I have an idea for the sponsors here... Coinstar.

oblivion321 · Apr 1, 2017

Well, we all know how popular the coinstar machines are. Especially with the people among our affliction. I've seen plenty of posts about hammering flat and filing off burrs. Running clad through the tumbler,washing machine, electrolysis, DIY jet turbine, and many other creative methods of cleaning coins enough to get charged 10% of your finds and a prayer that the last guy left something cool in the return. That's 1 out of 10 hunted finds on average goes to service fees. Well, I know about the no charge e-gift card option, but there are not many retailers on the list that most of us would choose over the get cash throw away cash now option. Now...If maybe, one of the sponsors here could accept coinstar transactions it would be a win win relationship. We hunt. We find coins. We cash them in. You guys support our habits. Be an enabler. Or at least check into it if you haven't already. It could benefit all of us. DISCLAIMER... I have no affiliation with coinstar. What do you guys think ...? :?:

flyin-lowe · Apr 1, 2017

Ive only used Constar once and here is what I noticed. Before I tried it I got online and saw the large number of gift card options available. Once I got there and dumped my coins in I only had 5-10 options. (cant remember now but no good ones to choose from) I spoke with the manager of the store and they said not all the options are available all the time or at all locationa. They change ever so often. That day I had to end up taking the cash (minus the penalty) because all they were offering were coffee shops and some other !!!!. So even if a sponsor could get into Constar there is no guarantee it would be available at the location you choose. I doubt any of the sponsors have enough name recognition to get Coinstars attention. While a lot of us might use it Im guessing we are a small percentage of their users.

GKL · Apr 1, 2017

I'm not sure how much it would be, but likely there is a cost to the business for having their egift card available thru Coinstar since there is no fee to the customer.

Also there might be an initial sign-up fee in addition to likely giving Coinstar a percentage of the egift card value. So that is something the business has to consider, it might not be as easy to do for smaller businesses working on a slimmer profit margin.

I do buy from Amazon and very very occasionally shop Lowes so those are two I could use if needed.

Here are the egift card choices currently available from Coinstar for those who want a no-fee transaction -

https://www.coinstar.com/giftcards

GKL · Apr 1, 2017

flyin-lowe said:
Ive only used Constar once and here is what I noticed. Before I tried it I got online and saw the large number of gift card options available. Once I got there and dumped my coins in I only had 5-10 options. (cant remember now but no good ones to choose from) I spoke with the manager of the store and they said not all the options are available all the time or at all locationa. They change ever so often. That day I had to end up taking the cash (minus the penalty) because all they were offering were coffee shops and some other !!!!. So even if a sponsor could get into Constar there is no guarantee it would be available at the location you choose. I doubt any of the sponsors have enough name recognition to get Coinstars attention. While a lot of us might use it Im guessing we are a small percentage of their users.

Good point. I just noticed on this page - https://www.coinstar.com/giftcards

the following info -

Not all eGift Cards are available on every kiosk. NO FEE eGift Card options vary by location and may be temporarily unavailable at some Kroger stores: Kroger, Dillon Food Stores, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer, Fry’s Food Stores, Jay C Food Store, King Soopers, Ralphs Grocery, Smith’s Food & Drug, and Quality Food Centers.

Choose an eGift Card below to find kiosks
(end quote)

Now does the above "Choose an eGift Card below to find kiosks" mean that it will show kiosk locations that currently offer the card you clicked on at the above link ? .......it seems to sound that way.

I hope so as it would be good to know ahead of time if the card you want is available at the location you go to.

oblivion321 · Apr 1, 2017

Thank you for the responses. You are both probably right, but was just something I was thinking about. I have no idea what it takes to become affiliated with coinstar services. I do know that a lot of coin hunters do go through great measures to make their clad finds acceptable to those machines and it would be a great incentive to spend those finds at a business that directly supports this hobby. Even if it's just batteries for your machine. Some of you guys find enough to to buy a new pinpointer at the end of the year if you wanted to.

GKL · Apr 1, 2017

oblivion321 said:
Thank you for the responses. You are both probably right, but was just something I was thinking about. I have no idea what it takes to become affiliated with coinstar services. I do know that a lot of coin hunters do go through great measures to make their clad finds acceptable to those machines and it would be a great incentive to spend those finds at a business that directly supports this hobby. Even if it's just batteries for your machine. Some of you guys find enough to to buy a new pinpointer at the end of the year if you wanted to.

Since Coinstar offers Amazon egift cards (at least at some locations if not all) then maybe there are forum sponsors that also sell thru Amazon ?

(If so, I would let them know you heard about them thru the FMDF forum so they know the sale is because of their forum sponsorship)

Even if they don't sell on Amazon, check with them first as the forum sponsors might very well be able to offer a better deal !

flyin-lowe · Apr 2, 2017

The one I used did not have Amazon available. At the time I had just over $300 in clad and needed a new gas grill. I checked and saw some big box hardware stores and Amazon as well. Once I got there it was Starbucks, some online flower shop, and some other garbage I didn't want or need. Now the only time I go to a Coinstar machine is to snatch the occasional coin from the reject tray.

groundhog53946 · Apr 2, 2017

I would love if they had some of the sponsors as choices at a coinstar. I usually only run my cents, nickels and dimes. The amount of time I save not tumbling all those coins is well worth the fee. I've heard of some that have amazon as a choice for a no fee option but never any of the ones I have access to

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

oblivion321 · Apr 2, 2017

Amazon, Bass pro, Lowes and Home depot was not an option on the local machine I've used even though they are on the list. It varies by location. I could use my hard dug coins to Build-a-Bear though. :no:

I have an idea for the sponsors here... Coinstar.

oblivion321

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flyin-lowe

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GKL

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oblivion321

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