coinstar fee rumour / penny jar help

freakin

is it true that if i take tesco vouchers out of one of these then there is no fee?

any other way of cashing up my £647 penny jar?

I may visit a few banks tomorrow get a few bags changed up of the larger denominations but i know they don't like this much.

It is all pre bagged but some may be a coin or two over / under so would need to be checked by the bank etc.

archer7

I don't know much about the Coinstar machines (other than their horrific fee), but I would definitely take cash rather than vouchers. Whatever your financial position, it's usually best not to restrict yourself to shopping in one place.

Banks are happy to take coin bags, but they do often have a maximum of around 5 bags that can be paid in at once. I guess they might waive this if it's not too busy, because it doesn't take a massive amount longer than other transactions. I would definitely count it out yourself first and be as sure as you possibly can, although they are weighed at the bank to check. I could see the bank not being particularly happy if you have 15 bags and 10 of them need checking, though.

If there is a strict limit on paying in, it might even be easier to pay it into multiple accounts and just transfer the money across, particularly for the larger value bags.

I_luv_cats

I have only ever seen the option to get cash (via the machine printed coinstar voucher) or to donate to a charity.

The coinstar voucher normally gets exchanged for cash at customer service.

The fee is around 9%

I'd rather slip a few coins in @ self-service till or spend some @ my newsagents etc. UNLESS I have loads and loads of coins!!

BabyBetty

there are some banks with the new coin deposit macines, which do not charge - only thing is you need to have an account. I took my coin jar to my local natwest and used the new machine.

misskaytee

Just wanted to clear up re the coinstar machines, you have two options, donate to charity in which case no fee is charged, or get a voucher, fee is approx 9%. you can use it for you shopping or take it to customer services and exchange for cash.... please note the voucher is only valid on the day you exchanged the coins.

our local post office cashes in coins for free, local shops may also be interested, as these normally get charged by the bank.

could you phone the bank and explain you'll be coming in with such a large amount?

what are the largest coin values you have?

Have you thought how you are going to transport all these coins, i know they will be extremely heavy.....

frasersmum123

I work in a supermarket and the vouchers can only be accepted on the day they are printed (in our supermarket anyway) so unless you are going to do £600 worth of shopping its not a good idea.

They take the 8% - which is going to be £50 off your total. There are coin machines in Natwest and HSBC in our city - do you have an account with one of them?

Watalie

Also coin machines in Barclays... I know I'd personally rather not give Coinstar my money

the_cat

I've never had a problem paying in bags of coin to my bank - usually between £100 and £200 each time. They aren't keen on a cash exchange though ( if you want cash, pay it into your account, then pop out to the cashpoint and remove it;))

Ok it will take you a bit of time bagging it up and you will probably have to make more than one trip to pay in, but seriously £50 is a fair bit of money to lose. Think of it as being your 'salary' for doing the boring job yourself rather than using the machine. It might take you a couple of hours but, tax free, that is a very decent hourly rate!

eleanor73

My bank (HSBC) and my bf's bank (Natwest) has a coin machine. If your bank doesn't then that might be a bartering tool for them to exchange your bags of cash as they aren't as up to speed with new technology!
Don't pay a percentage! I'd rather save the money and use it in a self service every week for a year than give those machines a percentage!

021

i paid £40ish in at HSBC this week using their coin machine. it makes a heck of a racket but much better than either counting it into bags or paying coinstar their 8.9p in a £.

my tip is to visit your local branch, if they don't have one, visit the next bank in the high street and see if you can pay in there. i had to key in my sort code and account at the machine, so perhaps you can pay into any bank account from there?

freakin

thanks for the replies, i paid it in two different banks as my locak HSBC's and Natwests dont have the counters they got it over the counter. I think i was customer of the week