Cash Goes in, Gift Certificate Comes Out -- Coinstar Now Offering Gift Certificates Redeemable At Amazon.com With No Transaction Fee

    BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 13, 2005--

    Agreement creates convenient way for customers to use coins or
                      bills for online purchases

Coinstar, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSTR) and Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN) today announced the two companies will team to provide a convenient new way for consumers to use cash to make online purchases. The Coinstar and Amazon agreement makes it possible for customers to exchange coins and also bills at Coinstar Centers -- with no transaction fee -- for a gift certificate redeemable at Amazon.com.

The Coin to Card(TM) program from Coinstar is a new service that allows the average American to take the approximately $99 in loose change that is sitting in their house and turn it into clothing, music, books, movies and more from Amazon.com, including many items offered on the site by third party sellers.

"We're always working to make buying on Amazon.com more convenient for customers," said Toni Reid, 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."

Coinstar estimates that approximately $10.5 billion in spare change is sitting unused in American households and previous to this arrangement, there was no easy way for consumers to spend this money online. The Coinstar and Amazon agreement creates one of the first self-service methods for using cash to make purchases on the Internet.

"We're thrilled to offer gift certificates redeemable at Amazon.com as part of our Coin to Card(TM) program," said Peter Rowan, Vice President of New Business Innovation at Coinstar, Inc. "Using idle change or found money to make online purchases brings 'shopping freedom' to consumers who either prefer to use cash or don't have access to credit."

To take advantage of this new program, customers visit a local Coinstar Center at supermarket locations offering the gift certificates redeemable on Amazon.com, which they can locate by visiting www.coinstar.com. Users simply insert their coins into the machine -- or at many Coinstar Centers bills are accepted -- and then a receipt is printed with a redemption code that can be immediately used to make purchases at Amazon.com. The redemption code is entered during Amazon.com's checkout procedure and the gift certificate amount is applied at the time of purchase, or the customer may also conveniently add any remaining amount to their Amazon account for later use. For standard coin to cash transactions Coinstar has a processing fee, however, when consumers turn their coin into an eCertificate or gift card, there is no fee to the consumer.

Coinstar's Coin to Card(TM) program introduced earlier this year allows consumers to convert loose change into a variety of gift cards and now gift certificates that are redeemable at Amazon.com. The program is currently available at approximately 3,500 locations and is expected to reach 5,000 by the end of the year.

About Coinstar, Inc.

Coinstar, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSTR) is a multi-national company offering a range of 4th Wall(TM) solutions for the retailers' front of store consisting of self-service coin counting, electronic payment solutions, and entertainment services. The company's products and services can be found at more than 44,000 retail locations including supermarkets, drug stores, mass merchants, convenience stores, and restaurants. American Coin Merchandising Inc., Cell Cards of Illinois, L.L.C., and Coinstar E-payment Services, Inc. are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Coinstar, Inc. For more information, visit www.coinstar.com.

Coinstar, Inc. Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to Coinstar, Inc.'s anticipated growth and future operating results. These are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "believe," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "goals," variations of such words, and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking. The forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may vary materially from the results expressed or implied in such statements. Differences may result from actions taken by Coinstar, Inc., as well as from risks and uncertainties beyond Coinstar, Inc.'s control. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, Coinstar, Inc.'s ability to (a) enter into additional card partner agreements on terms that are not materially adverse to Coinstar, Inc., (b) bring new and repeat customers to Coinstar(R) machines, (c) obtain new agreements with potential retailers for the installation of Coinstar machines or retain current agreements with our existing retailers on terms that are not materially adverse to Coinstar, Inc., (d) compete with additional potential competitors, (e) anticipate legal or governmental regulatory action and uncertainties relating to the ultimate success of new business initiatives such as Coin to Card or e-payment services. The foregoing list of risks and uncertainties is illustrative, but by no means exhaustive. For more information on factors that may affect future performance, please review the most recent Coinstar, Inc. reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements reflect Coinstar, Inc.'s expectations as of September 13, 2005. Coinstar, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update the information provided herein.

About Amazon.com gift certificates

Amazon.com gift certificates are issued and sold by A2Z Gift Certificates, Inc., an Idaho Corporation. For additional information regarding the legal terms and conditions, go to www.Amazon.com/gc-legal.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc., (Nasdaq:AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as beauty, health and personal care, jewelry and watches, gourmet food, sports and outdoors, apparel and accessories, books, music, DVDs, electronics and office, toys and baby, and home and garden.

Amazon.com and its affiliates operate seven retail Web sites: www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.ca, and www.joyo.com.

As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Amazon.com, Inc. Forward-Looking Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to potential future losses, significant amount of indebtedness, competition, management of growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions, and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, consumer trends, inventory, limited operating history, government regulation and taxation, fraud, and new business areas. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, and all subsequent filings.

    CONTACT: Coinstar, Inc.
             Marci G. Maule, 425-943-8277
             mmaule@coinstar.com
             or
             Porter Novelli
             Caitlin Donahue, 206-770-7025
             caitlin.donahue@porternovelli.com
             or
             Amazon.com
             Media Relations:
             Craig Berman, 206-266-7180

    SOURCE: Coinstar, Inc.