Coinstar- No counting fee
 

I just saw this offer at my local Coinstar (Coin Counting Machine). It is available in select cities and stores (generally Albertson's family stores)

If you opt to turn your coin counting credit from your coins into a gift card rather than cash, you will avoid the hefty coin counting fee (I think it is like 9%!) The partners so far are Starbucks, Amazon.com, Pier1 and Hollywood Video, although at my local Albertson's only the first two were available.

I got several Starbucks cards last year (it was at QFC then) and gave them away as Christmas gifts. (the card is the same as you would get in a Starbucks.) It worked wonderful. I think it is for a limited time only (probably thru Christmas)

Find out more- http://www.coinstar.com/us/WebDocs/A1-0-3-1

I love this! This is a good way to get your change changed into Starbuck's cards instead of going to the bank, waiting in line, and getting cash and spending it on useless stuff, like groceries, lol jk!

-Chris

Or, just take those quarters out of your jar and spend them at Starbucks. They don't charge a counting fee either :D

Several banks in NYC (such as Commerce Bank and North Fork Bank) now have coin counting machines free of charge in the branch. You don't even have to be a customer!

My credit union has a machine at several of its branches, with no fee for members. The teller did suggest I call ahead to make sure the machine isn't out of service, because she said they seem to break down regularly.

That 9% fee is steep but I have to admit, I took about a pound of coins to the machine once because my son had repeatedly begged me to try it out.

After seeing how much enjoyment the kid got out of dumping the coins in the tray, all the noise the machine makes and watching the number climb on the readout, he'd say the 9% fee was worth it for the entertainment value.

I wish I had read this earlier today, I would have lugged a bag of change over to the grocery store with me.

I say use the 9% for the dimes, nickles and penny's. Take the quarters out- the 9% should be for counting the shrapnel...

I usually use the machine for pennies when there was the approx 9% charge. With the no charge for converting into various gift cards, I may do more than the pennies.

That's a really good idea that I never considered. I always use Coinstar for the jar I keep on my dresser when it fills up, which usually gets me about $150 after the counting fee. It was fine back when the fee was 4% but it has steadily crept up over the past few years. 9% is really pushing it.

I didn't know banks are sometimes doing coin counting for free. I'll have to ask Wells Fargo if they're doing it.

Ah yes, I remember seeing that in NYC... the thing is while I lived in the area I never had any extra change anyway though because I used it all on the stupid tolls! I don't think many banks do this outside of NYC.

Don't forget that the offer is only valid in select cities (about 20 or so) and at certain retailers.

Not available in my area. :(

I saw this about a month ago at my local Albertson's. I went through the entire coin-counting process (a very large jar of coins), only to find out at the end of the process that the gift card option was "not available at this time," and I had no choice but to pay the 9% fee for the cash-out. It sounded like the machine failed to connect with a central computer that issued the gift cards.

In addition to getting a new Starbucks gift card with the proceeds, it looked like you could actually add to an existing Starbucks gift card ... if it works at all, of course.

I'm fairly certrain that all commerce banks have the "penny arcades" as they call them, or free coin counting machines. Certainly every branch I have been to (Pa,NJ,NYC) has had them. And if you guess the amount within a dollar or two you win a prize! Locations http://bank.commerceonline.com/infor...ions/index.cfm

Thanks for the tip. I used the locator on the Coinstar site, and local machines in this area at Giant Eagle stores appear to have this feature. The advanced machine locator tells you exactly what cards, eCertificates, organizations you can donate to, etc. are available at each machine. Of the 4 currently available no-fee options, only Starbucks and Amazon are available here it looks like.