1. ATMs - Only charged if you're at an ATM outside of your bank's network. 2. Travelers Checks - They were useful long ago when credit cards did not exist and

1. ATMs - Only charged if you're at an ATM outside of your bank's network. 2. Travelers Checks - They were useful long ago when credit cards did not exist and carrying large amount of cash was dangerous. 3. Check Cashing - The bank that issued the check will cash it for free, regardless of account status. 4. Currency Exchange - Can minimize this by ATM / credit cards (MasterCard/Visa) but in reality, there's currently no way to get around currency exchange fees. Here's an article on this topic: http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/06/25/travel/25prac.html http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/06/25/travel/25prac.html 5. Coinstar - Never had to use this (wife takes away all my change and it magically disappears). 6. Gold buyers - This one is not like any of the above despite what the author claims. Liquidity of the gold has nothing to do with it but rather the issue that the gold buyer's judgment is what decides the value of the goods. In all of the above, the financial company treats everyone based on pre-set rules (1% charge, $10 fee etc.) And my 1,000 quarters are just as valuable as your 1,000 quarters to Coinstar. Not so with gold buyers. They will offer the smallest amount that they think the gold seller with accept. The amount of gold or precious metal is a factor but not the sold variable. I think #1-5 are pretty good services and shouldn't be lumped with the scams of #6. However, this article does highlight that people will pay for services like accessibility, insurance, portability, and security of assets that they already own.