CoinStar is the stupidest thing in the entire universe

Yes, even dumber than the Kindle.

For those not in The Know, CoinStar is a green machine found in many grocery stores, usually where the ATMs are. The CoinStar machine takes your spare change and prints out a receipt for you to take to a register; the register then gives you the amount of money you had in cash so you're not carrying coins around.

Sounds good, right? But wait: COINSTAR CHARGES YOU TO COUNT YOUR COINS.

Think about this for a minute. Just think about it. They are charging you--taking away your money--to count your money.

You know what can count change for free? Anyone over the age of five.

So yeah, you have to carry a few more pennies in your pocket--but is it really worth it to pay money to be told how much money you have?

ITT: Discuss stupid products/services.

TD back has something similar. But it used to be free :evil:

They provide a service for a fee. I don't see how that is stupid. Not all of us have the time and desire to sit at the kitchen table counting out hundreds of dollars in pennies and dimes. I personally use the maching at my local bank branch which is free, but I still don't understand your gripe.

coin star is brilliant, the people who use it and not the free counter at the bank are stupid ones.

How much is the fee? Or doesn't it depend on the amount of money it has to count?mrmusicman247

Well, I usually take my coins to the bank to get them counted for free. But coinstar charges you for convienence.

How much is the fee? Or doesn't it depend on the amount of money it has to count?mrmusicman247

[QUOTE="mrmusicman247"]How much is the fee? Or doesn't it depend on the amount of money it has to count?Theokhoth

Edit: I also hate the Kindle, Nook, or e-readers. What happened to lovely the feel of a real book and it's pages? And it's overpriced features just to read a book and still having to pay for content to view. If I pay a few hundred dollars for a device to show the pages of a book I should get a couple of books for free. :P

Lilyanne46

So? A car wash charges you to clean your car, which any idiot can do. People will pay for something/someone else to do something quicker/better than they can or just to do it so they don't have to. markop2003

I guess they charge you for the convenience of changing your coins into bills. But I'm with you, I'm not going to pay a fee for that.

They provide a service for a fee. I don't see how that is stupid. Not all of us have the time and desire to sit at the kitchen table counting out hundreds of dollars in pennies and dimes. I personally use the maching at my local bank branch which is free, but I still don't understand your gripe.

YellowOneKinobi

This

I use TD Bank's Penny Arcade cause it's free.

i guess not everyone is good at counting

I typically put all my change in some glass jars. Every so often I'll take them to the Coinstar machine to change them out. Yeah, I can count it out myself for free, but it's worth the small charge to me to not have to count out $50 in pennies, nickles and dimes, and to not have to put them in rolls in order to get them exchanged for cash.

I'm pretty sure there is no charge if you choose to put your money on a gift card to somewhere. I might be thinking of a similar service though.

No OP, you just don't know the practicality of such a device.

For example, I don't have a big jar of coins, but if I did, I would use one of those machines. Why? Because my time is worth a lot. I make more in an hour than it would take me to count up a huge jar of coins and wrap them up in rolls (which banks require you to do to cash them in). So why would I waste my time when I could spend that time making more money than the pennies I lose using a service?

I've known about this for such a long time. My friends don't believe me though.

I'm pretty sure there is no charge if you choose to put your money on a gift card to somewhere. I might be thinking of a similar service though.

yokofox33

This is true. Coinstar only charges you a fee if you want cash back. You don't lose a single cent if you put the money towards a gift card to say Amazon or Starbucks. Coinstar is a great service.

[QUOTE="yokofox33"]

I'm pretty sure there is no charge if you choose to put your money on a gift card to somewhere. I might be thinking of a similar service though.

CJL182

This is true. Coinstar only charges you a fee if you want cash back. You don't lose a single cent if you put the money towards a gift card to say Amazon or Starbucks. Coinstar is a great service.

This is the point I was going to make as well. I just get a grocery store gift card since, you know, I'm at the grocery store anyways.

I think you've missed the point. It is not used to count your money, it is used to change your loose change you have been collecting for god knows how long.Big_Bad_Sad

[QUOTE="Big_Bad_Sad"]I think you've missed the point. It is not used to count your money, it is used to change your loose change you have been collecting for god knows how long.chicknfeet

If i had a huge jug full of coins i think i'd take the fee...

[QUOTE="chicknfeet"][QUOTE="Big_Bad_Sad"]I think you've missed the point. It is not used to count your money, it is used to change your loose change you have been collecting for god knows how long.Big_Bad_Sad

[QUOTE="chicknfeet"][QUOTE="Big_Bad_Sad"]I think you've missed the point. It is not used to count your money, it is used to change your loose change you have been collecting for god knows how long.Big_Bad_Sad

If a automated machine owned and operated by a billion dollar corporation counts as people on less money.

so lets say you have a big jar of change

Not just one jar, but two. Enough pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters to essentially take you about three hours to count out.

Then you gotta go to the bank and ask for some sleaves so you can put the change in them. Which is a pain in the ass; the paper folds in, so then you need to unfold it so the change can slide in. And *OUCH* you get a paper cut.

Then you rub your eyes because youre so fatigued from counting change for hours on end and, suprise, you get pink eye because there are ass pennies in the jar because some jerk wanted to get some sense of power and shoved some pennies up his ass, because it comforts him that someone out there will be handling his ass pennies.

Or, you could go to a coinstar, and they charge you a few bucks to count your change and give you a nice receipt saying you have a hundred bucks worth in change.

I dont want to handle ass pennies for hours on end

I have a kindle and love it.

Shame some people are extremely lazy and don't mind being charged to have their change counted.DavidianMH

They provide a service for a fee. I don't see how that is stupid. Not all of us have the time and desire to sit at the kitchen table counting out hundreds of dollars in pennies and dimes. I personally use the maching at my local bank branch which is free, but I still don't understand your gripe.

YellowOneKinobi

Exactly. I usually cash my coins every three or four months, and the jar gets full within that time frame - now that my family has been contributing every now and then. I don't have nor want to spend my time counting every penny, nickel, dime and quarter in the jar. CoinStar counts them in less than five minutes.

[QUOTE="DavidianMH"]Shame some people are extremely lazy and don't mind being charged to have their change counted.ice_radon

You buy a $1.40 soda, pay for it with two $1 bills. That's $0.60 in change back. Get a $0.50 newspaper, pay with one $1 bill, get $0.50 in change back. An $0.80 candy bar paid for with, again, a $1 bill. People make little transactions like that all the time. It adds up.

Yes, even dumber than the Kindle.

For those not in The Know, CoinStar is a green machine found in many grocery stores, usually where the ATMs are. The CoinStar machine takes your spare change and prints out a receipt for you to take to a register; the register then gives you the amount of money you had in cash so you're not carrying coins around.

Sounds good, right? But wait: COINSTAR CHARGES YOU TO COUNT YOUR COINS.

Think about this for a minute. Just think about it. They are charging you--taking away your money--to count your money.

You know what can count change for free? Anyone over the age of five.

So yeah, you have to carry a few more pennies in your pocket--but is it really worth it to pay money to be told how much money you have?

ITT: Discuss stupid products/services.

Theokhoth

[QUOTE="Theokhoth"]

Yes, even dumber than the Kindle.

For those not in The Know, CoinStar is a green machine found in many grocery stores, usually where the ATMs are. The CoinStar machine takes your spare change and prints out a receipt for you to take to a register; the register then gives you the amount of money you had in cash so you're not carrying coins around.

Sounds good, right? But wait: COINSTAR CHARGES YOU TO COUNT YOUR COINS.

Think about this for a minute. Just think about it. They are charging you--taking away your money--to count your money.

You know what can count change for free? Anyone over the age of five.

So yeah, you have to carry a few more pennies in your pocket--but is it really worth it to pay money to be told how much money you have?

ITT: Discuss stupid products/services.

needled24-7

Well obviously a lot of people find them useful if they're in just about every grocery store. I can see why. Counting out hundreds in coins would probably take several hours. I guess I can see why it'd be pointless with a small amount of coins, but I never see people using it with only $5 of coins. I always see people with bucketloads using the machines and who the f*** wants to sit counting a bucketload of coins let alone lug it around a store to pay with?

I found it was quite helpful when i unloaded my 4 gallon water jug into it.

How do people accumulate so much change anyway? Debit cards have been around for quite a while.