I cashed in $150 worth of coins at a Coinstar machine the other day. There’s one at my local supermarket, which makes the service especially convenient. On the other hand, the machine charges 9% to redeem coins for cash. Ouch.
There was a good alternative though: I opted to trade in my full balance for a Lowe’s gift card, and received 100% cash value. Heck, I was remodeling my bathroom anyway so the timing was right. (Sorry Starbucks, as addicted as I am to your frozen caramel macchiato I just couldn’t see dropping that kind of coin on you at one time).
Still, the experience made me consider two things:
1. Why don’t banks provide this service for free to members?
In fact I went across the street to Bank of America just to double check whether they do offer this service. As I suspected, they do not. The teller explained that most banks have done away with their machines because they require too much hands-on maintenance from the bank staff. Interesting that Stop & Shop seems to have solved this problem, whereas banks cannot. But I digress.
2. My 11-year-old daughter was with me at the time, and I started thinking about how she could profit from this kind of service.
What if there were a portable Coinstar service (on wheels?) that kids could take with them throughout their neighborhoods? The idea is simple: the kid pays a franchise fee to rent a redemption machine and a coin sorter. They go to neighbors, friends and family and cash in coins for 10% profit. If I’m going to end up paying 9% at the store anyway, and the kid saves me the convenience of a trip, why not?
Do you have a coin jar laying around somewhere? How much money do you think is in it? How would you feel if a neighborhood kid came by and offered to cash it in for you?
AfriGadget
Kiva