GoldSilver.com is among the oldest online precious metals dealers, having been in the business since 2005. It is a well-established business that has a relatively large client base and good reputation. But there have also been some questionable reviews posted online.
So what's the big deal with this company, and what do you need to know prior to making an investment?
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About GoldSilver.com
One of the unique things about GoldSilver.com is that they don't focus solely on selling precious metals. They also have a strong focus on client education. Their website is outfitted with multiple educational resources to teach people about precious metals, different investments, and how to determine which metals are right for you.
You can purchase quite a few different bullion items through the company's online marketplace. In addition, they offer global shipping, so they're a good choice for people outside the US. Private storage options are also available for those who want to keep their metals secure.
Storage Options
With the company's private vault options, your precious metals will be kept in a highly secure vault. They will be fully insured, monitored, and protected. This allows you to store your metals with barely any of the risk that comes with home storage. You also retain full ownership of all of your metals.
You can use the GoldSilver.com platform to access an account and view your holdings. When you buy coins and bars, you'll be issued a certificate of ownership. They'll be stored in an insured vault. The online account can be used to manage your assets at all times. Metals can be sold, transferred to another account, or delivered directly to you whenever you want.
Another perk of the storage setup is that the company only charges a flat rate to use their vaults. The other option is sliding scale fees, which basically punish you for holding more. The storage is also contract free.
One person online did complain about the company's storage fees. They claimed that the fees were much higher than those of competitors.
Vaults
Another advantage of working with this company is that you get access to international storage options. There are four different storage vaults to choose from. One is US-based, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The others are in Canada, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Hong Kong and Singapore are considered excellent places to store your assets if you want them to be protected from central governments. The right vault for you will simply depend on your needs.
IRA Services
GoldSilver.com is one of many precious metals dealers that offers precious metals IRA services. You can store gold in your retirement account as a tax-advantaged contribution. You can also purchase the precious metals using your existing retirement savings.
The company does have a relatively smooth process. The only drawback is that they don't handle communication with your custodian for you. That means that you'll have to talk to two different people in order to get your account set up. Some of the competition handles the entirety of the process, so you never need to interact with another soul.
Once you've opened your account and funded it, you can choose which products you want to buy. GoldSilver.com's educational resources do come in handy here. They have multiple catalogs that show you different gold and silver items based on their growth potential, liquidity, and other qualifications.
You'll need to browse specifically by IRA precious metals, since items must meet specific IRS requirements to be eligible.
Supported Custodians
The company has several supported custodians. For those who aren't sure which custodian they want, GoldSilver.com most highly recommends working with Equity Trust. Equity Trust has been managing more than $25 billion of assets for years. They are the company's preferred provider.
You can also work with the New Direction Trust Company, which has vaults in Salt Lake City or in Wilmington, Delaware.
Another option is the Goldstar Trust Company, whose vault is located in Los Angeles, California.
The final option is the Strata Trust Company, which has vaults located in Salt Lake City, Wilmington, and Los Angeles. This makes them a relatively versatile option if you have a specific region that you want your items kept in.
It doesn't seem that GoldSilver.com works with other custodial companies. However, if you have a self-directed IRA with a different custodian already, you might be able to ask whether they'd make an exception.
Is GoldSilver.com a Scam?
GoldSilver.com doesn't appear to be a scam. The company has every appearance of being legitimate. There is a high degree of transparency about the ownership and management, and you can easily find the owner's Cambridge House profile.
However, it might not be the best company to work with. On Site Jabber, the company has a rating of 3 out of 5 stars with 5 reviews. That indicates that most people were unhappy with their purchases. Gold Dealer Reviews gives the company just 3.5 stars with 35 reviews, indicating that even more people were unhappy there.
The favorable reviews definitely indicate that the company operates legitimately. They provide the services that they say they do. But let's take a look at some of the negative feedback.
Negative Reviews
On Site Jabber, one rating gives 5 stars. Two give 4 stars, and two give 1 star.
One of the 4 star reviewers said that they only took points off because of the customer service. They said that the customer service team works from home and that they aren't able to help over the phone.
The other 4 star reviewer said that their only quibble was with shipping. They didn't want the package to be delivered to their workplace, but they couldn't be home when it arrived. By the time they got to the FedEx office where it was being held, the insurance had expired. They were unhappy about that.
One of the 1 star reviews was left in May of 2020. This person said that they'd been communicating with the company for a full 30 days, but that the company kept making excuses for why the customer's claim couldn't be processed. The customer said that it seemed like the company only cared about taking money and wouldn't ever help give it back.
There's not a lot of detail in this review. The customer didn't explain why they filed a claim, what the issue was, or what GoldSilver.com was saying in response.
The other 1 star review is from 2016. This customer accused the business of being a scam. They said that they placed an order but still hadn't received it after a month of waiting. They added that they believed the company acted fraudulently.
It's clear from the other reviews that plenty of people have received their orders with no issue. There may have been a processing or inventory delay on the company's end. But no one ever replied to this review to explain the situation, and it seems like the customer service team wasn't very responsive to the person's concerns.
On Gold Dealer Reviews, one recent review said that the customer did receive their purchase. But they found that the company charged exorbitant fees for storage. Apparently the company had not been very transparent about these costs.
Another review on the same website also mentions the high pricing. This customer additionally said that the company had very slow shipping times and seemed to be poorly managed. Multiple other people have echoed the complaints about slow shipping.
Pros & Cons of GoldSilver.com
Pros
Cons
Final Thoughts
All in all, we regretfully believe that we cannot recommend GoldSilver.com. There is no question that this is a legitimate business that provides dealer and storage services. And the educational resources on their website are impressive. It's good that they want their clients to learn about the industry and the market.
However, there are some red flags that point to patterns of mismanagement. To be clear, we don't think that anything malicious is going on here. But it sounds like the company has been bad at communicating about things like supply chain issues and delivery problems. There have been consistent complaints about the lack of service response.
Customers have also complained that the company charges hidden fees and too-high prices. It's important to double check the spot price of precious metals before agreeing to a purchase. That will tell you how much the price has been marked up.
Some customers have also complained that the company's delivery time is very slow. In fact, this is the most common and consistent complaint. People have been having trouble with this for at least five years, judging by our research. It's unclear whether the company sells items not in their inventory, or whether they're slow to package and ship orders.
Either way, there seems to be a problem with the efficiency. It's difficult to believe that you'll be as satisfied with this company as you would be with a competitor that has more consistently positive feedback. There are plenty of precious metals IRA dealers with great reviews and much faster shipping times.
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