Convert Coins using #NOFEECoinstar at Stop & Shop {#CBias}

Monday, April 2, 2012
Do you remember the days when you had to roll your coins in wrappers and take them to the bank for redemption?

I do!

It was a tedious and time-consuming process.

Thank goodness those days are long gone. Thanks to Coinstar's coin conversion kiosks, converting coins is simple and convenient. Depending on which option you choose for redemption, you can avoid the steep 9.8% conversion fee.

We've been collecting coins in a bucket for quite some time. The coins usually don't last long, as my daughters don't have a whole lot of patience to wait for the collection to grow. In the past, we've gone to a local bank to use the conversion machine, but unless you are an account holder, you pay a service fee. The service fee has steadily been climbing over the years, and is now a whopping 9.5%. Yikes.

I recently learned that Coinstar now offers other options for redemption other than cash, which is assessed a service fee of 9.8%. Did you know that Coinstar kiosks in Stop & Shop stores offer you the option of converting your coins to a Stop & Shop gift card with no fee? Yep! That's right. I love this idea. We all shop for groceries. So what better way to use our coins than for a Stop & Shop gift card??

The #NOFEECoinstar kiosks are located in the front of the Stop & Shop stores. You can miss them!

I loved the clever signage!

We gathered our change and headed to Stop & Shop.

There are 3 options for conversion: cash, gift cards or eCertificates or donate to charity.

The service fee applies only to the cash voucher. There are several options for gift card or eCerts:

How fabulous is this? Seriously. I had absolutely no idea that this type of conversion existed. I thought it was cash voucher only, and a service fee would apply. Those service fees are a real bummer. I loved learning that there are options other than the cash.

It was showtime! We loaded our first batch of coins.

If you choose a Stop & Shop gift card or an eCertificate, both are issued directly by the Coinstar kiosk. There is no need to take a voucher to Customer Service to redeem it. I love this! There is a little bit of a wait time for your card or eCert to come out of the machine, but it's worth it if it means I'm not paying a fee.

Voila! There's my Stop & Shop gift card!!

I retrieved my card and headed back into the main shopping area of Stop & Shop. There's a Stop & Shop around the corner from my home, so I frequently pop in there to pick up items throughout the week. On this particular trip, I needed a few items for the school lunches and snacks throughout the week.

I was quickly sidetracked by magazines.

We headed for the Lunchables. We don't normally buy these, but the kids like the pizza and the chips & salsa Lunchables. I allow those, and the prices at Stop & Shop this week were great!

It's always good to have a little help when shopping.

We will definitely be back to use the Coinstar kiosk again. Saving those coins really pays off!

For more information about Coinstar, visit the Web site at www.coinstar.com. "Like" Coinstar on Facebook and follow Coinstar on Twitter.

To find a Stop & Shop near you, visit the Web site at www.stopandshop.com. "Like" Stop & Shop on Facebook to stay up to date on all the sales and in-store promotions.

To see my full Coinstar experience, please visit my Google+ story.

Disclosure: I have been paid (at Coinstar's request) to try and blog about Coinstar's products/services as part of a Collective Bias shopper insight's study. All opinions are my own.

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