Coinstar

[vickalamode]

I've got a question that someone on here might be able to answer...

I have a couple of jars of change that I want to cash in and I am debating on what to do with them. DBF and I are moving to our first apartment together this weekend and want to cash in our change so we can use it on first week groceries and along with anything else we realize we need once we move in.

First option is the good old fashioned rolling the change...

Second option is the bank my dad uses has free coin counting for account holders. I could go there with him on his day off to use it, but I don't know if that will fit into our schedules.

Third is coinstar...I know that it is free if you get a gift card. They have a machine at Super Wal-Mart near where we're moving to. On the coinstar website they don't list Wal-Mart as one of the gift cards available, however, I am wondering if anyone knows if they offer free coin counting if you are using it for store credit? If we could use it for store credit at that Super Wal-Mart and not be charged the fee since we're giving the money right back to the store that would be great lol

 

[cglaura]

I've got a question that someone on here might be able to answer...

I have a couple of jars of change that I want to cash in and I am debating on what to do with them. DBF and I are moving to our first apartment together this weekend and want to cash in our change so we can use it on first week groceries and along with anything else we realize we need once we move in.

First option is the good old fashioned rolling the change...

Second option is the bank my dad uses has free coin counting for account holders. I could go there with him on his day off to use it, but I don't know if that will fit into our schedules.

Third is coinstar...I know that it is free if you get a gift card. They have a machine at Super Wal-Mart near where we're moving to. On the coinstar website they don't list Wal-Mart as one of the gift cards available, however, I am wondering if anyone knows if they offer free coin counting if you are using it for store credit? If we could use it for store credit at that Super Wal-Mart and not be charged the fee since we're giving the money right back to the store that would be great lol

Maybe your dad could give you a deposit slip for his account. Then you can go on your own time schedule, deposit into his account, and he can give you the money, pull it out of the atm if he as bank/debit card. It is treated as cash deposit so should be available immediately or very least next day. Not sure how close you live to your dad that this would work easily.

The coinstar at my grocery store, Acme, does not give store credit. I'm not sure what Walmart does but I've never seen that as an option.

 

[Mom21]

Here are the stores you can get a giftcard for that doesn't charge you.

http://coinstar.com/FreeCoinCounting

 

[Soben]

When I tried to use the CoinStar it was a total PITA, it jammed and had to be reset several times. I was trying to do some deal where you got a bonus if you put in $40 worth of change, but the machine would never make it up to 40 before jamming. (no, I didn't have anything strange in there) I would say take it to the bank and let them do the work!

 

[chris31997]

Go to your bank and get some wrappers, turn on your fav movie or tv show, and start wrapping. If you do it in time chucks of 30 mnutes or so it is not so bad.

 

[kelleigh1]

As far as I know, you can't do a "store credit" for the store that you are at when you use the coinstar. We have coinstar at our local grocery store, but gift cards for that store are not an option. We always put ours on our Starbucks card which we use all the time when traveling...since every airport seems to have a Starbucks.

 

[ceecee]

We did a coinstar and it charged us 10%. Our credit union has one and it's free. We usually wrap ours, it's kind of fun.

 

[angierae]

The Coinstar by us will give you a CVS gift card for the amount, no % taken. I do that, and then just use it at CVS and transfer an equal amount of money into our Disney Fund from our normal budget for what we'd spend at CVS.

 

[disneyfreakk]

What are you planning on doing with the wrapped coins??

I would go with Dads bank. Couldn't you drop the coins off to your dad and let him go in on his day off, then you could get the money later?..? I am assuming your dad is trustworthy!

 

[Colleen27]

Like Angierae I've been doing CVS cards with my change. We do a lot of shopping there, so when I get cards I just swap them for cash out of the regular budget to stick in the Disney fund.

 

[kelleigh1]

We did a coinstar and it charged us 10%. Our credit union has one and it's free. We usually wrap ours, it's kind of fun.

Yes, Coinstar charges if you just want cash back, but if you put it on one of the gift cards that they offer, there isn't a fee. (Or I should say there wasn't a fee that last time we used it.)

 

[DOOM1001]

If you have a TD bank nearby they have a coin machine called the penny arcade that's there for anybody to use,you don't need an account just show up put in how much you think you have in change and if you're like $3 off you get a prize.After you're done you take the receipt with how much you had to the teller who'll give you the money,no fees at all.I had like $58 in pennies when I took them in about a year or two ago.

 

[Marionnette]

If you have a TD bank nearby they have a coin machine called the penny arcade that's there for anybody to use,you don't need an account just show up put in how much you think you have in change and if you're like $3 off you get a prize.After you're done you take the receipt with how much you had to the teller who'll give you the money,no fees at all.I had like $58 in pennies when I took them in about a year or two ago.

It was free to non-customers when it was Commerce Bank. TDBank charges a fee if you don't have an account with them.

http://www.tdbank.com/exc/html/penny_arcade_pop_up.html

 

[DOOM1001]

It was free to non-customers when it was Commerce Bank. TDBank charges a fee if you don't have an account with them.

http://www.tdbank.com/exc/html/penny_arcade_pop_up.html

It has been awhile since I did use the penny arcade,but it was at TD bank and it was free,I guess if I go now it won't be free anymore.

 

[Yoshi]

Yeah TD changed it 6% a few months ago. Kind of sneaky since there was supposedly no warning and people used the machines and was told there was a fee for non account holders after they put their change in the machine. A sign was later added to the machine (at least at the branch I have been to).

 

[Jeff_G]

Open a savings account at your Dads bank, my guess is it’s probably a smaller community bank or credit union, you might end up liking it better…

 

[MamaJessie]

I love coinstar! I cash out for amazon and use it for my subscribe and save groceries or holiday gifts.

 

[SoonerSarah]

Every bank is different. Some in my town won't take rolled coins, or they will take them but make you put your account number on them and deposit the amount after they have counted the coins.

Other banks will take rolled coins without a problem. Some will run loose change through a counter while you are there, somme will take loose change to run through the counter when they aren't busy.

My bank, which is BBVA Compass, took my coins and counted them while I was there. Some were rolled, which they didn't count and took my word at the ammount, some were loose which went through the counter. All of the coins were from MIL for my girls, so I got cash to go in their Disney Jars.

However, I will check into my coinstar offering GC since it is at Walmart.

 

[DCPrincess]

I love coinstar! I cash out for amazon and use it for my subscribe and save groceries or holiday gifts.

Me too! I Love adding money to my Amazon account.

 

[HLAuburn]

I think each location works differently. DD just collected all her change and we took it to our Coinstar at Walmart. It was really fast and easy (and fun!), but they did deduct 9.8% from the total. Totally worth it IMO.

I was also hoping for the option to get more back with a WM giftcard or something like that, but it wasn't a choice. It took out the % and printed a "receipt" that we took to customer service to redeem for cash. I asked what our options were, and the CS girl just said "you get cash" - so cash it was!

It seems smart to me that Walmart would offer a fee reduction for you to get a gift card so you'll spend the $ in the store, but this location didn't.

ETA: The other option was "Donate to Charity", but my 6 y.o. wasn't feeling charitable that day!