Use Coinstar To Cash-in Your Loose Change... Finally, NO Fees!

Did You Know?...

Coinstar coins-to-cash machines keep 8.9% of all the loose change you cash in for bills.

...But not when you choose "e-certificate" or "pre-paid gift card" at participating Coinstar machines!

Current Brick & Mortar and Online Merchants Participating

It's easy!

Just remember to choose "e-certificates" or "pre-paid gift cards" before you start the process at any Coinstar coin counting machine.

Your choices:

• Amazon.com


• AMC Entertainment


• Borders and Waldenbooks


• Cabela's


• Circuit City


• CVS/Pharmacy


• DisneyShopping.com


• Eddie Bauer


• Hollywood Video


• iTunes


• JCPenney


• KB Toys


• Linen-N-Things


• Old Navy


• Pier 1


• Starbucks


• Timberland


• Virgin Digital

Good Things About Using Coinstar Machines:

You get to choose the store or online merchant

It's fast -- the Coinstar machine counts up to 600 coins per minute!

It's convenient -- Coinstar's retail locations include major supermarkets, drug stores, mass merchants, convenience stores, and restaurants

It's easy -- simply drop your coins directly from your jar into the big green coin counting machine.

You don't have to wrap or sort your coins before using the Coinstar machine - Coinstar accepts any quantity of unsorted coins in your local currency.

Coinstar's patented technology allows our processors to filter out foreign coins and other debris. However, these items may not be returned by our processors so it is a good idea to remove such items as Eisenhower silver dollars; 1943 steel pennies; foreign, damaged or sticky coins; pure silver coinage and other debris from your stored coins." Source: CoinStar FAQ

The Only Downside That I Can See...

After you leave the Coinstar machine and you go to redeem your e-certificate or pre-paid gift card, you will probably order items totaling more than the amount of your certificate. I mean, what are the odds that a merchant has an item for the exact amount that's on your gift card? That never happens.

As a result, you'll probably end up buying more than you might have originally intended.

But, the way I look at it... since I'm choosing a merchant that I like and I'm familiar with already, then I won't really be inconvenienced at all, because I'd spend it either in their store or online at some point, anyway.

Where To Find Coinstar Change Machines

Coinstar self-service kiosks, point-of-sale solutions and entertainment services are found in convenient, high-traffic retail locations, typically at the front-end of the store. Coinstar's retail locations include major supermarkets, drug stores, mass merchants, convenience stores, and restaurants. Source: Coinstar

Find a Coinstar machine near you.

For the record, there are 4 Coinstar locations near me which offer the gift cards and e-certificates. Since we use Amazon.com a lot... this is good news for us!

Did You Know?

You can also use Coinstar machines to make donations to popular charities.

This makes the process of donating to reputable organizations a cinch!

Here are some of the charities:

• America's Second Harvest


• American Heart Association


• American Red Cross


• Children's Miracle Network


• Food For All


• Hopelink


• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation


• Leukemia & Lymphoma Society


• March of Dimes


• Muscular Dystrophy Association


• Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund


• Roots of Peace


• The Jimmy Fund


• U.S. Fund for UNICEF


• United Way of America


• World Wildlife Fund

Learn more about Coinstar here

What I Learned Today...

Coin wrappers are definitely a thing of the past!