How I Turned Junk In My Ashtray Into Riches
 

Jens Molbak is rich.

Check out his website coinstar.com

His brainchild was to set up a nationwide network of supermarket coin sorting machines.

Did you just say why didn't I think of that? or for the smarter people here, "Gee, I thought of that."

Anyway it came about because Jens looked at his ashtray full of coins and thought there was no way to use those coins gathering dust.

Then during graduate school he interviewed a bunch of grocery shoppers and found they had the same problems.

Boom!

Following year he set up 4 machines in northern cali and the next thing you know he has 10,000 machines in 47 states, Canada and UK.

His machines simply count the coins customers get a receipt which they take to the register to get their cash.

Oh, less his 10% cut of course.

The average stash of coins people is between $30 and $50 dollars.

How many go through a market each day?

Let's say at least 1,000 say 10% bring a stash each day. 100 people x 50 dollars means he makes 500 a day from each store.

I calculate one store that is $14,000 a month JUST FROM ONE STORE now times 10,000 and he is in the millions. All from planting a machine in the store that turns your junk into cash.


Black and White Techniques That Gets Customers Begging To Buy From You

That's a great success story!
 

Hi Garth,

Thanks for posting that! It's a great story! :)

By the way, Coinstar is also listed on the stock exchange (CSTR). (It has quite a high P/E ratio though.)

As you say, Jens Molbak started it in 1990 when he was a graduate student at Stanford University.

I think the important thing about this story was Jens Molbak found a common problem - all those masses of coins you don't know what to do with!

After that, he found a good solution.... these coin machines.

And he found out how to "share" his solution with everybody (for a profit). It made him a rich man!

Here's another short article which helps give further insight.... http://company.monster.com/coin/

Thanks Garth! It's a great business success story.... :)

- Dien Rice