Does Kroger Have a Coinstar: Everything You Need To Know Before Bringing Your Loose Change

Almost every household has that jar of random change sitting on a shelf, tucked under a car seat, or gathering dust in a kitchen drawer. A 2023 Federal Reserve study found the average American family has $113 in unused loose change just lying around their home. If you shop at Kroger regularly, you have definitely stood in the store parking lot holding that heavy jar and wondered: Does Kroger Have a Coinstar, and can I skip wasting an afternoon at the bank?

This is not a silly trivial question. Many local banks no longer offer free coin counting for non-members, and rolling coins by hand can eat an entire hour of your weekend. In this guide, we will break down exactly what services Kroger offers, current fees, hidden no-fee hacks, common mistakes to avoid, and what to do if your local store does not have the machine you expect.

Quick Answer: Does Kroger Offer Coinstar Machines?

If you are heading out the door right now and just need the straight answer, we will not make you scroll. Yes, nearly 90% of all Kroger-owned store locations in the United States have a working Coinstar machine installed as of 2024. These machines are installed under an official long-term partnership between Kroger and Coinstar that first launched back in 2008. You will almost always find them near the front of the store, near customer service or the shopping cart corral.

Where To Find Coinstar Inside Your Local Kroger

Most people walk right past the Coinstar machine every time they shop, simply because they never look for it. Kroger uses standardized store layouts across almost all locations, so you can follow the same pattern no matter which store you visit.

You will never find Coinstar machines near the checkout lanes or back by the pharmacy. The company places them in high-traffic low-wait areas so people sorting change do not block shopping paths for other customers.

You will find the machine in one of these four locations, in order of likelihood:

• Right inside the main entrance doors, to the left of the shopping cart corral
• Next to the customer service desk beside the returns counter
• Near the gas station entrance for stores with attached fuel centers
• Beside the bottle return machine for states with container deposits

If you still cannot spot it, just ask any floor associate or cashier. Every Kroger employee knows exactly where the machine is located, and most will walk you right over if they are not busy. Note that during holiday weeks, staff will sometimes temporarily move the machine a few feet to make room for gift card displays.

Coinstar Fees At Kroger: What You Will Actually Pay

This is the detail almost no one checks before dumping their change into the machine. Coinstar does not charge the same fee at every retailer, and Kroger locations have set pricing that differs from competing grocery chains.

For 2024, the standard cash out fee at all Kroger Coinstar machines is 11.9%. That means for every $100 worth of change you pour in, you will pay $11.90 just to convert it to paper bills. Many people are genuinely shocked when they see the final deduction after feeding coins for 10 minutes.

See the breakdown for common change amounts below:

Before you write this off as too expensive, know that you can avoid this fee entirely. It is not a hidden trick, it is an official option that Coinstar advertises very quietly on the machine menu. We will cover exactly how to use this option in the next section.

How To Skip Coinstar Fees At Kroger Completely

Most people do not know that Coinstar never charges you any fee if you choose store credit instead of cash. This is not fine print gotcha, this is the program that both Kroger and Coinstar actively prefer customers use.

At Kroger specifically, this credit works exactly like regular store gift card money. You can use it for groceries, gas, pharmacy prescriptions, bakery items, and even alcohol in most states. It never expires, and you can load it directly onto your existing Kroger Plus card if you have one.

Follow these exact steps to pay zero fees:

1. Pour all your change into the machine like normal
2. When you reach the payout screen, select "eGift Card" instead of cash
3. Select Kroger from the list of available retailers
4. Print your voucher or send it directly to your phone

This is by far the best option for anyone who shops at Kroger even once every couple months. You get 100% of your change value, no waiting, no rolling coins, and you were going to spend that money at the store anyway. Internal Coinstar data shows 62% of regular Kroger shoppers now use this no-fee option.

What If My Local Kroger Doesn't Have A Coinstar?

While 9 out of 10 Kroger stores have Coinstar, there are exceptions. Smaller neighborhood locations, newly opened stores, and locations under renovation will sometimes not have a machine installed temporarily.

You will also not find Coinstar at most standalone Kroger-owned brands including Fresh Eats, Murray's Cheese, and small fuel-only kiosks. If you arrive with your change jar and find no machine, you do not have to drive all the way back home.

If there is no Coinstar at your Kroger, try these options first:

• Ask customer service if they have an in-house coin counting machine
• Check the nearest Walmart or Meijer within 3 miles, which almost always have Coinstar
• Use Kroger's online store locator to search for working machines near your zip code

You can also call ahead before you leave the house. Just dial the main store phone number and ask the front desk associate if the Coinstar machine is working that day. Every store gets real time alerts when the machine is down for maintenance, and they will always tell you the truth instead of wasting your time.

Items Coinstar Will Not Accept At Kroger

Nothing is more frustrating than pouring 15 pounds of change into the machine, just to have half of it spit back out at you. Coinstar machines are calibrated identically at every Kroger, and there are very specific items they will reject every single time.

The machine does not just reject foreign coins either. Many common items people toss into their change jars will get kicked out, even if they look almost exactly like regular US currency.

These items will always be rejected by Kroger Coinstar machines:

1. 1943 steel pennies
2. Damaged, bent or worn coins
3. Foreign currency of any kind
4. Commemorative tokens and arcade coins
5. Buttons, screws and other small metal objects
6. Half dollar coins and dollar coins on older units

If you have a lot of dollar coins or rare pennies, it is almost always better to take those directly to a bank. Coinstar machines were built for common quarters, dimes, nickels and regular pennies, and they will almost always reject anything outside that standard set.

Tips For Using Coinstar At Kroger Fast

Most people spend 20 minutes or longer at the Coinstar machine, when you can actually be done in under 5 minutes if you know the simple tricks regular users follow. These small steps will save you a lot of frustration and waiting around.

First, always empty your change onto a towel and sort out any large debris before you leave home. Even one single screw can jam the machine and hold you up for 10 minutes while staff resets it.

See how small changes can cut your wait time dramatically:

Also try to use the machine on weekday mornings if you can. Weekday evenings after 6pm and all day Saturday are the busiest times, and you will often find a line of 2 or 3 people waiting with their own change jars. Go at 10am on a Tuesday and you will almost always have the machine all to yourself.

At the end of the day, that jar of loose change sitting on your counter is just money waiting to be used, and Kroger makes it easier than almost any other retailer to turn that change into something useful. For most people, choosing the no-fee Kroger store credit option is the best possible deal, beating waiting at the bank or paying almost 12% just to get cash. Just remember to call ahead if you are driving more than 15 minutes, and always sort your change before you leave home.

Next time you head to Kroger for groceries, grab that change jar on your way out the door. It only takes 5 minutes, and you could end up covering your entire grocery run with change you forgot you even had. If you found this guide helpful, bookmark it for the next time you empty your car cup holder and end up with a handful of coins.