Coinstar (Coinstar)

Member Name: carlmcq

Product:	Coinstar
Date:	21/07/09 (142 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Counts out all that loose change

Disadvantages: You have to give up a small percentage

Now, I collect change like a Magpie collects unneccesary items. I'm not just talking 1p's and 2p's here, I'm talking big fish 10p's and 20p's. Anything higher than that and it's usually worth keeping in the wallet. Anything less than 20p, and it goes straight into a big plastic replica Carlsberg can sat on my desk for the benefit of Coinstar...

Coinstar machines (which just count your change out for you and exchange it for a receipt for money) can be found mostly in the entrances of large supermarkets. This may not be altogether convenient if you're doing a lot of shopping at the same time, but I suppose supermarkets have everything these days!

They work on the basis that the machine will count out your money for you, and then give you a receipt to exchange at Customer Service, deduct from your shopping bill, or donate to chairty. To get the cold, hard cash, you do have 7.9% commission taken automatically from the final bill (9.4 cents if you're using one in the Republic of Ireland). If you wish to donate to charity they have a whole host of affiliated partners, from local groups to global ones such as UNICEF, WWF or Cancer Research. Think of it as doing a good deed for several months collecting loose change!

They certainly act as more convenient than going to the bank, collecting money bags, then counting your change out manually and ensuring the right denomination is in each bag. It also rules out the annoyance of having say, £4.90 worth of 5p pieces, when £5 are required to be accepted by the bank. Basically whatever change you've got, throw it into the machine and let it do the dirty work.

The machines, which look somewhat like photo booths, but only if you had to stand outside in front of a screen rather than sit like an idiot in a booth, count the money out using some complicated technology which weighs the coins to ensure they a legal tender. Euros are obviously accepted in Irish Coinstars, and any currency which isn't Pound Sterling will be passed out the machine so you don't loose any money which you might need for a future holiday...or to make sure you don't cheat the system as you'll never win! Depending on the amount you feed into the machine, the screen above the disposal point keeps you informed of how much money has been counted so far and will break it down into how much of each coin. It's always a good game to see if you can guess how much you'll end up with.

After everything's been counted (if it will take a while the screen will say it's counting...by declaring "Gosh, don't you have a lot of coins!") and eventually a ticket will be printed out for you to take to Customer Services (if using a supermarket Coinstar) to exchange for money, or to show at the end of your shop.

I last used a Coinstar machine back at Easter and collected approximately £25 from a novelty Carlsberg can which was just over half full and contained nothing higher than 20p's. Tomorrow I'll be taking my three-quarter full can to get it changed again...what will the outcome be...I bet you're all dying to know!

Summary: Convenient machine for getting through unwanted change