Not wanting to change (pun) the direction of the current coin shortage topics…why don’t stores offer an option as you begin to check out like “if you have change under a dollar coming back from your purchase, would you like to donate it to your local hospital / homeless shelter / animal shelter / city school (pick one)”?
This might even be a solution to that ever popular topic: “Let’s get rid of the penny.” "If you have any pennies coming back, would you like to donate them…
Some stores (my local Ace hardware for example) have always given the option to “donate the change” to a charity.
Grocery stores near me have had this option for years - “Would you like to round up for charity?” is a pretty common refrain.
If you Google “would you like to round up your purchase for charity” you’ll see that this was fundraising gimmick before the current COVID crisis and coin shortage. So, sure, it’s one option. I assume the cash registers need programming to track the money.
Hmm, I need to get out more. Or some larger retailer needs to get on board.
Of course it would have to be mandatory to make a difference in the coin shortage and that will never fly.
The whole reason this is an issue kind of highlights how worthless coins are to begin with. If coins were worth more then they would actually be spent at the stores.
As it is, coins are a nuisance that are collected in big jugs at everyone’s home so they can be turned in for ‘real’ money.
Plenty of places around here do it. Even the bank sometimes asks me if I want to donate a dollar. What bugs me is that where ever you go, it’s almost always Children’s Hospital that’s asking for the money. A)I have a hard time believing they’re in such dire straits they need to beg for money and B)I gave them more than enough when my child was younger.
That’s not the case right now. People aren’t spending coins because they’re shopping less and when they do shop, they don’t want to touch the coins. At my store, we typically do about half our business in cash and half in credit cards. The last four months has been about 75% credit cards.
Coins aren’t worthless, they’re dirty.
People do that because it’s an easy way to save money. Tell someone to put $10 in a savings account every month and they’ll feel/notice it. It’s a lot easier to toss all your change in a coffee can or cup holder. You don’t notice that and it adds up a lot quicker than expect it to. I’ve been saving all my loose change since my daughter was born (I bring it to the bank from time to time). I’m at about $1200 over 15 years.
Lots of places do it, Panda Express is one big chain I frequent that does.
I recommend declining this option, do your own donating. Toss the change in a jar and donate it if you want. Or spend it and cut a check. Why would you want to give a big ass corporation a tax write off that didn’t even come out of their own profits?
But if there wasn’t anyone receiving coins, there wouldn’t be a coin shortage.
Maybe some, but there are lots of people that just can’t be bothered to spend coins. I’m certainly one of them.
They stopped making half-pennies (checks wikipedia) in 1857. The penny is now worth 30 times less than in 1857 and yet we still have roughly the same cash/coinage options. It’s dumb.
Huh? I’m not following. People aren’t receiving coins because they’re holding on to them and keeping them out of circulation, which means the stores don’t have them to give to people.
You’re in the minority. Plenty of people still use coins, or at least, bring them to the bank/coinstar machines. IOW, they stayed in circulation.
Huh? I’m not sure what a half penny has to do with this and I don’t understand what any of this has to do with how much a penny is worth compared to 150 years ago. Couldn’t the same be said for any denomination?
People aren’t using coins right now because they’re not shopping and/or avoiding cash. That’s really all there is to it. It’s not like we coincidentally had a Covid pandemic and simultaneously people decided they don’t want to use coins for unrelated reasons.
That you think using coins is dumb is irrelevant to why there’s a shortage. All those coins weren’t thrown in the garbage or melted down, they’re collecting dust because people are concerned about getting sick and are avoiding touching anything they can.
Wait, do we know that they write off money that isn’t theirs?
Do you think they are donating it anonymously or are they taking down every person’s name and donating it on their behalf? Why else would they be wasting the time.
Even without the tax deduction, making a show out of donating that big check is free PR for them.
So you don’t know.
Correct, big PR that the customers pay for. It’s nothing short of a con.
Yes, it’s other people’s money, but it’s also money that wouldn’t have been donated otherwise.
Yes, it is. But it’s also money that wouldn’t have been contributed otherwise.
The write off is a wash since, in order to have the donation in their name and on their books, they’d also be reporting the income. That is, you toss $5.00 in a donation bucket on the counter and they pass it along to the charity. That $5.00 is recorded as income AND a donation. If they only take the write off, they’d be embezzling.
The only bookkeeping advantage it gives them is a higher overall profit margin.
Having said that, at least at some places (mine, for example), any donated money never makes it’s way to our books. The people that it’s donated to come pick it up from time to time. As far as our business is concerned, it never even existed.
How is that reported as income? It’s not income.