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iTunes 101: From a jug of coins to an iTunes Gift Certificate

by Erica Sadun Aug 17th 2009 at 3:00PM

Last time we dropped off a jug of change at our local charitable organization, the people there mentioned that they now preferred receiving bills. Apparently, they're getting charged for counting coin donations.

With that in mind, we brought our family's donation box over to Coinstar today. We used their locator service to find a nearby machine, which turns out to be at our local Albertson's.

Since Coinstar charges a fairly hefty 8.9% counting fee, we opted to cash out in an iTunes gift card and donate the equivalent amount in bills. With iTunes, you get a 100% transfer of funds; no fees. We brought over our pennies, nickles, and dimes in a cup. (No quarters, mind you. They're too handy. I personally bought out all the quarters from the jar in advance.)

This was the first time I ever used Coinstar, and I was surprised to learn that you can load bills directly into the machine as well as coins in order to build up a gift certificate. Given that you can buy pretty iTunes gift cards at the grocery's cash register no more than 10 feet away, I'm not entirely sure why people do this.

It took far longer to process our gift certificate than I expected. After pouring in the coins (the fun part!), we were there waiting for about 5-10 minutes. Finally, an iTunes gift certificate printed out and we were on our way.

The code was a bit longer than the normal redemption codes I'm used to. I entered it into iTunes and it worked fine. My account was credited immediately after.

Although the whole stand-and-wait portion was a bit annoying (my helper child got quite antsy), it's something I can easily see doing a few times a year. In the end, we are happy with our iTunes credit and the organization will be happy with the bills instead of the coins.

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Robert

Make sure that the Coinstar machine you intend to use can issue the desired e-certificate. The Coinstar Locator tells you what can be issued from machines near you.

This sounds like a crazy cool idea. I might even try it!

August 19 2009 at 3:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
fallstonslowlife

I don't know where you're located at but BB&T banks have free coin counters and they will just give you cash on the spot. Coinstar is straight robbery!

August 17 2009 at 6:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
MatthewF

I'd guess they allow you to put bills in so you can round the gift card up to an even number, which is likely more pleasing if you're going to later give it as a gift.

August 17 2009 at 5:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bill Mac

Same here - visited the CoinStar during the holidays to both get rid of several jars of accumulated "spare change" and get the $10 bonus! :)

Those coins would've sat there untouched for years without this. Instead we bought Apps and music, rented movies, etc. all with those extra pennies.

It's perfect, and I can't wait to fill up those jars again! Last year we cashed in more than $70 (and that was without the quarters!).

August 17 2009 at 4:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
moeskido

Seconding #13. TD Bank, which merged with Commerce Bank has branches in the Northeast and Southeast. Coin machines are free to use, and you don't need to wrap anything.

August 17 2009 at 4:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Galley

I've been doing this for a couple of years, although I get Amazon gift certificates since I prefer CDs over digital downloads.

August 17 2009 at 4:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Yakov Chodosh

If you live near a TD bank, you can get your coins counted and cash out in American greenbacks, for free, whenever, no account required

August 17 2009 at 4:06 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Brian Allen

This coin counter machine don't handle large amounts of coins without jamming.

Anything less than $50 should work, but larger amount are very iffy.

August 17 2009 at 3:58 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Brian Allen's comment
Farris

I one time loaded one of these machines at 11 pm and stood around waiting for about 15 minute while it counted... I got 176.something in cash, AFTER the 8.9% fee.

Also, Coinstars have been able to do iTunes gift cards for at least 2 years (that I know of).

August 17 2009 at 11:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Scott Frazer

I just did the coinstar thing this weekend with about 4 years of accumulated change. I got $430 in amazon credit. Took about 15 minutes at the machine, I think. Most difficult was carrying around over 40lbs of change.

Fun fact: any combination of dimes and quarters that weighs 1 lb is worth $20.

http://twitpic.com/e5s9c

August 18 2009 at 1:54 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
kylemg

I've been doing this for years. Coinstar even had a holiday $10 mail-in bonus this past December. Loose change is the only money I spend on apps/music.

August 17 2009 at 3:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Devin

CoinStar for cash is for suckers. Your bank will do the same thing without charging you a service fee.

August 17 2009 at 3:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Devin's comment
coyo t

actually most banks require that you roll your coins with those paper tubes

August 17 2009 at 3:46 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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