstarring. LOL
-There is a minimum $5 amount required to get any gift card. If your total amounts to less than $5, it will automatically give you cash back less the 9% charge.
The machine tells you what its doing and will direct you the whole way through so its pretty foolproof.
If you haven't tried it, you should. I enjoyed it. :) It's so much easier than sorting all the coins out yourself and rolling them up to take to the bank. BUT! If you have a crapton of coins, it may be worth your while. 9% of hundreds, adds up.
Well, here's the pros and cons to what I found.
Pro's:
-If you get a gift certificate/e-certificate in lieu of cash you pay NO FEES. That's right. $0 is lost.
The machine I went to had the following e-certificate options: Applebees, Chilis, Starbucks, Itunes, and Nike.
-It's quick and fun. You pour your coins in, lift the handle up and load it into the machine. As the machine counts, you can watch the screen and watch the numbers go up.
-No sorting needed
-Got odd coins mixed in? It spits it back out at the bottom. I had a military coin and a pressed coin that I had hidden in the bunch. WHEW!
Cons:
-9% fee if you choose to get cash back.
-Must load slowly. If you load the coins too fast, it backs up.
-Noisy. Be prepared for stares as you load your money and start coinstarring. LOL
-There is a minimum $5 amount required to get any gift card. If your total amounts to less than $5, it will automatically give you cash back less the 9% charge.
The machine tells you what its doing and will direct you the whole way through so its pretty foolproof.
If you haven't tried it, you should. I enjoyed it. :) It's so much easier than sorting all the coins out yourself and rolling them up to take to the bank. BUT! If you have a crapton of coins, it may be worth your while. 9% of hundreds, adds up.
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