See, they make it up in volume.
I actually had almost this exact same business idea, where I thought I could sell nickels for $.10 and dimes for $.25. Eventually, I decided it wouldnât work and went into the lemonade business instead.
I was five years old and had more business sense than this guy.
Is it just me, or is that Overly Attached Girlfriend theyâre using in the promo photo?
And tooney. Toonie? Toonee?
Canada got rid of pennies this year. Everyone now agrees that itâs impolite to argue about anything less than a nickel.
Toonie!
When Canada first introduced the 1 and 2 dollar coins there were a lot of people who objected too, the big difference is our government stopped making 1 and 2 dollar bills so there wasnât much choice except to get use to the new reality. My understanding, however, is the at economics of money production is different in the US because the bills there are made of stronger paper and stay in circulations much longer then the old Canadian bills. I donât know know about our new bills though that are made out of some sort of weird plastic that simultaneously refuses to lie flat or be folded.
Canadaâs dollar coins have the loons, but for the tunes you have to get a 1990 Soviet Ruble commemorating the 150th birthday of Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
Clearly that corporation worshipped the wrong god or gods.
Conversely, growing up in the UK I can barely remember ÂŁ1 notes (withdrawn in 1988) and basically no nothing other than ÂŁ1 (and ÂŁ2) coins.
Itâs interesting that the concept of â$10 for $13â was thought to be so absurd.
Many people are happy paying a premium for their shopping to be delivered directly to them. Youâre paying for the delivery and simplicity. In a very real sense, this is exactly what youâre paying for with the quarters delivery.
But for some reason â$10 of groceries delivered for $13â sounds much, much less absurd than â$10 of monies delivered for $13.â
Because in our heads, the $10 and $13 are directly comparable, but the $10 of groceries is more abstract, and so it seems reasonable to pay a little more for it for extra service.
The notion that itâs hard to get quarters â thatâs the silly part. But most of the humor seemed to be about the paying money for money. That part is actually reasonable.
There is a precedentâŚ
Coinstar has built what appears to be a successful business by charging ~11% for money â much less than the Washboard 50% mark-up, but not insignificant.
If there is a market for getting rolls of quarters somewhat conveniently, Coinstar should just add a feature where somebody can purchase them from the kiosk for the same 11%âŚ
Edit: I guess that one is also paying for the counting service â time is money.
Itâs all in the percentage markup. When I saw the ad for this service, I seriously considered joining. What wouldnât I pay to stay away from Safewayâs unattended Customer Service desk? What wouldnât I pay to not have to hustle to a bank thatâs essentially closed whenever Iâm not at work? Finding quarters for laundry is serious business around here. Every laundromat coin change machine is conveniently located near a transit stop where it may be pillaged by the desperate commuter. This business idea serves a burning need, but fails at the margins.
they lose money on each sale, but make it up on volume!
see, the thing is, richies have their own laundry machines or at the very least a laundromat with cards, so they donât need this. so we have poors left, but poors donât really like paying 150% to save⌠uhâŚ
well, thatâs the problem, isnât it? every freaking laundromat has a change machine already. it really is mind-boggling how many levels of stupid there are here.
Pfft, they gave up too soon. $9.95 for a roll of quarters! what a deal*.
*Shipping and handling not included.
When the US dollar coins first came out, there was a deal with the US Mint to sell them at face value, free shipping. So, of course, the one clever credit card point hoarding person bought them by the hogshead! $4MM over 8 months.
In big cities thatâs not necessarily true; the issue is space for the machine, rather than the money to buy one.
They can, however, afford to go to the bank and get a couple hundred bucks in quarters, and not have to worry about it for years.
Thereâs no real way around that, though, because quarters are heavy.
Thatâs four million airline miles, not dollars.