2016 Australian Olympic Team Coin Program and partnership with Woolworths

[Cougar]

Now all we have to do is wait for the "error" sets with all the same colour coin or the like to show up on eBay :angel::dodgy:

Dont give them any ideas mate...

[robbiegal]

If the RAMINT was selling the 5 coin sets with their dealer network, the pack would have been $50 not $15.

I see nothing wrong with what Wooloworths is doing.

Everyone whinges about "not getting enough" and when a company tries to spread the coins, people still whinge.

Sounds like an AESOP's fable or two!

I visited about ten Woolworths stores today and have all I need.
Even rejected a bag of the blue!

What was it the early US President said,"You can fool/please some of the people some...." etc etc

if you have a cheap bag of the blues I'd get it from you
no woolies that i have been to is handing them out yet both you and Goldie can get them
i was even in melbourne but no bags were being sold

I got this blue one for you but it looks weird

Yeah, they go black when you forget to turn the stove off. Eventually they catch fire and burn the house down.

(Mum left some chicken pieces on the stove for 5 hours last night. Not pretty. :dodgy:)

you still living at home Fulvio?
we have a son who is maybe, getting just a bit too old to be still living at home (he is out the back in the granny flat)
i will miss him when he formally moves out as he is good company when i am home a lot

since he got engaged a little while ago, the fiance's family seem to have adopted him and we don't see him as much
mama has even loaned him her car indefinitely
her father even gave him a job in his restaurant

so he is sort of half gone
but still comes home to do his washing and say g'day

almost empty nest but not quite

[Fulvio]

So my question is are the coins in the 5 coin albums of better quality than the loose coins , anyone had a look yet ?

I just had a look at one of my sets and they are NOT perfect.

I'll go along with that. They're probably not as bad, and will lack fingerprints, but they're a long way short of the mark. Pretty crap for a 50% premium.

I had a pretty good day, though I did cover about 300km. It started with an email from one of my friendly tellers that I gave blue coins to that she had a big pile of paper notes. $240 of $1, $2 and the early $10 in pretty reasonable nick. Then I got 3 sets of sets, and swapped for 2 bags of blacks, plus a few blues. A lot of stores at the end of the day had run out of sets, and the last store gave me a hard time about loose coins, refusing to let go of ANY. "We're not giving out loose coins anymore, you have to buy a $15 set", limit 1 of course.

So naturally I argued. Had a very lengthy discussion with the customer service manager, explained everything about what I was doing, and why, and how every store made it up as they went along. She was lovely, and rang the manager at home, who basically said "I really don't care, as long as we don't get ridiculous about it". So we settled on 10 being reasonable. And that was when she discovered there were no blacks left at all, but plenty of blues. She did go to the office, and came back with a small handful out of the petty cash tin, which I was suitably appreciative of.

We chatted some more, and I came away confident that she both 'got it' AND cared. The girl I'd spoken to at first was, umm, a bit of a stickler for the rules, shall we say, and didn't understand that pissing off a customer never ends well.

A long, hard and expensive day, but I'm quite happy with it overall.

you still living at home Fulvio?

Again, not still.

What can I say? I have terrible taste in women, and have had three failed long-term relationships. Each one inflicted huge pain, emotional AND financial. Now that I'm a pensioner, options are extremely limited, and anyway, mum and dad are in their 90's and an extra body around the place is welcome (well, mostly, anyway). It kinda works out for everyone, mostly.

[kchan1111]

I'll go along with that. They're probably not as bad, and will lack fingerprints, but they're a long way short of the mark. Pretty crap for a 50% premium.

I had a pretty good day, though I did cover about 300km. It started with an email from one of my friendly tellers that I gave blue coins to that she had a big pile of paper notes. $240 of $1, $2 and the early $10 in pretty reasonable nick. Then I got 3 sets of sets, and swapped for 2 bags of blacks, plus a few blues. A lot of stores at the end of the day had run out of sets, and the last store gave me a hard time about loose coins, refusing to let go of ANY. "We're not giving out loose coins anymore, you have to buy a $15 set", limit 1 of course.

So naturally I argued. Had a very lengthy discussion with the customer service manager, explained everything about what I was doing, and why, and how every store made it up as they went along. She was lovely, and rang the manager at home, who basically said "I really don't care, as long as we don't get ridiculous about it". So we settled on 10 being reasonable. And that was when she discovered there were no blacks left at all, but plenty of blues. She did go to the office, and came back with a small handful out of the petty cash tin, which I was suitably appreciative of.

We chatted some more, and I came away confident that she both 'got it' AND cared. The girl I'd spoken to at first was, umm, a bit of a stickler for the rules, shall we say, and didn't understand that pissing off a customer never ends well.

To be fair - 50% is only just $1 here. I don't quite have the same level of passion as others here for these. Happy to pay the 50% premium (still just $1) to save time. The gas for 300km would have cost more than that?

The poor girl probably just doesn't know what to do.

[Fulvio]

To be fair - 50% is only just $1 here.

Ah, but that's the joy of margins.. a dollar here, a dollar there, next thing you know you have a million of them. Lets look at it another way...

The coins are identical to what's in the bags. No special handling or anything. So the only difference is a bit of paper and plastic, for which they charge $5. How would you feel paying an extra $5 for the box your corn flakes come in? Or any other product for that matter? Keep in mind the coin production cost is already factored into the seigniorage.

And yes, the petrol is a bummer, but to be fair, I was achieving other stuff along the way. Caught up with people I hadn't seen in years, picked up copper and paper (including Phillips/Randall CoA $1 and $2), did some shopping (9-cent Kiwi Fruits, anyone?), and even scored handfulls of lollies from Bank of Melbourne.

The poor girl probably just doesn't know what to do.

Yeah, we came to that conclusion in the end.

[interest]

How would you feel paying an extra $5 for the box your corn flakes come in? Or any other product for that matter?

Fulvio you are, it's built into the overall cost.

[trout]

So far I have picked up about a dozen of each of the blue and black coins and hopefully will be able to do the same with the other colours.
I am getting a couple of gift packs ready for a couple of Mates and it will be nice to put a couple of each of the loose coins in with the 5 coin set for them :good:

[kchan1111]

The coins are identical to what's in the bags. No special handling or anything. So the only difference is a bit of paper and plastic, for which they charge $5. How would you feel paying an extra $5 for the box your corn flakes come in? Or any other product for that matter? Keep in mind the coin production cost is already factored into the seigniorage.

And yes, the petrol is a bummer, but to be fair, I was achieving other stuff along the way. Caught up with people I hadn't seen in years, picked up copper and paper (including Phillips/Randall CoA $1 and $2), did some shopping (9-cent Kiwi Fruits, anyone?), and even scored handfulls of lollies from Bank of Melbourne.

I guess you are paying the $5 for convenience. Not having to go to woolies. Not having to deal with their staff. Adding up all the time wasted you are probably working for less than minimum wage.

I hope you play Pokemon. You could have caught loads of them travelling around so much.

[robbiegal]

you still living at home Fulvio?

Again, not still.
What can I say? I have terrible taste in women, and have had three failed long-term relationships. Each one inflicted huge pain, emotional AND financial. Now that I'm a pensioner, options are extremely limited, and anyway, mum and dad are in their 90's and an extra body around the place is welcome (well, mostly, anyway). It kinda works out for everyone, mostly.

we sort of think - if he stays much longer then we may as well keep him here so he can keep an eye out on us as well - yes when folks are over 90 an extra body and mind is a tremendous help .
our son was also a post break-up/return to the nest a few years ago - comfy out the back!!

it is about giving everyone space and privacy
helps make it work out better - different when your children are adults

ps if the stove becomes a risk then just take out the fuse when you go out

[Fulvio]

I guess you are paying the $5 for convenience. Not having to go to woolies. Not having to deal with their staff. Adding up all the time wasted you are probably working for less than minimum wage.

Well, that might have been right, IF it was actually convenient. But its not.

Lets look at the costs.

Woolies - $15, limit 1, travel, can pick and choose cover and quality
Mint - $15, no limit, postage, can't choose, possible damage
Dealer - $15, no limit, travel/postage, can choose? Dealer makes small profit.

In all cases, the government gets its $8 or so seigniorage. In all cases the mint also gets its $4 or so profit on the packaging. That's a combined $12 profit on a $15 sale. Not too shabby. And if you buy from the mint, there's an additional profit on the postage, plus Australia Post also makes a healthy profit, which also goes into the government coffers.

Sure, travel vs postage depends on circumstance, but since you're already in the store shopping and/or picking up loose coins you can't get from the mint, I think we can pretty much discount that completely. Besides, it depends where you are. I have 5 stores within a short bike ride from here. 8 if I want a workout. And some of these packs have been pretty rough, straight out of the box. Being able to knock back bad ones is a big plus.

So I would rank preferences as Dealer, Woolies, Mint in that order. Dealer because they need our support (well, some do anyway). Woolies because even though the limit is a pain, you get to handle the product before buying. And the mint only if you're ordering something else at the same time.

I hope you play Pokemon.

Nup. Demands iOS 8+ and mobile data, neither of which I have on my iPod. And anyway, probably not my thing.

ps if the stove becomes a risk then just take out the fuse when you go out

Gas. :nx::angel:

[trout]

Where I live there is but 1 Woolworths store and the next one would be in Perth or Carnarvon which is about 500k either way, So my options are severely limited  as to choosing which woollies to use.
Luckily for me they are not that stingy with handing out the coins and a couple of trips a week has netted me a few of the loose coins which is probably more than I need anyway.
I have ordered a few sets from the RAM shop because quite frankly it is by far the easiest option for me and a with few clicks of my mouse I can get what I want.
I will try to get the rest of the different coloured loose coins over the next 3 weeks, Not because I need them But because it is a novelty for me to be able to get these coins at face value for a change.

Despite all the moaning and grizzling about the way woollies is handling this of which I have absolutely NO complaints, It is still a far better option for me, because getting these from a bank the way these are normally distributed is pretty much impossible where I live.

[Fulvio]

getting these from a bank the way these are normally distributed is pretty much impossible where I live.

Which reminds me...

At one of the banks yesterday, the teller was telling me that they got a sack of coloured coins late last year.

2013 CORONATION $2!!!!!!

I mean, WTF? Nearly three years sitting at the back of the Armaguard depot? Seriously??? :dodgy:

[trout]

Did they give you any of them ??

[Fulvio]

Did they give you any of them ??

What, 8 months later?

No, they were just handed out like any other coins.

[LooseChange]

Distributing through woolworths has been a better method for me compared to the Newsagent coins... were one agent told me he was sold out and i could buy some off him at the end of the promotion "maybe".