Birch Gold Group Review: Fees, Minimums, Custodians, Complaints

This page is part of Gold IRA Companies Compared. It follows our company research methodology, which means every company is checked against the same list of records and nothing is ranked.

Is Birch Gold Group legitimate, and what does it charge?

"Legitimate" asks for a verdict, and we do not give verdicts. Below is what Birch says about itself, what independent records we could open, and what we could not check. A search that finds nothing is not a clean bill of health.

On fees, Birch's website states a one-time $50 account setup fee, a $30 wire transfer fee, a $125 annual management fee and an annual storage and insurance fee. Most Birch pages put the storage and insurance fee at $110, and they total the recurring costs at $235 a year. One page says $100 instead. The site also says Birch will pay the first year's fees on new accounts over $50,000. Birch's website says it does not quote product prices online, so we come back to the price of the metal below.

Who is Birch Gold Group?

According to its website, Birch Gold Group is a dealer of physical precious metals that helps people hold gold, silver, platinum and palladium in Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) or take delivery at home. Its pages list a headquarters at 309 Court Avenue, Suite 809, Des Moines, Iowa 50309, and add that this address "does not accept payments."

The website gives two starting years. The home page's metadata (its Open Graph and Twitter titles) says "Serving 30K+ Americans Since 2003," while the home page text ("40,000+ Americans since 2011") and the "Birch Difference" page ("Since 2011") say 2011. The customer counts differ too, 30K+ and 40,000+. We do not know the reason for the differences. This section is Birch describing itself.

Quick facts at a glance

How does a Gold IRA with Birch work?

A Gold IRA is a self-directed IRA that holds physical metal instead of mutual funds or stocks. Birch's pages describe three roles:

• The dealer sells you the metal. Here, that is Birch.
• The custodian is the company that legally holds your IRA, keeps the records and sends the tax forms. Birch's FAQ says the custodian, not Birch, manages the account.
• The depository is the secure vault where the metal is kept.

Our guide to the custodian, the dealer and the depository explains why this matters: the company selling to you is not the company that holds your account, so you will have agreements and fee schedules from more than one place.

Birch's Gold IRA page lists three steps: open an account with a qualified custodian, fund it by transfer, rollover or new contribution, and choose IRS-eligible metals to be stored at an approved depository. Its Precious Metals IRA page says several kinds of IRAs and employer plans can be rolled into such an account. Those are Birch's statements, and rollover rules depend on the plan. For the general process, see our overview of how a Gold IRA works and our guide on rolling a 401(k) into a Gold IRA.

What does Birch say the fees are?

Here are the fee numbers as Birch's website states them.

Three details stand out. The storage fee is $110 on most pages but $100 on the Silver IRA page; the $235 total uses $110, and we do not know which figure is current. The first-year waiver is worded four ways across the FAQ, Gold IRA, Silver IRA and Precious Metals IRA pages (see the table), so ask how Birch counts the $50,000. And the pages list no fees for selling metals, taking an in-kind distribution or closing the account; those come from the custodian, as shown below.

Who are the custodians Birch names, and do their schedules match?

Birch's FAQ says the custodian is "typically Equity Trust Company or GoldStar Trust Company." The company's custodian article says Birch "works with custodians like Equity Trust Company and GoldStar Trust Company," and also says clients may use any IRS-approved custodian. Some Birch pages, such as the Precious Metals IRA page, refer only to "the custodian that most customers of Birch Gold use" without naming it. Birch also says its fee figures reflect rates for the custodians it generally works with and may vary by custodian.

We opened the published fee schedules for both custodians.

Equity Trust publishes more than one schedule. Its fee page also links a "Legacy Retail" schedule that it says applies to retail accounts opened before August 2024 that are not managed by a financial advisor or other professional, and an institutional schedule. We read only the Universal schedule closely for this page, so the table shows that one. GoldStar's schedule lists a separate $90 annual maintenance fee for self-directed IRAs generally and says "only one Maintenance Fee will be charged based on the asset type with the greater fee"; the $150 figures in the table are from its precious metals section. It also adds $1.80 per $1,000 of metal value above $125,000; some lines of its service-fee section were not readable to us, so we left them out.

What does the table tell us? Birch's $125 management fee and $110 storage figure do not match either of these two schedules exactly. The $110 figure matches Equity Trust's non-segregated storage fee, and the $125 figure matches GoldStar's commingled storage fee, but those are separate items that happen to share a number. Neither schedule we opened lists a flat $125 management fee for a $50,000 account. Birch's custodian article says the one-time setup, transfer and transaction fees are each "somewhere between $30 and $50," calls the $125 and $110 annual figures "usually around" those amounts, and says specific fees "may vary slightly depending on the custodian you choose." That is why we suggest asking for the fee schedule that applies to your own account, with its revision date, before any money moves. Equity Trust's Universal schedule says storage fees for precious metals are "charged at the time the metals are received at the elected depository" and "each January thereafter," that third-party provider fees "are in addition to those fees listed," and that "Additional depository fees may apply."

Are these custodians on the IRS list?

The IRS publishes a list of nonbank trustees and custodians it has approved under Treasury regulations. We opened the version dated April 1, 2026. We searched the text of the whole list for "Equity Trust," "GoldStar," "Gold Star" and "Centennial" (GoldStar's website says it is "a division of Centennial Bank"). None of those names appeared in the list text we could read. We cannot say what that means for either company.

Equity Trust addresses this on its regulatory page. It says it is "regulated as a South Dakota trust company" under the South Dakota Division of Banking, that its financial statements are audited annually by an independent certified public accountant, and that the "IRS list does not include entities that qualify as an IRA custodian under state law, which includes Equity Trust." Those are the company's statements, and we did not confirm them with the state regulator or the IRS. For GoldStar, we found no regulatory statement on the page we read. We are not offering a legal conclusion about either company.

To learn who may hold your IRA, ask the custodian in writing. Our guide on custodian requirements explains what the law asks for. Our planned custodian pages for Equity Trust and GoldStar Trust Company will cover each in more detail.

What is the minimum, and who does it leave out?

Birch's FAQ says it "currently requires a minimum investment of $5,000," for both home delivery and IRA purchases. The wording varies: the Silver IRA page says $5,000 "is required," the Gold IRA page says it "is needed to really get started," and the Precious Metals IRA page says "We recommend." The FAQ also says the minimum can vary. Ask whether $5,000 is a firm floor. Our page on minimum investment covers the topic.

As arithmetic on Birch's stated fees, $235 a year is 4.7% of a $5,000 account and 0.47% of a $50,000 account.

What do you pay for the metal itself?

Besides account fees, buying metal involves the gap between what a dealer charges and what it would pay to buy it back.

Two terms help here. The spot price is the current market price for a troy ounce of the metal. A dealer sells above spot (the added amount is the premium or markup) and buys back below it. The difference between the selling and buyback price is the spread. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) makes this point in its customer advisory on buying physical metals: "A dealer will always sell metal above the spot price and buy it back below the spot price." It adds, "If fees are not available in writing before your purchase, that is a red flag," and suggests you "Ask how much you would receive if you had to sell back the metal tomorrow."

What does Birch say?

• Its Prices page says "we do not quote product prices online." It says final pricing is not known until an order is finalized, and that you receive "a clear, detailed quote outlining all prices before confirming your order."
• Its fee article says "Like any precious metals dealer, we charge a premium over the spot price," with no percentage given.
• Its FAQ says each supplier's premiums fluctuate with market conditions and availability, and that the quoted price "already reflects Birch Gold's total purchase cost," including sourcing, fabrication, shipping and insurance. It also says "You'll always receive a detailed, locked-in quote before confirming your purchase."

We found no premium figure and no buyback price on the pages we read. Birch's position is that you see the numbers in a quote before you commit. That means the cost can only be compared once you have a written quote in hand. In an invented example, not Birch's spread, a 5% gap on $50,000 of coins means $47,500 back if the market price is unchanged, and the buyback price would have to rise about 5.3% to break even. Ask for the sale price, the spot price at the time of the quote and the current buyback price, all in writing, for each product. See how dealer premiums work.

What does Birch say about buying back your metals?

Birch's pages make these statements:

• Its FAQ says: "We always welcome the opportunity to buy back metals we have sold to our customers." The FAQ recommends requesting a buyback quote to learn current value, and it states no buyback fee or terms.
• Its fee article says: "However, unlike many precious metals dealers, we do not make any money when we buy back." We cannot verify this from outside the company. It also does not tell you what price Birch would pay, and the custodian and depository may charge their own fees on a sale.
• Its Risk Disclosure says: "Birch Gold Group shall not be obliged to accept returns of any coin(s) for refund other than counterfeit coins." The page limits that exception to counterfeit coins returned in their original holders "within ninety (90) days of purchase." A later sentence on the same page says Birch is not liable for a replacement or refund of the purchase price "if more than ninety (90) days has elapsed since the date of receipt." The page thus measures the 90 days from purchase in one place and from receipt in another.
• The same page says Birch "does not guarantee that Customer will be able to sell any item purchased for a profit in the future," and makes no guarantee of profit.

Neither the buyback line nor the risk page is a promise to repurchase at a stated price. We found no written buyback policy, time frame or fee. See our guide on buyback policies and liquidation costs and our page on liquidity risk.

We found no cancellation terms for ordinary orders on the pages we opened; the website terms cover website use only. Ask Birch for its purchase agreement and cancellation terms.

Where is the metal stored, and is it insured?

Birch's storage page names five depositories. Here is what it says, and what we could check.

The page gives no storage fee amounts for any depository. The only storage price on Birch's site is the $110 (or $100) flat figure. The custodians' own schedules show that storage can cost different amounts depending on whether metal is segregated, meaning kept separately in your name, or commingled, meaning pooled with others' metal of the same kind. Our guide on segregated and commingled storage explains the difference. It is reasonable to ask which type your Birch account would use and what each is billed at.

Our guides to IRA metals insurance and how to verify your metals list what to request in writing. See also home storage.

What does Birch say about reviews and ratings?

Birch's pages report ratings from several platforms. The table shows what the company reports. None of the figures below are our measurements.

On its pages Birch reports: an A+ BBB rating with "Accredited since November 14, 2011" (no review count); Trustpilot 4.7 and Google 4.8, both only in the page description with no count or date; an AAA rating from Business Consumer Alliance; ConsumerAffairs excerpts with no score; and "1,400+" reviews in total, without saying which platforms. None of these is dated.

Note the BBB date. Birch's reviews page says accredited since November 14, 2011. The BBB profile screenshots show "BBB Accredited Since: 7/21/2013." Both are reported here as shown. We cannot tell which is current or why they differ.

The reviews page shows 22 reviews sent directly to the company and nine excerpts from third-party sites. Testimonials chosen by the company tell you little about the full range of experiences. It also says "no reported legal actions listed in the BBB summary referenced there," which is Birch's wording about a BBB page. See how review sites make money and fake and incentivized reviews.

What does Birch's BBB profile show?

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a nonprofit that publishes business profiles, customer reviews and complaint records. BBB pages could not be opened for this review, so the figures below come from screenshots of Birch's BBB pages, viewed by the site owner on October 15, 2026. The newest customer review visible was dated 10/09/2026.

BBB does not explain on the page how its dates relate, and we draw no conclusions from them.

The page footer says BBB does not verify information provided by third parties and does not endorse businesses.

Customer reviews on BBB

The 4.77 figure is the average of BBB customer reviews. It is a different measure from BBB's letter grade. On the first page, all ten visible reviews were five stars, and Birch replied to seven. That page is not a sample of all 228 reviews, so we draw no conclusions.

Complaints on BBB

The complaints page screenshot shows a summary: 9 total complaints in the last 3 years, and 3 complaints filed in the last 12 months. BBB notes on the page that the complaint text displayed might not represent all complaints filed, that some consumers choose not to publish details, and that BBB may display only a portion of complaints when volume is high.

We read only the first listed complaint in detail; the other eight we cannot describe. A complaint is an allegation by a consumer, a business response is the company's statement, and no judgment or order is shown. The complaint we read, dated 02/12/2026, alleged that premiums on IRA gold and silver coins were far above standard bullion premiums and the buyback value far lower. Birch responded on 02/23/2026, disputing the allegations and saying the customer realized a gain, the premiums were lower than claimed, and pricing was confirmed in writing and on a recorded line. We have not verified either side.

What do the website terms say?

Birch's website Terms and Conditions say Iowa law governs and that disputes go to binding arbitration before a single neutral arbitrator in Des Moines, Iowa, under JAMS rules, decided "on an individual basis and not on a class, collective or representative basis." We did not see a purchase agreement, so we can only describe the website terms, which are not the same as a contract for metal. The BBB profile lists a 2011 start, a 2023 incorporation and the type "Corporation," with no legal name. Ask which legal entity you would contract with. None of this is legal advice.

What public records did we check?

Our methodology lists the records we look for on every company. Here is what happened for Birch, with the date we searched. We are as clear about what we could not do as about what we did.

Finding nothing in a database or web search proves nothing, and finding an article does not prove its claim.

We make no claim that Birch has, or has not, been the subject of a lawsuit, regulatory action or complaint outside the records above. If you want to run these checks yourself, our guide on how to verify a dealer walks through BrokerCheck, NFA BASIC, state regulators and court records. Any cases we confirm from primary documents will appear in our precious metals enforcement database.

What should you ask Birch before you sign anything?

Whichever dealer you consider, these questions come from regulators' advice and from the gaps we found. Ask for the answers in writing.

1. What are the sale price, the spot price and the buyback price for each product I'm quoted? Ask for all three at the same time.
2. Which custodian's fee schedule applies to my account, and what is its revision date? Ask for a copy.
3. Is the storage fee $110 or $100, and is it for segregated or commingled storage? Birch's pages give both numbers.
4. How does the $50,000 first-year fee waiver work for my deposit? Ask what happens in year two.
5. What will the custodian charge when I sell, take a distribution or close the account? These are separate from any dealer fee.
6. Is there a written buyback policy, and what are its terms and time frame? Ask what "we always welcome the opportunity" means in practice.
7. What are the cancellation and return rights for my order? The Risk Disclosure limits refunds to counterfeit coins within 90 days, measured from purchase in one sentence and from receipt in another.
8. How are your specialists paid? The CFTC suggests asking this directly.
9. Which legal entity am I contracting with, and may I see the purchase agreement before I send money?

What are the risks that apply no matter which company you pick?

No dealer, custodian or depository can remove the basic risks of owning physical metal. Prices go up and down (see price volatility), a Gold IRA carries the fees described above, and you can only sell at a dealer's buyback price or to another buyer. Counterparty risk, meaning the chance that a company you rely on fails to do its part, is covered in our counterparty risk guide. Birch's own Risk Disclosure says precious metals "will fluctuate in value" and that the company makes no guarantee of profit. We do not predict prices, and nothing here is a forecast.

How does this compare with other companies?

Every company review uses the same fields, and we do not rank them. Side-by-side pages are planned, including Augusta Precious Metals vs Birch Gold Group and Birch Gold Group vs Goldco. Start at Gold IRA Companies Compared.

How was this page researched, and when will it be updated?

On October 15, 2026, we opened the Birch pages, Equity Trust and GoldStar fee schedules, the Delaware Depository home page, the IRS nonbank trustee page and list, the CFTC advisory and the CFPB complaint database. BBB facts come from screenshots. Anything that came only from Birch is written as Birch's statement. Some quoted figures come from pages that carry their own update dates, ranging from late 2023 to October 2026, so they may change.

Fees, terms and company information are reviewed every three months under our update policy, and sooner if a regulator announces an action or a reader reports an error. If something here is out of date, please tell us through our corrections page. Our advertising disclosure explains how this site is funded.

This page is general information, not personalized advice. Decisions about your retirement savings depend on your own situation, so talk with a qualified financial planner, tax professional or attorney before you act.