Free $10 to cash in coins
Filed under: Bargain Babe
Every once in awhile there comes a deal that actually MAKES YOU MONEY. This is one of them. Now until Dec. 6, 2009, cash in $40 worth of coins at a green Coinstar machine, chose to get the money as a gift certificate or eCard, and you get a bonus $10 mailed to you. Suh-weet!
But getting the money requires you to follow these directions to a T:
- Before you dump your coins into the machine, press the "Cash in Coins" button and then the "Free Coin Counting" button.
- Select the retail brand of your choice.
- Pour your coins into the tray.
- Get your fully loaded card or eCert right from the machine.
To get the bonus $10, look for a claim form at the bottom of your Coinstar receipt. Complete the claim form in its entirety and postmark it by Jan. 6, 2010. Mail it to:
Coinstar Holiday 09 Bonus Offer
Department D, PO Box 6112
Douglas, AZ 85655-6112
Caveats: It takes six to eight weeks to get the check. Valid in the U.S. only and excludes Puerto Rico. Limit one per name, address, or household. Read all the fine print here.
For those of you wondering if the catch is all the gift card options suck, think again. You can redeem your coins for certs to Amazon.com, iTunes, CVS, Old Navy, Starbucks, and many more. Find a Coinstar machine near you.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-12-2009 @ 4:17PM
J.Alexander said...
I recently opted out of a Citi Card because they raised my interest rate from 14.9% to 29.99% a ridiculous increase given the fact I have never been late or missed a payment not ever paid a minimum payment in my life. Be that as it may, when I opted out they cancelled my card so I would not be able to make a purchase. e.g. it would not be accepted if I mistakenly tried to use it So your statement may be true for some cards it is not for Citi Cards. Thanks for allowing me to comment.
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11-13-2009 @ 5:55PM
Brenda said...
I agree with you J. Alexander. I too, have been a long time card holder and will be opting out of this new agreement. That is totally LOAN SHARK tactics. It is ridiculous. Obama should be doing something about that as well.
11-13-2009 @ 6:34AM
Unknown said...
Coinstar is a piece of crap company. They buy companies just to get their stuff in to those accounts, then sell off the company. "WalMart" is one that they used to get in to from our company.. Do lots of layoffs then sell the company for next to nothing after they screwed up that company. I know. I worked for one of them. DON'T use any Coinstar products, coin to cash and the RED BOX $1.00 movie rentals. Coinstar is a rip off company who only is looking for them, not the small companies that they buy and sell.
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11-13-2009 @ 6:35AM
Joan said...
Just go to T.D. Bank, and you can count your coins for free everyday. You don't need to have an account there...the teller will give you cash for your coin voucher. I've used Coinstar many times, and never had a problem with it...but why pay the fee when a bank is willing to count your coins for free?
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11-13-2009 @ 7:24AM
Tonie said...
Well said Joan, when I saw this article I scrolled down to comment with that same info. Coin Star charges you something like 7 cents on the dollar, TD Bank is totally free! Right now the $10 rebate makes it worth it, unless you have more than $142.00 in change. But that's only if you can use the gift or ecards they offer and you actually will send in the rebate form- most don't. Personally I'll just dump my change at TD.
11-13-2009 @ 8:11AM
Harry said...
I've got a better idea. Just send your money to me. I'll gladly take it through paypal at my e-mail address. Thank you kindly.
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11-13-2009 @ 9:18AM
Patrick said...
I have never understood the concept of taking your coin money to a machine that charges you a percentage for the privilege of giving you paper money in exchange.
Sure, you folks recommending people go to a particular bank are right, but I would think any bank that I am a customer at will gladly take my coins and turn them into cash for me.
Also, and here is a crazy thought, invest a couple of bucks on one of those coin sorters (not the electric kind, just the ones where you pour the coins in the slot and it sorts the coins by size). Get some paper coin rolls along with it and there ya go.
As far as this $10 gift certificate goes...if they do charge 7% as some are saying and you have to do a minimum of $40 then you are being charged $2.80 at a minimum for that $10 gift card.
Sounds like the same logic used with the lottery, which as we all should know is just a tax on people who never learned how to do math.
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11-13-2009 @ 9:26AM
Louis said...
Coinstar charges a fee of like 9% of the amount you are changing. Go to a damn bank and cash your coins in for free. They can keep their gift certificates.
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11-13-2009 @ 10:07AM
melody said...
Its not that hard to count and you get to keep all your money.
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11-13-2009 @ 10:19AM
Jen said...
That's awesome, thanks for the notice! Coinstar doesn't charge a fee if you get gift certificates, so that's what I do anyway. I use my spare change to support my iTunes habit.
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11-13-2009 @ 10:47AM
steve said...
I use the coin counter machines to get rid of my pennies and nickels ONLY. It is not worth my time to count out 50 pennies just to get 1/2 a buck, same with nickels.
Now quarters and dimes are another story- I will count those, wrap and take to the bank.
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11-13-2009 @ 10:49AM
jim said...
No thanks. Fill out a form and mail it? How many people will they sell my name and info to? I can only imagine the junk emails and phone calls and hard mail that will follow. Everyday I throw my pocket change into a can. When it's full, I cash it in. I don't need to sign my life away for ten bucks.
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11-13-2009 @ 11:41AM
Linda Dewlaney said...
The bank I have had my accounts at since 1989 says they will not accept pre-rolled coins in the paper wrappers, because people mis-count the number of coins and/or include things that are not coins (slugs, foreign coins, play money). They will accept coins for deposit into my account, however I have to give them the coins and wait around for it to be counted -- once it took 30 minutes before a teller was available to do that.
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11-13-2009 @ 12:40PM
Cathy T said...
coinstar charges for use of the machine. I believe the amount is the same as the sales tax for whatever city the machine is located in. When I have a lot of change to cash in, I take it to a casino, they cash it in for free. Or you can count it and roll it yourself, most banks will give you wrappers for free.
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11-15-2009 @ 8:40AM
Kathy said...
Just a note - WalMart is NOT participating in this program. I should have asked before I turned in my $41.41 in coins! I'm sorry, people, but I don't have time to count coins - dealing with breast cancer and a 95-year old Mum. And yes, I have a coin slotter, but it is pretty much worthless as far as I'm concerned. Maybe I should invest in a more expensive one, but the one I have is never quite accurate on their "lines." Plus there are only so many hours in the day between chemo, radiation and driving one hour each way to see my Mother. Not sure how CoinStar is supposed to stay in business by supplying the machines for nothing? So to me it is worth it to just take my "money jar" in and have the coins counted. Our bank is a small 'country' bank and they don't have a counting machine or the time to count the coins. I look at Coinstar as a valuable service that doesn't cost "that" much (based on how I value my time), and I have been buying my groceries at WalMart lately due to pricing. Let's not get into the whole WalMart employee/benefit thing - 2 local grocery stores don't offer their employees benefits - and they don't pay as much to begin with. I think all of you who have the time to count the coins yourself are very lucky
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