Using cash to make purchases at Amazon

Amazon.com Inc. has signed a deal with Coinstar Inc., a provider of electronic cash-processing machines common in grocery stores, that will let consumers trade their spare change as well as dollar bills for certificates redeemable on Amazon.com.

Consumers can now insert coins in any of 3,500 Coinstar machines at grocery locations, though the number of locations will rise to 5,000 by year-end, the companies said. Some Coinstar machines also accept dollar bills. The machines immediately emit an Amazon certificate for the amount of cash inserted; there is no processing fee charged to consumers.

The certificates contain a code that consumers enter on Amazon.com during the checkout process; any remaining value after a purchase can be stored in the customer’s Amazon online account for later use, Amazon said.

"We`re always working to make buying on Amazon.com more convenient for customers," said Toni Reid, Amazon’s director of business development. "We`re excited to work with Coinstar to make using cash for online purchases easy with no additional cost, as there are thousands of Coinstar Centers around the country and there is no transaction fee to turn coins or bills into a gift certificate redeemable at Amazon.com."