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beauanderos
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2408 Posts |
 Posted - 10/18/2009 : 13:15:33
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I'm one of the newer members here who is still working full-time, sometimes five or six days a week. When I get off the banks are closed, so I can only dump for fifteen minutes before 6pm on Fridays. I have no problem ordering $500 at a time at banks near where I work (and can take 30 min breaks) but the searched zincs are starting to pile up. The one day off I had that I returned $380 worth of pennies to one bank with a counter I felt really badly about all the effort the assistant customer service supervisor was having to go through having to change bags every $25. Though she assured me "it's our job," I sensed I better start bribing her, and did ask her when the best times were to visit and when not to come. My time is valuable (at least until I retire) and I'm wondering if it isn't just worth the fees charged by Coinstar to simplify dumps. Here's my question. Does anyone know what the capacity of Coinstar's are for pennies? What's the most anyone has dumped there? What happens if it jams? What happens to coins in the machine if the bags fill before it has finished with your pour? Any helpful hints would be much appreciated as I'm piling up a bunch of zincs and will run out of funds for backup search boxes at some time rapidly approaching. I guess what I'm wondering is (disregarding my time and rationalizing it is "paid for" with my finds) is the growing stash worth 1.1 face? At some point you have to calculate you might be spending more time driving and dumping than wear and tear on your car and gas expenses justify. There's a Coinstar across the street from where I live. I've already starting limiting my orders to $500 per point at three different BOA's all nearby my worksite. Any thoughts? What have you guys decided on these issues? Great site, btw. People at work think I'm nuts and could never imagine the benefit of what we are doing, so it's great to find consensus among like-minded collectors/hoarders.
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Hoard now and hold on!
http://coppermillions.blogspot.com/
http://wherewillyoubein2012.blogspot.com/ |
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Copper Catcher
Administrator
USA
2092 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2009 : 13:28:43
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| I would not pay the Coinstar fees but try to locate a bank that would accept loose coin and then invest in a CS-10 coin counter and you will need to purchase the plastic bags. |
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Neckro
1000+ Penny Miser Member
Saudi Arabia
2080 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2009 : 13:32:40
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| When I sorted BOA provided the plastic bags free of charge. |
Trolling is an art. |
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aloneibreak
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
672 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2009 : 13:35:05
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you bring up lots of good points i myself have pondered as well.
first off DO NOT just eat the ridiculous coinstar fee. that will take a huge chunk out of your profit. i still use coinstar on occassion - but only with the gift card option. if i dont use the gift cards myself i can usually sell them to some friends who will use them - and pay me cash for them. ive never dumped more than $200 or so at one. took over an hour. it was ok cuz my old lady still wasnt finished shopping when i got done. but you get kind of a nervous feeling with all those people watching you for that long staring at your total.
ive been working everyday for a few months as well and just dont have time to make it to the banks or sort much at all. i will occassionally buy a few coppers from members on this site. money has been tight lately but i want to keep adding a little copper to my hoard each month. even though it may cost me a touch extra its still cheaper than all the bank runs and my time. i miss the fun of sorting though.
welcome to the forum! |
My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
Thomas Jefferson
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beauanderos
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2408 Posts |
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beauanderos
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2408 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2009 : 13:59:13
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| Im also wondering if there'd be any takers off Craigslist if I listed $100 face pennies for $95 for instance? Let someone else go through the hassle of wrapping and returns for the 5% margin (in effect making them mini-Coinstars) and saving me a bit of cost? |
Hoard now and hold on!
http://coppermillions.blogspot.com/
http://wherewillyoubein2012.blogspot.com/ |
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twocents
Penny Collector Member
398 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2009 : 14:02:09
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| The Coinstar machine does not sort into bags. It just counts the coins. All accepted coins go into one of two receptacles. I would estimate they each hold 20 gallons. All denominations are mixed. So there is no chance of overloading the machine with any single denomination, and there is no chance of it having to change bags. It either has room left or it does not. It is scary when the machine changes to the second receptacle. Everything just shuts down as if the machine is broken. Then it starts counting again about 30 seconds later. I have had the power go out twice when counting. It just prints your ticket, and you can count the coins already in the counter onto a second ticket. I do free coin counting only. Each time the power went out, I was switched over to non-free counting, but it was just for a couple of bucks, so it wasn't worth complaining. I have found the Coinstar machines to repeatedly be accurate to the penny. If the machine fills while you are counting, you will just get a ticket for what was counted, and you will have to scoop up your uncounted coins. I have dumped $200 at once without a hiccup. |
Just my two cents! |
Edited by - twocents on 10/18/2009 14:16:38 |
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beauanderos
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2408 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2009 : 14:21:26
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| ok, thanks for the info, appreciate you taking the time to respond. I just answered alot of my other questions by going to their website FAQ's. Wow, you have to spend ALL of your money on one of their gift certificates to get free service. Then what? Hang around Lowe's and approach unwary customers? Sell them on ebay? That will cost fees as well. Seems like it would be just as much trouble and waste of time (which I was trying to avoid in the first place) as it would be finding smiling-teller dumpsites. I am thinking that I will just have to accept their fee as one of my expenses, as even using a coincounter and taking back bags is going to be very time-consuming. I'd rather maintain good relations at my ordering banks than to become an annoyance... though it is hard not to cringe at the lost return in fees. The nice thing is there are four of the money-hungry critters at grocery stores within a mile of me, open at hours that are convenient. |
Hoard now and hold on!
http://coppermillions.blogspot.com/
http://wherewillyoubein2012.blogspot.com/ |
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smartinson
Penny Collector Member
USA
287 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2009 : 14:29:12
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| I used Coinstar when I first started because we had no banks here in my little town. I would take $300-400 worth when we went to the big town over 30 miles away. Always took the e-certificate to Lowe's since we were remodeling. Several times the machine was not working and I got free counting and cash. Once the machine shut down in the middle of my counting and I called Coinstar and they sent me a check for the fees I was charged. I finally found three banks that will let me use their free counter and it is so wonderful. 15 minutes a apposed to 2 hours and cash instead of e-certificated. Ok in a pinch but try to find a nice bank. One charges 2% (Wells Fargo) but that is better than .089%. I never cash in pennies unless I have other business to do, gas is too expensive so mine pile up also. Good Luck! |
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EZ_Money
Penny Pincher Member
USA
125 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2009 : 14:42:45
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| If you are using Bank Of America, ask them for some change bags to turn coins in. You can put up to 50 lbs. of loose coin in each bag and they will send them into their processing center to be counted. I have done this several times and it has always been to the penny. The only catch is it takes a few days for it to be deposited into your account. They don't charge for the service. |
Running total:
Halves searched:$14,445.50
90% found: 122
40% found: 481
Dimes Searched $2100
Found: 5 |
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smartinson
Penny Collector Member
USA
287 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2009 : 15:04:12
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| Don't use Bank of America but most of the banks I have access to says they don't accept bags, they have to be recounted. Wish they did, would be alot easier. I do have a coin counter so that would be easier. Thanks! |
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beauanderos
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2408 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2009 : 16:35:31
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| Just thought about this. My math was wrong. It costs more than 1.1 face using Coinstar. If I mine $500 in boxes to find $100, then I would be returning $400 for a fee of $35.60. That makes face $100 cost $135.60 if using Coinstar, and that's only if I can mine at least 20%. So I'll have to seriously consider some of the fee-saving measures members are posting. Thanks for the tips; I may try to see if BOA will accept bagged coin. EZ Money... how many bags have you taken in at a time? |
Hoard now and hold on!
http://coppermillions.blogspot.com/
http://wherewillyoubein2012.blogspot.com/ |
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Stop Making Cents
Penny Sorter Member
53 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2009 : 17:14:09
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| I was thinking about taking the coinstar hit too. I have one up the street, but a branch of my bank with a counting machine is about 30 minutes away. I guess I'll have to see what gift certificates are available. |
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AgMan
New Member
23 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2009 : 18:28:59
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quote:
Originally posted by Stop Making Cents
I was thinking about taking the coinstar hit too. I have one up the street, but a branch of my bank with a counting machine is about 30 minutes away. I guess I'll have to see what gift certificates are available.
I only use Coinstar. I always take the Amazon, or Lowes Gift Card. |
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beauanderos
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2408 Posts |
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AgMan
New Member
23 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2009 : 20:24:30
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quote:
Originally posted by beauanderos
AgMan... what about if you want to return $1000 a week or so? That's alot of gift certificates!
Then you need another alternative. I only return about $75 a week thus far. |
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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
6807 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2009 : 22:01:42
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If your time is valuable.. CoinStar is not for you. The website claims 600 coins per minute, but actual tests put it closer to 300 CPM for pennies. I would be happy to handle all your zincs for 5%. Just bring them by.. I have a pair of Mach 7's waiting.
You might be a lot better off just buying your copper from other members. Your cost would be roughly the same, but you would save a lot of time and gas. They would be delivered right to your front door, conveniently packaged. How much is your time worth?  |
If your percentages are low.. just sort more. If your percentages are high.. just sort more.
Now selling Copper pennies. 1.6x plus shipping. Limited amounts available. |
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oktyabyr
Penny Sorter Member
USA
91 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2009 : 23:32:56
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| The Amazon certs are great. Lets me sort for Cu and get stuff that I was gonna get anyways. No rolling, counting, or wrapping involved. Plus when my fiance gets mad about my box purchases, I just hand her some amazon certs and let her have fun. |
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EZ_Money
Penny Pincher Member
USA
125 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2009 : 14:39:44
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| The most I have returned to one branch at one time is 4 bags (around $225 or so). It didn't seem to be too much to the teller that helped me. On average I return about 2 bags at a time though. |
Running total:
Halves searched:$14,445.50
90% found: 122
40% found: 481
Dimes Searched $2100
Found: 5 |
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Mikep2020
Penny Collector Member
USA
402 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2009 : 15:05:02
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| I'm a small time sorter and use coinstars as well and dump around $50 at a time. I weight out 30 lbs of zinc into a bin so every dump is between 5220 and 5235 coins. There was a specific machine for while that couldn't connect to the internet to give me a gift card, so it gave me cash for 100% of the value. That machine has since been fixed, but I don't mind eating $4-$5 every once in a while to avoid time consuming rolling, or get a gift card if i'm going to buying stuff from places like lowes or amazon. I find that every machine i've used, is consistantly 600 coins per minute. I can dump 5200 pennies in about 10 minutes. |
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beauanderos
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2408 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2009 : 21:22:56
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You've all brought up some interesting points that have given me a new perspective. I talked to BOA today when I picked up a $500 order and they told me I could return (in their bags, which they supplied) a maximum of $50 at a time (per bag). This is about 27 1/2 lbs each which I figure shouldn't be too hard on this old feebs body. If I change my pickup banks to dump banks there's three within a mile a work which I can hit during work, so I can easily do $600 a week dumps and push it to $1200 if needed. It's helpful to pick you guys brains, thanks for the tips!  |
Hoard now and hold on!
http://coppermillions.blogspot.com/
http://wherewillyoubein2012.blogspot.com/ |
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twocents
Penny Collector Member
398 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2009 : 22:52:38
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quote:
Originally posted by oktyabyr
The Amazon certs are great. Lets me sort for Cu and get stuff that I was gonna get anyways. No rolling, counting, or wrapping involved. Plus when my fiance gets mad about my box purchases, I just hand her some amazon certs and let her have fun.
Bingo! This is exactly how I play the Coinstar. Keep in mind I am a small, automated sorter. This means I have a Ryedale and CS-10, but I only sort $400-$500 per month. Any heavy hitter is going to want to dump at a bank. Like Hoard said, the Coinstars are slow in comparison. If you are going to dump $1000 face, you will be there all day and people will really look at you oddly. If you are a small sorter like me, I cannot dump enough into the Coinstar fast enough to produce the Amazon certificates my wife requests. As soon as she no longer needs them, I am going back to my dump bank, but even their customer counting machine is slow. |
Just my two cents! |
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slickeast
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2533 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2009 : 23:06:13
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Coinstar is not a good choice. Credit Unions are your best bet for finding a lobby machine. I have dumped close to $1000.00 of zincs in one trip before.
Sorting copper has its challenges. Sometimes it is getting enough pennies (rarely) or dumping zincs ( is or will become an issue)
I have been cut off from dumping zincs more than once. But with 600+ banks near me, finding a dump bank is really not that hard.
Keep working on it, once you have a great system going, watch for the monkey wrench. |
You don't have to be the BEST you just have to be.......SLICK
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n/a
deleted
1 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2009 : 02:01:02
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Hey guys, I'm new to this, just did my first penny sorting tonight although I've been a silver prospector in the past so have some experience with coinstar. Here's my observation, I'd be interested to know what you all think.
When I first started using Coinstar I tried the gift cert option for my local borders, which happens to be in the same shopping center. What I quickly found though was that every time I selected the borders card it would have an error and count my coins for free! So for a few months I was getting my counting done for free and would confirm it by using the $5 minimum first. Well, last week I got lazy and dumped a huge load in without testing the waters and ended up with a big fat borders card which isn't really so bad. Anyway, my thought is that it wasn't a problem connecting, as a previous user said, but maybe that there are only 100 or so cards in the machine at a time and when it runs out it counts the coins for free. Like I said borders is right next door so its likely that the borders cards would go out quickly. I haven't been back for awhile so I've yet to test my theory but I'm thinking this time I'll get myself as many $5 borders gift cards as I can and see if I can run it out again.
Anybody have any inside info on the coinstar machines? Do they have several hundred of each gift card? Am I wasting my time? Anyone ever "broken" one with a dump ( I have)? |
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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
6807 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2009 : 09:17:49
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beauanderos.. a word to the wise.. based on my experience. Do not push too hard on those BofA branches. If you show up every day with a bag to turn in, I guarantee they will eventually cut you off. While turning in loose in bags is one of the most convenient methods of dumping zincs.. if they see you too often at any particular branch, they will decide to cut you off. I got cut off from my main BofA branch for giving them too much action. I use my other BofA dump sites sparingly so they don't decide to cut me off too. Best if you continue to look for more dump sites and spread your action around a lot. By spreading the dumps around in both quantity and frequency, you stay below the radar more. And if you have multiple dump sites, it doesn't hurt so much when one decides to cut you off. Credit Unions are a good place to find free lobby machines. Even with free lobby counting machines, you don't want to overdo it. Many members here can attest to being cut off from banks with lobby counters.
Those free coin bags from BofA are a sweet deal. If you had to buy your own bags, they would cost at least 50 cents each in bulk.
Always be on the lookout for new dump sites. As soon as you get comfortable with your dumping routine, they will change the rules. Dumping zincs is the most challenging part of the whole operation.
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If your percentages are low.. just sort more. If your percentages are high.. just sort more.
Now selling Copper pennies. 1.6x plus shipping. Limited amounts available. |
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beauanderos
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2408 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2009 : 20:57:07
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| Hey thanks, HCBTT. I already ran into a problem on the supply end, one BOA that I had just picked up $500 from and I asked if I could place another similar order for the following week, the manager scowled at me and said "we're not placing any more orders until we determine if fees are in order." "And then you're going to be bringing these pennies back eventually, right? So we'll have to ship them back?" I decided to lay low for awhile on returns. Coinstar is looking better and better. If my car wasn't so small I'd bring you $5,000 worth of zincs and take you up on your 5% offer. |
Hoard now and hold on!
http://coppermillions.blogspot.com/
http://wherewillyoubein2012.blogspot.com/ |
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benefits of Coinstar?
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