We run a small charity store (proceeds are used to fund charitable activities) where I work, but one of the issues we struggle with is counting the money. Getting people to volunteer to do this is a hassle, especially because it involves handling a lot fo dollar bills, unfolding, flattening, etc because we just have a box people drop the money into.
I want to get a bill acceptor so that people can insert a bill and it can be accepted and stored flat for easier counting. I see some stuff on e-bay, but some of them menton power cables needed, special interfaces, and none of them mention whether the acceptor/validator stores the bills, too.
Is there someone familiar with this stuff who can tell me exactly what I need? If I need to build a small cabinet around it, I can, I just need to know what I have to buy so I know if it’s feasible for us to purchase.
This might cost more that a small charity store wants to spend, but Brinks has a product called a Compusafe (PDF warning) that might work for you. It’s a safe with bill slots, so the deposits can be tracked.
Yes, I am not looking to spend several thuosand dollars, which that piece of equipment probably does. I can’t find pricing info on the website, which means it’s expensive, and there aren’t any on ebay.
If you’re thinking about something similar to the bill acceptors on vending machines, you will discourage a lot of donors because it’s such a hassle to get them to accept bills that are not in pristine condition.
Even if I’m buying something, I’ll give up after 2 or 3 tries. If you want me to donate to your cause, don’t make it hard for me.
I’m a little confused as to what the charity does where this is such a problem. Apparently you are getting lots of currency which is wadded up, requiring all this straightening and flattening. One easy fix you might find in the interim is to make the slot the money goes into thin and narrow so the bill must be relatively flattened to go in, and if you put a picture of how you want the bills oriented on the outside as many vending machines do, you will find the hassle much easier. Maybe I don’t understand the problem though. Do you need to attribute the money to different people, or is it just a donation thing? Also, is the issue that the volunteers are helping themselves to some of the money? It sounds like you have a a very primitive system now and may be using one of those annoying parking lot type affairs with multiple slots where you have to fold up the bill in a weird way to fit through a short fat slot that corresponds to the parking space they are using. If that is the case, then my recommendation is to definitely just get a better box, or get a machine like those the parking lots use for their individual spots.
You seem to clearly be getting in quite a bit of money such that this issue of handling the bills has actually become a problem. Given that, it might be worth it to invest some money to get a real system rather than a shoddy eBay item.
I was doing a web search on the placebo effect a few months ago and came across a story of a research project that had concluded that people who handled money came away feeling happier and generally better.
Maybe if you suggested that people linger over it as a money-handling experience, rather than hurrying through it and being frustrated that it’s going slow, then they’d enjoy it more.
Money. Donated money. Feel the good wishes.
(Of course, they might look at you funny for suggesting it. There’s that, too.)
We get about $100 in bills per day. And even if the bills were submitted to us relatively flat, we’d still have to arrange them and bundle them. WE count the money about once per week, so having to straighten out 700 + bills and bundle them is enough of a pain that our volunteers are getting less and less regular with showing up to count the money.
we have very few volunteers, everyone is overworked to some extent, whether it’s on fundraisers, placing orders, stocking the snacks and pop, or whatever.
And I envision a system whereby we’d have an “alternate” slot for people who can’t get their bills to work inthe acceptor, so FatBaldGuy’s problem would be alleviated.
And while we are “getting a lot of money” in the form of bills, we don’t make that much after we deduct the expenses for buying the items. We make a good amount on bottled water, but we make maybe 10 cents on each snack we sell, so it take a lot of turnover to actually make much. Maybe we make a couple hundred per month…spending a thousand on a “real machine” wipes out half a year’s worth of the store’s income.
Here’s a single key and a double key (one key to pull the box, a different one to open it), the whole thing is mounted under the counter-top.
The only parts visible to the customer are the bill slot and the money paddle. The slot and paddle basically require the bills to be flattened before you can push them through. As little as ~$40, unless you need a bigger one.
Don’t know if this is even close to what you’re looking for though.
You need an electronic bill acceptor with an integrated money stacker.
If you want one that rarely breaks, accepts 98%* of (untorn, unfolded) bills, and is widely considered the standard by which all others are measured, get this one:
downstacker, upstacker, doesn’t matter much if you’re going to build a (locking of course) custom cabinet around it. The upstackers are probably a little bit more popular. Make sure you get one configured for 110VAC, and get a power wiring harness included in the package (you may have to connect the harness to a power cable like this one.
It mounts easily with 4 1/8" carriage bolts, gives many years of trouble-free service, and there are plenty of used ones available (just make sure you buy one that’s been updated since the new 5’s came out):
Thank you! These are some of the items I was looking at but was unsure if they met my needs. How do I hook them up to standard 120V AC plug? The wiring harneses look like they are set up for a “standard vending machine” output which I obviously do not have.
The only wires that you need to worry about are the 120 VAC hot, neutral and ground; the rest of the wiring harness can be ignored, so long as the bill acceptor (B.A.) is configured for “always enabled”. Configuration is self-explanatory once you’ve got the B.A. in your hand.
So, which pins on the wiring harness plug are for your 120? I don’t have one handy to look at, but the guys in tech support will know right off:
