Technology has advanced over the years such that people now spend cash and credit cards instead of coins. But thanks to Coinstar, people can trade their long-forgotten coins for cash. Now people keep every coin they come across till it’s tangible enough to be worth some cash. Nevertheless, some know nothing about Coinstar. And wants to know it’s free, if this is you, you’re at the right article, keep going. Let’s know more about Coinstar fees.
Coinstar charges a processing fee of $11.9 during coin trading. The fee differs with one’s location though but anyone that wants to trade their coins should budget $11.9. Sure, this fee is too pricey. Are there alternatives to this payment of fee issue? You’d find out now!
Better Alternatives To Paying Coinstar Fees
Without much ado, let’s get into how people can trade their coins without paying the fees.
Get Paid With eGift Cards
First off, Coinstar recommends this option of not having to pay the fees. So it’s 100% legal.
Rather than getting paid the dollars. Before placing the coins in the machine, the person should choose “eGift cards” as their chosen payment option. Below is the list of eGift cards available at Coinstar;
- AMC Theatres.
- Amazon Gift Card.
- Chili’s Restaurant.
- Domino’s Pizza.
- Nike.
- Outback Steakhouse.
- Roblox.
- Razer Gold (Online Gaming).
- Red Robin Restaurant.
- DoorDash.
- The Home Depot.
- GameStop.
- Apple Gift Card.
- Applebee’s Restaurant.
- Gap (Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athleta).
- Hotels.com.
- Southwest Airlines.
- Starbucks.
- Steam (PC Games).
- Texas Roadhouse Restaurant.
- iHop Restaurant.
- Lowe’s.
- Cabela’s.
Charity
Coinstar partnered with seven different charitable organizations. Aside from not having to pay the $11.9 while donating the traded cash. It’s a tax-free donation which makes it a win-win.
As mentioned earlier, the interested person just needs to choose “Charity” in the payment option and that’s it. See the charitable organizations Coinstar is partnering with to make a choice;
- American Red Cross.
- WWF (World Wildlife Foundation).
- Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
- United Way.
- Feeding America.
- UNICEF.
- Make a Wish.
- The Human Society.
- NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People).
N.B; One can browse about these organizations to know their aim and objectives.
Turn Your Coins Into Cryptocurrency
It’s now possible to turn one’s coins into cryptocurrency by creating a Coinme profile, and claiming one’s free crypto wallet. Then move on to buying a crypto voucher for cash in the chosen Coinstar kiosk.
The person can redeem their voucher on their coinme account once they’ve gotten their crypto voucher. Coinstar recognizes 8 cryptocurrencies and they’re as follows;
- Bitcoin (BTC).
- Stellar (XLM).
- Litecoin (LTC).
- USD Coin (USDC.
- Polygon (MATIC).
- Ethereum (ETH).
- Chainlink (LINK).
- Dogecoin (DOGE).
Credit Unions
This is similar to banks, the difference is that credit unions are membership-based. This means that any interested person that gets accepted into any credit union becomes a member.
So how do credit unions trade coins for free? Well, they have Coinstar kind of machines where one can trade coins in seconds. Without having to spend time rolling the coins.
Trading coins in a credit union is available and free for members. Despite few credit unions allowing customer trade, they’d need to pay a fee of 9 to 10% of their traded cash. Few examples of credit unions that use Coinstar Machines;
- Bethpage federal.
- Randolph-Brooks.
- Mountain America.
Banks?
Yes, government entity banks do have the coin cash machine in their lobby. They’ve made it available for their customers to come and trade their coins for cash. However, some grant access to non-customers as well.
Although these government entity banks have coin cash machines, few of them still collect a processing fee for it. Using a bank coin cash machine means providing one’s debit card and pin before one trades coins for cash. Here are banks that have Coin cash machines;
- Bank of America.
- BB&T.
- People’s United Bank.
- Chase Bank.
- Manasquan Bank
- Umpqua Bank (Pacific Northwest).
- Cape Bank.
- Wells Fargo.
- Citibank.
- U.S. Bank.
- Home State Bank.
- Shelby Savings Bank.
- JBT.
Where To Find Coinstar Machines?
Several grocery stores in the United States have Coinstar machines. Interested people can go to their Coinstar machine stores.
They’d fill in their city name or postal code on the site to find grocery stores that have Coinstar machines. Below are some of the grocery stores;
- Albertsons
- CVS
- Kmart Super Centers.
- Target Superstores.
- The Food Emporium
- Walmart.
- Kroger.
- Lowes
- Ray’s Food Places.
Finally
Coinstar has proven that every tiny coin in the closet is not useless but the deal with the $11.9 processing fee isn’t soothing. However, with the other options shown in this article. This article can end with wishing everyone “Happy free coin rolling!”
Frequently Asked Questions
#1. Does Coinstar accept all types of coins?
No, Coinstar doesn’t accept foreign coinage, Eisenhower silver dollars, pure silver commemorative, and 1943 steel pennies.
#2. Can one redeem Coinstar vouchers/receipts after misplacing them?
No, if one misplaces it, Coinstar won’t replace it. Therefore it’s best to register it and keep it safe.
#3. What’s Coinstar’s customer care contact?
Their customer care is available every day from 5 am to 9 pm (PA). One can reach them at 800.928.2274. or Coinstarcustomercare.
