Maria and I have this coin jar that we put all of our change into (like many of you, I’m sure). We slowly fill it up with coins and when it finally reaches the top, we get to cash it in. The first time we filled the jar was a few months ago. Maria and I decided to take it to our grocery store and use the Coinstar machine.
I’m sure you’ve seen these green boxes in your local grocery store; they’re pretty much everywhere. We’ve had a few experiences with Coinstar (and we love the ability to cash in our change for something more useful), but take our word for it: you definitely want to know all of your options before you cash in your coins. Here’s everything you need to know.
Lesson #1 – Coinstar will charge you 11% to redeem your coins for a cash voucher.
This first lesson is the main point of Coinstar: they’ll sort your money for you so you can get cash, but they want to charge you to do it. The first time Maria and I went to Coinstar, we knew they charged something, but we didn’t know how much. We were a little surprised to see that it was 11%. That’s quite a chunk of change (pun so intended).
But we also learned something else that first time we went to Coinstar. A little trick to get around that 11% fee:
Lesson #2 – You can opt for a gift card instead and receive 100% of your coin value.
The first time we used Coinstar, we saw there was a menu option to get a giftcard. Not wanting to fork over over 11% of our change, we decided to give it a try. When we saw that Gap/Old Navy/Banana Republic was one of the places you could get a giftcard from at 100% of the value of your coins, we were sold. Maria and I both supplement our wardrobe with inexpensive essential items from both of these stores. This choice was a no-brainer.
We recently filled our coin jar to the brim once again, and we couldn’t wait to trade in our cash for another Old Navy gift card. Little did we know, we were in for an adventure (ok, I may be exaggerating a little bit).
Our first stop was Kroger, to the exact same Coinstar machine we had used the first time we emptied our coin jar.
We had already started putting the coins into the hopper when we decided we should probably go through the menu options and select our giftcard. And then, confusion set in.
Where was the giftcard menu? It had vanished. After a moment, Maria looked it up on the Coinstar’s website. And that’s how we learned Coinstar lesson number three.
Lesson #3 – Not all Coinstar locations offer gift cards.
Not even the same machine that provided gift cards a few months ago.
My lovely wife was seriously disappointed.
Thwarted, we decided to look up other locations on the Coinstar website to see which ones near us did offer giftcards. Maria quickly glanced at the Find a kiosk information on her phone and we headed to our next destination: Walmart!
We checked the menu first to see if this kiosk offered gift cards. It did!
Maria was happy.
For about 20 seconds.
We clicked on the giftcard icon to see all the options available. And there were only six, none of which were useful to us.
Don’t get me wrong, the options were nice, but they weren’t going to help us dress well on a budget. After two unsuccessful attempts, disappointment set in once again.
In all fairness, the Find a Kiosk feature did list all of the gift card options for that particular machine. We just didn’t know we had to pay close attention to the list.
And so, we learned our next lesson:
Lesson #4 – not all Coinstar machines offer the same coupons.
This knowledge in hand, we checked the Coinstar website again. If you look at the “Kiosk Details” for the kiosks that come up in your search, it tells you what giftcards are offered at that Coinstar machine. I searched for another Coinstar machine in our area and knew exactly where to go to get a giftcard that we actually wanted.
When we pulled up to our third (and hopefully final) store, Maria could hardly contain her excitement.
There it was. Our holy grail of gift cards. Also known as “Gap Options.” Don’t let the Old Navy logo fool you. It’s actually good at all three stores in the Gap family.
Now that we actually had what we were looking for, we started using the machine. Coinstar kiosks are very simple to operate. First you dump your coins in the hopper, then you tilt the hopper up to dump the coins into the sorter.
It sounds like a big drum is spinning inside and you hear the coins clattering and clanking about as they are sorted. While that’s happening, you can watch the dollar amount and the coin counts on the screen increase.
And after that, the machine should spit out your giftcard on a paper receipt.
Except, ours broke.
Which sounds bad, but it turned out to be great news.
And so we learned the greatest Coinstar lesson of all:
Lesson #5 – When Coinstar fails to issue you a giftcard, it gives you a cash voucher AT NO CHARGE.
We went to Coinstar hoping for a giftcard and walked away with 100% of our cash!
What You Need to Know Before You Use the Coinstar Machine
A few weeks ago, Maria and I thought we knew everything about Coinstar and how the service works. As it turns out, we learned a few extra lessons last week. Here’s what we now know:
Lesson #1 – Coinstar will charge you 11% to redeem your coins for a cash voucher.
Lesson #2 – You can opt for a gift card instead and receive 100% of your coin value.
Lesson #3 – Not all Coinstar locations offer gift cards.
Lesson #4 – Not all Coinstar machines offer the same coupons.
Lesson #5 – When Coinstar fails to issue a giftcard, it gives you a cash voucher AT NO CHARGE.
Our weekend started off with a really simple task that resulted in three trips with many ups and downs. I guess it really was sort of an adventure. Regardless, we will definitely use the Coinstar kiosk again. It’s a great way to add a little bonus money to our budget.
Most banks have this same machine now, for no charge. Just something to look into, if you’re interested.
I know that some banks do, but we use a smaller, Michigan-based bank that does not have one of those machines. Thanks for sharing!
Alot of banks actually quit having the coin machines in their branch locations…such as TD. I’m a Michigander as well;)
Great post!! Very educational! Thanks for doing the research for us budget-minded folks! (And that 11% used to be 7% just a couple years ago) I see Coinstar gift cards in my future :).
Hey guys, I really enjoy reading your blog. Is a rolling coins date night out of the question? I personally do not want any of those gift cards or the 11% fee. I think I would just turn on Netflicks and roll those coins :)
We thought about rolling our coins, but Coinstar saves us a lot of time and I needed new clothes anyway. When you get 100% of the value of our coins for a giftcard that we knew we would use, it seemed like a no-brainer. A coin-date night would be fun, though! Thanks for the suggestion.
Yes! We do this for Amazon gift cards, but the coin star machine that offers this particular card is a bit far from us and in a rough neighborhood.
Husband puts his change on the dresser, I swoop in, scoop it up and put it in the baggy in the nightstand. Once the bag is full, I take it in!
Great tips for people who may not know!!
-Alyssa
Many major banks are not allowing you to bring in your change to be counted. We do our banking with Chase Bank and they no longer provide this service. It is becoming more prevalent probably because of the maintenance costs for these machines. Coinstar will end up benefiting from this trend.
Very cool! I plan on using more cash and less cards and so I’ll have to start a jar to put my change in!
I learned something too. It’s better to slowly put coins in as when you pour them in you lose coins. I hand counted my coins prior to going to coinstart once. I was surprised it said I $32.xx when I knew there was $45+. So every time I go now I only put in a few at a time. Here they only charge 7% I assume the charge varies by region.
Oh that is a good tip! We just dumped everything in last time. We might be standing at that machine for an hour, so I think I’ll have Rob do that job :)
Many Credit Unions have coin machines with no fee if you are a member. And many CU’s are in a Shared Branch network that allows you to use other Credit Unions that are in the network, also at no fee.
This is one of the most beneficial Posts I have read in awhile. I use to use the Chase change counter up in Petoskey, MI. It has been removed.😞 No Chase banks in my new area have one. I’m so excited to read they give gift cards. I’m on a new quest to find one with an option I can use. Thank you so much for your awesomeness!!
Happy to help! Hope you find a good gift card option! We use Gap and Amazon for the most part.
You guys are hilarious
Such an adventure
Coin Star is a rip off I counted my coins before I put them in the machine It does not count your coins right I know there are fees but it ripped me off for $40 I contacted Coinstar and they never responded I will never use it again.
For all the extra gas you spent driving to various stores, did you really save that measley 11% fee? Personally I just pay the fee, for saving me the time of counting and rolling my change. But i may try the gift card option next time and see how it goes.
That was just the one time and both those stores were within a mile of where we lived at the time. The coinstar I use now is on my way to work. 🙂
Thank you for an excellent post! Absolutely loved the facial expressions to convey your triumphs and tribulations!
I always check the website for Coinstar BEFORE going to the store…they do change retail store options. ALWAYS check the counter return slot…machine does not accept foreign coins, slugs, damaged coins, etc.
WHile you note the first Fee value, you failed to notice or note to us the other machine fees, since this is a partnership based business only certain partner locations offer said machine for use and thus the fee varies and according to Coinstar on their website the fee can be as much as 11.9%. On another note as you found out inadvertently not all locations offer e-gift option or donation and also the donation selections are very limited, not sure myself as I have not used such since 2007 when i last cashed in i was charged 6% and the gift feature was just being offered. While the Chairty or Donation option is not just Fee Free but Tax Deductible and you can search on their websie or app perhaps even the Charities that have partnered with them and search for participating machines. But do lastly note, the e-gift is free for you, but not for the partnering company offering this at select locations.
Still more of a convenience than wasting time on rolling coins just for most banks may not accept said rolls or will just open them to inspect and count again but not only that some certain coins are so rare and highly valuable it is worth taking the time to sort through them, something the Coinstar does for you in most part.