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| Thursday, November 12, 2009 |
| CoinStar free $10 promotion is happening again this year |
 CoinStar has one again rolled out its holiday promotion. You bring $40.00 worth of coins to a machine that issues gift eCertificates, convert that change into an eCertificate at the numerous retailers in the program (I tend to go for the Amazon.com bucks) - since you are getting a gift card instead of cash you avoid paying any fees. When your $40.00 eCertificate prints out a $10 form will be at the bottom. Fill out the form and mail it in to get your free $10 eCertificate!
This worked well for me last year. Since I am a frequent Amazon.com shopper, it is well worth it for me to convert 2 $20 bills into quarter rolls at my bank and then spend some time at the CoinStar machine at my local grocery store turning those rolls into an eCertificate to get the extra $10. I just wish the extra $10 arrived before Christmas instead of after...
As always with any promotion such as this, be sure to read all the fine print carefully and ensure you fill-out the claim form in full and accurately to ensure you qualify and really get the free bonus. |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 6:26 PM *
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| 5 Comments: |
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You can combine this with free cash from the U.S. Mint (http://www.mydollarplan.com/free-money-from-the-us-mint/) and really do well.
-Erica
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Any ideas for getting around the limit of one promotion per name, address or household?
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Hi Erica,
I did see that money making idea on Consumerist, but took a pass on it for myself and promoting it on my blog. For a few reasons.
From the purely financial - my credit card gives me 1% cash back - so purchasing $1,000 in $1 coins from the US Mint - having them ship to me free - would get me $10 in rewards. So a one percent return on my "float" of $1,000. The CoinStar return of $10.00 for $40.00 "float" is 25%.
From a risk viewpoint - if I did go through with the US Mint deal, I now have $1,000 worth of coins to deal with. My local credit union where I bank does not take rolled coins - you have to use their coin counting machine (which charges a fee) to convert the coins to bills. Depositing rolls of coins for me would not be easy. Spending $1,000 in coins - also not easy.
From a tax payers point of view - I think the US Mint shipping coins to people for free and paying credit card transaction fees on this deal is just wrong. Why would anyone encourage this kind of waste?
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I agree with you Boston Gal. Can't believe we the tax payer provide the free shipping in all of this.
But since the program exists..
One idea if you really wanted to make this work - if you know that you will be spending $1,000 at Amazon.com in the coming years - go ahead, order the coins, then use Coinstar to convert the coins for free into an eCertificate. At least with Amazon you can register your eCertificate in your account and as you make purchases it will be automatically deducted.
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Hey Frugal Miser,
Only way around it is to get friends/family to let you use their names/addresses to accept your eCertificates.
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You can combine this with free cash from the U.S. Mint (http://www.mydollarplan.com/free-money-from-the-us-mint/) and really do well.
-Erica