The ultimate guide to hacking a CoinStar machine

by max on Monday, February 5th, 2007

http://zedomax.com/image/200702/coinstar.jpg

I’ve been running out of money lately so I have been thinking about going to Albertson’s (local Grocery store) to redeem all my hard earned dimes and pennies.
Here’s a hack that let’s you get your paper cash back without paying for the 9%… (Well, this is informational purposes only, do not use unless you are broke like me and about to end up on the streets)

This is really quite simple. Follow the directions as usual, but when it asks how you would like your money, make sure to pick the iTunes gift card. After it counts all of your change, the machine will ask you how much of your money you want as a gift card and how much you want as cash. Go ahead and set it all to gift card. Now, before proceeding, you need to find a way to unplug the phone jack from the back of the machine. I’m lucky because the wall phone jack for my local CoinStar is at about shoulder height right next to the machine.

Now the poor machine is in quite a pickle. It already has all of your change, and it can’t give that back to you. It can’t give you an iTunes card either. It could give you cash, but it’s not going to lay that 9% fee on because you obviously didn’t agree to that when you put your change in the machine. What can it do? Give you cash for FREE. After a few minutes of trying, it will simply give up and just give you a slip which can be redeemed for cash at the store customer service counter.

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  • morganusvitus
    The site looks great ! Thanks for all your help ( past, present and future !)
  • Izl
    Lol nice, they prolly have cameras close though
  • Dom
    Or you could be original and get a bank account. Most banks will process your change for free, and maybe even in time for you to pay your water bill. It is a cool trick though! Last time I used them there was no option for iTunes gift cards.
  • novasam
    "After it counts all of your change, the machine will ask you how much of your money you want as a gift card and how much you want as cash."....INCORRECT. The transaction cannot be split. Maybe you can read the screen next time vs. using your imagination. And yes you can hack the machine or actually understand the convenience of fee free coin counting and use the machine how it should be used!
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