- 20 Aug 2021
- Greg Morrison
- Precious Metals
- Comments: 0
Disclaimer: Many or all of the companies listed here may provide compensation to us. This is how we maintain our free service for consumers. Compensation, along with hours of in-depth editorial research, determines where & how companies appear below.
GoldSilver.com is one of the most popular online brokers for precious metals. This company allows people to purchase gold and silver, store it in three different countries, and have it shipped internationally. Their clientele comes from all over the world.
But is a big company like this always the best choice? How does GoldSilver stand up to the competition? And are there any red flags you should be concerned about?
Important to mention before we go more in depth with this review!
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About GoldSilver.com
GoldSilver has been part of the precious metals industry since 2005. In addition to offering precious metals through their marketplace, they educate customers about silver and gold. Their main headquarters is in Santa Monica, but they ship internationally and work with vaults in multiple countries.
As the name implies, the company specializes exclusively in gold and silver. You'll find a wide variety of bullion and products, but you won't find metals like palladium, platinum, or copper. If you want a more diverse catalog of metals to invest in, you might want to work with a different company.
The company's online marketplace makes it easy to select the bullion you want and check out. Some people might choose to have their metals shipped directly to them, but you can also choose a "storage" destination. If you do this, you will automatically have an account set up with the storage facility of your choice.
This account functions very similarly to an account with a brokerage. You can sign in and view your portfolio and holdings from the comfort of your couch. You'll have access to information about how the value of your holdings has changed over time. In addition, you can use this dashboard to make transactions.
The company offers a guarantee that if you use their storage options, you will still be able to transfer, sell, or have your precious metals delivered to you whenever you want.
Company Management
The main person behind the company is Mike Maloney, who is both the CEO and founder. He created GoldSilver in 2005 and has been running the firm ever since. His background in financial advice serves him well here.
Mike Maloney hosts a web series about investments and money. On top of that, he's a bestselling author of precious metals investment guides. These credentials help to set the company apart from the other precious metals dealers on the market.
Storage Options
You can store your precious metals in fully insured vaults that operate outside the global banks. That means you don't have to worry about the assets being seized by governments or subject to taxes. Each storage facility has segregated storage, meaning that you are the only one who has access to your metals.
There are several account options available. You can open an individual account for your individual investments, or a joint account if you and a spouse are investing. For more complex investment portfolios, you might make use of the trust or LLC accounts.
Every vault is run by either International Depository Services Group or Brinks, two of the most highly recommended security firms in the world. In addition to locations in Dallas and Salt Lake City, there are vaults in:
If you need a licensed custodian to handle your vault as part of an IRA, the company does have a preferred partner. They most often work with Equity Trust. Some people might have a different custodian in mind, though. The firm is willing to work with popular custodians including the Strata Trust Company, Goldstar Trust Company, and New Direction IRA.
Marketplace Products
The company allows you to purchase global bullion options, with a range of products that's much broader than much of the competition. Not only do they sell gold bullion and coins, but they also sell gold jewelry. You can get silver bars and coins as well.
The gold bars range in weight from a gram to a kilogram. People with extra money to burn can even purchase a gigantic 400 ounce gold bar.
The bullion comes from official government mints in the following countries:
There are also products from private mints, including:
These mints create products that can't be found through traditional government holdings.
Gold coins like the Australian Kangaroo, American Eagle, and American Buffalo are available. There are also silver coins like the American Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, Britannia, Austrian Philharmonic, and South African Krugerrand.
There are almost as many silver bar options as there are gold ones. You can purchase bars of up to a whopping 100 ounces in weight. There's also the option to get a one or ten ounce bar, or you can purchase a one kilogram bar. Other weights are available as well.
Company Fees
You can choose from segregated or allocated storage. Allocated storage is the most inexpensive, but it doesn't keep your holdings separate from those of other people. Instead of a flat fee, they charge 0.06 percent of your account value every month.
When compared to some storage fees from offshore companies, that's extremely cheap. But if you're going to be holding a lot of wealth in the account, you might want to look for a company that uses flat fees instead.
There is a minimum fee of 4 dollars per month, regardless of how much you have in your account. Once you reach 10,000 dollars, you'll be paying about 6 dollars a month; at 100,000 dollars, you'll be paying 60 dollars monthly.
You are not obligated to sign any contracts, and you will only pay the fees while you use the storage services. If you remove your metals from the vault, you will no longer need to pay the fees. You have the option to have your metals delivered to your doorstep or moved to a non-GoldSilver vault whenever you want.
The segregated storage option has a minimum threshold of 35 dollars per month per metal, which means 70 dollars if you hold both gold and silver. The fee is also 0.08 percent of your holdings, once that number becomes higher than the 35 dollar minimum.
For this price, you will have your precious metals wrapped, shelved, and separated from the holdings of other people. No one except you and your custodian will ever have access to them.
If you ever want to change your storage plan, you can.
Is GoldSilver.com a Scam?
GoldSilver is not a scam. They are one of the largest and most well-established offshore precious metals holdings companies in the industry. On Trustpilot, they have an average of 4.1 out of 5 stars from 1,048 reviews.
One concerning thing about these reviews is that only 76 percent of respondents gave the company 5 stars. Two percent gave 2 stars, and six percent gave 1 star. That means that about ten percent of customers were extremely unsatisfied with their experiences.
There are companies that have a much better track record with their clients. You might want to look into one. In the meantime, let's take a look at some of the poor reviews.
Customer Complaints
One recent review said that the customer sold their gold coins and shipped them with the US Postal Service. The package safely arrived and was signed for by a customer service representative. This customer had not received their payment a week later, and they were unhappy with the answers they were getting from the company.
The customer said that the day they filed the complaint, a manager told them that they'd call back later that day. No call ever came. The person said they were considering filing a BBB complaint and a police report.
The company replied to say that the delays were their own fault and that they took responsibility. They sent the payment the day after the complaint was filed. The response stated that there was an issue with how their incoming metals were processed, and that they were working to make sure this didn't happen again.
Another customer said that they'd been waiting for over two months for their order of silver to be delivered. When the company finally got back to them, they said that the order had been returned. They said it was the customer's responsibility to be there to sign.
The customer was very upset because they said no one had ever attempted to contact them. They had not received a refund for the metals.
The company replied to say that the customer was purposefully mischaracterizing the interaction, and that the customer had also ignored the package at international customs despite knowing it was there.
Pros & Cons of GoldSilver.com
Pros
Cons
Final Thoughts
GoldSilver is one of the most popular online dealerships for people seeking gold and silver. But it might not be the best dealership out there. In addition to having several disgruntled customers, the company also frequently has out of stock bullion. It's difficult to say whether their prices are competitive enough to matter.
All in all, this isn't a terrible company, but it's just not impressive enough to wholeheartedly recommend.
Although we do think that GoldSilver.com is a decent company, we believe that there are better companies out there to make your investment with.
You can get a free gold investment kit from our #1 recommended precious metals investment company above, or you can checkout our top 5 recommended companies below...
===> See our top 5 recommended companies here (for IRAs AND non IRAs)
Or, continue with GoldSilver.com...
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