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MaDeuce
Penny Pincher Member
USA
124 Posts |
 Posted - 07/20/2007 : 00:33:19
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Since Coinstar rears its head from time to time on this list, I thought I'd share the following with the readership...
I had the treat of getting a guided tour of a Coinstar machine this week. It was fascinating. Here's what I found out (nothing secret, I'm sure, just really interesting, at least to me).
When full, a Coinstar machine holds about $6K in change. An average machine needs to be emptied about once a week.
The machines keep track of their contents and estimate when they'll be full. They phone home daily. Coinstar schedules pickups based on estimates of when the machines will fill.
The machines also keep track of paper level (for receipts). They will phone home about this as well, so paper supplies can be replenished before they are gone.
When you open up a Coinstar, a telephone is inside. If the servicing tech has any problems or questions, they can just pickup the phone and a Coinstar rep answers to assist. Coinstar knows the minute that a machine is opened; they are not candidates for an impulsive source of vandalism/theft.
They process about 600 coins per minute.
Their coin pickup/movement mechanism is awesome. I could never describe it, but it has a lot of innovative features that help increase reliability. It is unlike any other commercial mechanism I've seen.
There is only a single electronic sensor in the machine. This is what really blew me away. As each coin passes the sensor, the machine determines it's denomination (or determines that it is a "foreign" coin and that it should be rejected).
One company is typically engaged to remove coinage and provide basic cleaning. Another company is typically engaged to provide equipment maintenance/repair.
Coinstar automatically remits payment to the host site based on data sent to it by phone from the machine.
At first glance, a 9.8% fee for converting change to paper money seems very steep. However, when one really thinks about all the steps and all the people involved in turning the coin into money, it ain't all that bad.
In the end, I was blown away by all the thought and engineering that they have applied to produce this solution. Very, very, impressive.
MaDeuce
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Canadian_Nickle
Penny Hoarding Member
Canada
938 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2007 : 00:50:14
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there is no way that coinstar machines count 600 coins/minute. Having used them now and then, I know that a box of nickels (2000 coins) takes much longer than 3.5 minutes. More like 15.
________________________
"A nickel's nothing to scoff at."
C. Montgomery Burns
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CA10Ag250:CA50Ag100:CA25Ag30:CA500Ag48:US100Ag20:CA1000Ag16
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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
6807 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2007 : 03:46:59
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Now that I think about it, I think I read that 600 coin per minute figure on their web site long ago. Your performance may vary. Last time I dropped a bag of pennies in one of their machines it seemed like it took forever to count. Seems the machine takes lots of union breaks or something. I will have to run a few thousand coins through my counter and then take them down and time the machine next time I need to recharge the Starbucks card. Still a pretty impressive machine, and awfully convenient, especially when you don't have to pay the percentage.
"Preserving coinage.. 2 tons at a time"
HoardCode0.1:M48/14USCA:US1Cu639700:US5Ni2400:CA5Ni46 |
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just carl
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
601 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2007 : 09:41:08
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Now that I think about it, I think I read that 600 coin per minute figure on their web site long ago. Your performance may vary. Last time I dropped a bag of pennies in one of their machines it seemed like it took forever to count. Seems the machine takes lots of union breaks or something. I will have to run a few thousand coins through my counter and then take them down and time the machine next time I need to recharge the Starbucks card. Still a pretty impressive machine, and awfully convenient, especially when you don't have to pay the percentage.
"Preserving coinage.. 2 tons at a time"
I think I missed something here. In the orginal post it stated there was a 9.8% charge for this service. I have never seen one of these machines around where I live but probably eventually will. I do know there was some type of coin machine in a store not far from me but someone borrowed it during the night. It's gone now.
Carl |
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c140cessna
Penny Collector Member
USA
419 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2007 : 12:46:28
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Coinstar has deals with certain retailers (Amazon, Starbucks, etc.) where if you accept a coupon as payment for your change, there is no service fee for the counting.....you get 100% of your change value in a credit coupon to use at those retailers.
Go to coinstar web page for details....
I do not use this feature. I try to minimize my retail purchases as much as possible. |
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n/a
deleted
1 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2007 : 21:39:44
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Excuse the slightly off topic question but does anyone know of a coinstar like machine that can be purchased to put up in a retail location? I've done some initial research and can't seem to locate any however your forums seems to have some members that are 'in the loop'
BTW MaDeuce, thanc you for the overview of how the machine works, informative.
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Electricity can be dangerous. My nephew tried to stick a penny into a plug. Whoever said a penny doesn't go far didn't see him shoot across that floor. I told him he was grounded.
Tim Allen |
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c140cessna
Penny Collector Member
USA
419 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2007 : 00:21:53
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Centless,
There was a Coinstar-like machine on Ebay earlier this week....it was called a "changEXchange" machine and the price was $6000. It would be ideal if you owned a retail store.....if no own.....could be a problem working out all the details with retailer on paying customers for their reciept....keeping machine running....
Might be a great opportunity ....and I'm just too short sighted.... |
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Coinstar
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