Augusta Precious Metals vs Lear Capital: Fees, Minimums, Custodians

Disclosure: Augusta Precious Metals is our affiliate partner, and we may earn a commission if you request its info kit through a link on this site. The full explanation is in Our relationship with Augusta Precious Metals.

What does this comparison cover, and what does it leave out?

This page puts two precious metals dealers side by side on the same fields, in the same order. It is one of our Gold IRA company comparisons. Full write-ups are in our Augusta Precious Metals review and Lear Capital review.

This page is not a ranking. We pick no winner and give no scores. It shows where each company's statements are clear, conflict or are thin, equally for both. See also Goldco vs Lear Capital and Goldco vs Patriot Gold Group.

What was re-opened on 2026-10-18. Augusta: home, FAQ, Gold IRA, Silver IRA, reviews and Terms of Use pages. Lear: IRA FAQ, the "Minimum Investment and Fee Transparency" page, Terms and Conditions and "How to Open a Gold IRA." Everything else (Lear's other pages, regulator and court pages, custodian, depository, IRS, CFTC and CFPB pages) was not re-opened and is labelled "as recorded in our review" with the review's date (Augusta 2026-10-12, Lear 2026-10-15).

How do the two companies compare at a glance?

These are company statements or records, as attributed.

What are the stated fees?

All figures are company statements from pages opened on 2026-10-18. None includes the price of the metal.

Lear's $315 includes a $30 wire fee (fee page), and says storage has "flat-rate storage pricing with no extra charges for adding more gold or silver to your account over time." Augusta's $285 lists no wire fee; whether one applies is not stated. Our reviews recorded that Equity Trust publishes several fee schedules and that no page we read says which applies to either dealer's accounts. See custodian fees, storage fees and hidden fees.

What are the minimums?

Augusta: "a minimum initial purchase of $50,000 for both cash (non-IRA) and IRA purchases," which it says "isn't a fee." Lear: its fee page says it "requires a $10,000 minimum contribution to open and fund an account"; its FAQ states no minimum. These are different in kind: Augusta states an initial purchase amount for cash and IRA purchases, Lear a contribution to open and fund an account. See minimum investment.

What do you pay for the metal itself?

"Spread" is used in two ways. In general it means the gap between a dealer's selling price and its buyback price. Lear's Terms define it differently: the difference between the retail price quoted and Lear's cost to acquire the metals from its supplier. Augusta gives no definition or range on the pages we read. See dealer premiums, markups and spreads.

Augusta: the FAQ says "No additional commission is added to prices listed by Augusta" and "Prices quoted to you by the Augusta order desk are the prices you will pay." Its Gold IRA page says it "walks through all costs — including the spread — before any transaction." No percentage over spot appears on the pages we read, and we did not see its transaction agreement.

Lear: its Terms say its "Spreads generally range between 2% and 35% of the quoted purchase price" and "vary by Precious Metal, by customer, by transaction type, and over time."

One company publishes a range and the other none, and the two measures are not the same, so the numbers cannot be compared directly. The CFTC's customer advisory says fees not available in writing before purchase are a red flag; ask each company for sale, spot and buyback prices in writing.

Who are the custodians and depositories?

The custodian legally holds the IRA and sends tax forms; the depository is the vault (the roles).

Augusta names Equity Trust Company and Delaware Depository. Its FAQ lists storage cities ("among others") without naming an operator in the text.

Lear names Delaware Depository, with Equity Trust Company on the "How to Open" page and Self Directed IRA Services, Inc. in the FAQ.

As recorded in our reviews, neither Equity Trust nor Self Directed IRA Services appeared on the IRS list of approved nonbank trustees dated April 1, 2026, as far as we could read it. That list covers only nonbank trustees, so it does not settle who may act as a custodian; we offer no legal conclusion. See custodian requirements. Augusta's FAQ says "held fully allocated," not "segregated"; Lear's fee page prices both.

What do they say about buying back your metals?

Augusta (FAQ and Gold IRA page): "the law doesn't allow any dealer to guarantee future repurchases"; "Augusta's buyback policy is subject to change without notice"; bids "can land above, near, or below melt value"; "There's no separate liquidation fee when Augusta agrees to repurchase your metals." Its Gold IRA page says "Augusta has never denied a client buyback since 2012," which we cannot verify.

Lear (Terms and FAQ): "LC does not guarantee that it will buyback any Precious Metals that Customer purchases"; "LC does not make any profit on buyback transactions"; its buyback price is described as "the highest list bid price... offered by its wholesaler." The FAQ says "buyback (or bid) prices are lower than its sell (or ask) prices." As recorded in our review, the Terms also say Lear has never refused a buyback; we cannot verify that.

What are the cancellation and website-terms provisions?

These are website terms, not purchase agreements, which we did not see. This is not legal advice.

What does each company's BBB profile show?

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) publishes business profiles, reviews and complaint records. We did not open bbb.org. Everything here is per screenshots of BBB's pages sent to us by the site owner: Augusta's profile and reviews on 2026-10-12, its Complaints tab on 2026-10-15, and Lear's three tabs on 2026-10-15. BBB says it does not verify business-supplied information, that the complaint text shown might not represent all complaints filed, and that a company's size and volume of transactions should be considered alongside complaint counts.

Augusta's reviews page reports "134 reviews, 0 complaints on file (as of 7/16/26)," unlike the BBB screenshots (136 reviews; one complaint filed 01/23/2026). We cannot say why.

What does the one Augusta complaint allege?

Filed 01/23/2026, Sales and Advertising Issues, status Answered. The consumer alleged premiums well above typical pricing and differing written buyback pricing. Augusta responded on 05/18/2026 that there appeared to be confusion about valuation. The consumer rejected later responses, last on 07/18/2026. No resolution, judgment or order is shown. These are the consumer's allegations and the company's statements.

What do the Lear complaints allege?

We were given page one of three (ten complaints, 07/28/2025 to 07/04/2026), so 22 of the 32 were not seen. Two were marked Resolved and eight Answered. Consumers alleged a larger-than-discussed spread or markup, payment delays, coins shipped back not fully credited, a depository dispute and an IRA sale without instruction. Lear's stated position includes a recorded verbal confirmation and a signed Transaction Agreement listing a possible spread range. In several disputes the consumer rejected Lear's response and no resolution is shown; no judgment or order is shown. These are allegations and company statements.

What do public records show for each company?

Lawsuits and regulator actions are allegations unless a judgment or order says otherwise; settlements are settlements. All of this is as recorded in our reviews, not re-opened on 2026-10-18.

Augusta (searches 2026-10-12): the CFPB complaint database returned 0 results for "augusta precious metals." Web searches of CFTC, SEC, FTC and CFPB sites and for court dockets did not turn up a matter naming the company. They did not cover state attorneys general or state securities regulators, and a web search is not a search of a regulator's or court's own database. FINRA BrokerCheck returned no results to our tool and SEC EDGAR was blocked, so neither was checked.

Lear (searches 2026-10-15): the CFPB database returned 0 results for "lear capital." The Lear searches did include state orders, which is where the matters below came from. A FINRA BrokerCheck firm-name search returned four firms, none of them this company. EDGAR, NFA BASIC and CourtListener were blocked, so not checked. Records we opened then:

• New York Attorney General. June 2021: lawsuit announced alleging undisclosed commissions and unregistered operation; January 2022: settlement announced with $6 million for eligible customers.
• Los Angeles City Attorney. The plan refers to a lawsuit resolved by a $2.75 million settlement, and says Lear denies the allegations.
• Chapter 11 case. Lear Capital, Inc. filed a Chapter 11 (Subchapter V) petition on March 2, 2022 (D. Del., Case No. 22-10165). Our review recorded a plan with a $5.5 million customer fund and a multi-state settlement. The plan states that Lear neither admits nor denies any violation; the state releases (South Carolina, Iowa, Texas, California and Alabama, August 2023) describe the $5.5 million but do not address admission. Vermont's investor alert says the court confirmed the plan on June 12, 2023, while an Inforuptcy docket summary lists "Plan confirmed: 06/08/2023." We cannot say which is right and did not open the confirmation order.

Lear's complaints page says it "emerged from reorganization in early 2024," a company statement. We found no judgment or finding of liability in the sources we opened for Lear, and the searches above turned up no such matter for Augusta, within the limits stated. Because Augusta's searches did not cover state regulators, its empty result is weaker than Lear's populated one; neither is a clean bill of health. See how to verify a dealer.

Where do the two companies' own pages conflict or run thin?

Augusta: two cancellation windows are described without saying how they relate; its reviews page says "0 complaints on file" while BBB screenshots show one; BBB's 2011 start and 2021 incorporation differ from the FAQ's "formed in January 2012"; "up to 10 years" of paid fees is unexplained; no spread range or insurer name; transaction agreement not seen.

Lear: the FAQ and fee page give different annual totals; the custodian differs between the FAQ and "How to Open" page; the $10,000 minimum appears on the fee page only; the plan confirmation date differs by source; the terms name an LLC while BBB and the court case name an Inc.; BBB shows a 1997 start and 2013 incorporation; no insurer name; purchase agreement not seen.

What did we not check?

For both companies: bbb.org itself, purchase agreements, Equity Trust and depository documents, PACER and state courts, Google and the awards publishers each company cites. For Augusta, state attorney general and securities regulator records were not searched. Relied on from our reviews, not re-opened: Lear's complaints page and other Lear pages not listed above; Equity Trust, Delaware Depository, IRS, CFTC, CFPB, FINRA and Trustpilot pages; and all regulator, court and bankruptcy records above. Pages may have changed. Check quotes against the live pages.

What should you ask Augusta Precious Metals?

1. What are the sale, spot and buyback prices, and the spread in dollars and percent, for each product, in writing?
2. Which Equity Trust fee schedule applies to me, and is my storage segregated?
3. What does "up to 10 years" of paid fees mean?
4. Which cancellation period applies to my product?
5. How does a buyback work, and what does the custodian charge when I sell?
6. What insurance covers my metals, and may I see the policy?
7. Which legal entity am I contracting with, and may I read the transaction agreement, including arbitration terms, first?

What should you ask Lear Capital?

1. What are the sale, spot and buyback prices, and the spread in dollars and percent, for each product, in writing?
2. Which custodian and fee schedule apply to me, and is my storage segregated?
3. Which year-one total applies to me, $315 or $365, and what happens after any fee offer ends?
4. When does the 24-hour window start, and what exceptions to "ALL SALES ARE FINAL" apply?
5. How does a buyback work, who pays shipping on metal I send back, and what does the custodian charge when I sell?
6. What insurance covers my metals, and may I see the policy?
7. Which legal entity am I contracting with, and may I read the purchase agreement, including arbitration terms, first?

See also how to evaluate a Gold IRA company.

What risks apply to any company?

Prices go up and down (price volatility), you can sell only at a buyback price or to another buyer, and you depend on several companies (counterparty risk). We do not predict prices. This is not personal advice; talk with a qualified professional before you act.

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

The pages re-opened on 2026-10-18 are listed near the top. Everything else comes from our two published reviews (dated 2026-10-12 and 2026-10-15) and the BBB data files prepared from owner-supplied screenshots. 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. Please tell us about mistakes through our corrections page.