Change counting firm Coinstar will accept coins for iTunes gift cards according to a report from CNNMoney. The coin-counting machine company now lets customers exchange spare change for an iTunes gift card at Coinstar machines, the company said.
“The ‘Coin to Card’ program is currently available on 5,000 Coinstar machines in the U.S., the company said. Unlike standard coins-to-cash transactions, which have a fee, customers can forgo the standard 8.9 percent processing fee to get credit for digital downloads,” CNNMoney reports. “Coinstar (Research) offers iTunes gift cards for as little as $5 dollars in change, a denomination which has previously been unavailable through Apple… There is currently an estimated $10.5 billion of spare change sitting idle in American households, according to Coinstar.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “dix99” for the heads up.]
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a smart business move but a comsumeristc one
– shame on you Apple
Dopey,
If Apple weren’t in this to make a buck, they wouldn’t be here at all. The consumer wins because Coinstar does not take the cut from us, and we get a new option for buying iTunes. Coinstar wins because they may gain customers who were before unwilling to pay a fee. Apple wins because they get more exposure. Everyone’s happy but you, apparently.
A little spare change for some “tunes” mister?
Oh please mister, my iPod is only half full, all the other kids have full iPods.
Just a little change please, whatever you have in your pocket will do.
thank you mister.
Those Coinstars are EVERYWHERE… and so are piles of unsorted change. But the fee they take out stops me from using them. I bet I’m not alone!
With iTunes cards, there’s no fee… and everyone buys music (some way) anyway. This is a great option for consumers AND for Apple. Lots of new people will try iTunes.
Please do tell us, doPi, what harm this new option does.
I wonder who thought of this first, Apple or Coinstar?
“the consumer wins because Coinstar does not take the cut from us, “
Last time I checked spending is not a gain -True Coinstar does not take the cut because Apple takes it all. It is the perfect evolution that economics is such a misunderstood science by the consumer.
“Those Coinstars are EVERYWHERE… and so are piles of unsorted change. But the fee they take out stops me from using them.”
Agreed.
By the way, though, if you’re looking for something to do with your unused change, hit the Post Office. Their machines take all denominations of coins (yes, including pennies). The only disadvantage is that they return dollar coins. I actually used my leftover change to buy stamps.
Or at least I used to. I’ll have to see if one of these machines is nearby…
Of course Coinstar gets their money, through an Apple Affiliate program instead of right from your change, but they still get it.
doPi . . . stands for . . .
“don’t open Piehole, idiot!”