Coinstar machines today charge consumers 8.9 percent of their coins for the service of counting it and giving it a receipt for the remaining 91.1 percent of the money.
In Amazon.com's case, though, Coinstar machines will charge nothing for the service as far as consumers are concerned. Amazon is selling Coinstar its gift cards at a sharp volume discount, allowing Coinstar to cover its costs and profit.
In other words, the gigantic vases of pennies I have in my closet can be converted in seconds to Amazon credits. Without any fees. The 9% fee that Coinstar usually charges was enough to never make me want to use their machines before, and the hassle of rolling my own coins was why I never take my accumulated change to the bank. Hence, accumulated coins in closets.
I do typically rotate coins through for sadaka in both our cars of course. This new program however gives me even more options. Especially if we can donate to the Red Cross via Amazon using these certificates. That money does no good - for me or for society - just sitting in those vases in my closet.
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