Goldco vs Lear Capital: Fees, Minimums, Custodians

This page lays out what Goldco and Lear Capital say about themselves, and what public records show, in the same fields for both. It is part of our library to compare Gold IRA companies side by side and follows our research methodology. It does not rank, score or recommend either company. A dealer, a custodian and a depository do different jobs; our guide to the custodian, dealer and depository explains them.

Company facts are as of the dates shown. We re-opened most company pages on October 18, 2026. Items we could not re-open (BBB pages, several state releases and the bankruptcy plan) are marked with our earlier check date, October 15, 2026. Companies change prices, fees and wording without notice, so confirm every figure in writing before you act. The company quotes below are the companies' own claims unless an independent source is named.

How do Goldco and Lear Capital compare at a glance?

Plain-English terms: a custodian is the IRA trustee that legally holds your account; a depository is the vault; segregated storage keeps your items apart from others' items, non-segregated pools like items; the spread is the dealer's gap between the price charged and its cost. See our guide to dealer premiums, markups and spreads.

What fees does each company publish?

Each company's pages give more than one answer, so we show each page separately.

Goldco's cost page was updated in February 2025, and its FAQ page shows a modified date of September 3, 2024. A third page, on how much money you need, says to expect "about $200-300 a year in combined account maintenance fees and storage fees." The FAQ says "in many cases these fees are flat."

Lear's fee page is dated December 17, 2025, and its fees explained article July 27, 2026. Lear's IRA FAQ says the $315 and $235 figures are "contingent on choosing electronic statements and non-segregated storage."

Lear also describes fee offers: its FAQ says Lear "will pay for your set-up and storage account fees* based on the invoice purchase amount" for "Limited Mintage coins only," its fee page mentions "fee waivers for larger investments ranging from one to three years of free fees," and its fees-explained article says reimbursement tiers start at purchases of $25,000 and cover one to three years of fees. Goldco describes a silver promotion of "up to 5% back in FREE Silver" on $50,000 to $99,999 and "10% in FREE Silver" on $100,000 or more, which "cannot be combined with any other offer." We have not seen the full terms of any offer.

What is the minimum at each company?

Goldco's cost page says "we generally require a minimum of $25,000 to start a gold IRA," and its FAQ says "at least $25,000 available to roll over." Its minimum article answers the question with "it depends."

Lear's fee page says the company "requires a $10,000 minimum contribution to open and fund an account" for Gold IRAs, and that home-delivery minimums "vary based on product type." The IRA FAQ states no minimum.

Who is the custodian, and where is the metal stored?

Here is what each company's pages name.

Goldco. We found no custodian or depository named on any Goldco page we opened. The cost page refers only to unnamed "precious metals custodians" and "reputable and established bullion depositories," and the FAQ to unnamed "established bullion depositories."

Lear Capital. The IRA FAQ names "Self Directed IRA Services, Inc." as the IRA custodian. The fees explained page says accounts "are administered through Equity Trust at $125 per year," and the how to open page says "our preferred IRA custodian, Equity Trust Company." The fee page names none. The FAQ says "The Delaware Depository has been the industry leading IRS-approved depository for the safeguarding of precious metals since 1999," and that insurance is underwritten by London Underwriters. These are company statements. Equity Trust's fee page lists three schedules, with amounts in linked documents, and does not mention Lear.

What do the buying and buyback terms say?

Goldco. The 5 Reasons page says "Goldco guarantees to buy back your metals at the highest price.*" The footnote says Goldco "will buy back metals purchased from Goldco at any time," that "the highest price buy back guarantee applies after three years from initial purchase," that "No specific buy back rates guaranteed," and to see "your customer agreement." The About page says "Lock in the industry's highest buyback guarantee PLUS no fees when you're ready to liquidate," which says nothing about custodian fees.

Lear Capital. Lear's terms (December 2025) say "LC's Spreads generally range between 2% and 35% of the quoted purchase price," and define the Spread as "LC's gross profit on the transaction." The exact Spread "will be specified and confirmed during the transaction voice confirmation process." The terms also say "The law prohibits LC from guaranteeing to buyback the Precious Metals LC sells" and "LC has never refused the opportunity to buyback Precious Metals that a customer purchased from LC." The FAQ says "its buyback (or bid) prices are lower than its sell (or ask) prices." Customers get "24 hours to cancel the transaction without penalty," and "ALL SALES ARE FINAL" otherwise, with state-specific exceptions.

The CFTC, a federal regulator, says in a customer advisory that "a dealer will always sell metal above the spot price and buy it back below the spot price" (as of our 2026-10-15 check).

What do the website terms say about disputes?

Goldco. The Terms & Conditions page covers delivery, lost or stolen items, promotion terms and a disclaimer. We saw no arbitration, governing-law, jurisdiction or class-waiver language there or in the Privacy Policy. We did not read the text under "Promotion Terms." The sales agreement is not public, so the real dispute terms are unknown to us.

Lear Capital. Lear's terms require "FINAL, BINDING ARBITRATION IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, BEFORE ONE ARBITRATOR." Arbitration is a private process, run outside court, where an arbitrator decides the dispute. The terms say "claims of different persons cannot be combined or aggregated" and that claims "must be brought within 1 year plus 1 day after the purchase or sale." The liability and time-limit sections carry the note "[THIS PROVISION DOES NOT APPLY TO CALIFORNIA PURCHASERS.]"

What does the BBB show for each company?

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) publishes business profiles, customer reviews and complaint counts. BBB pages block our automated tools. Everything here comes from screenshots viewed by the site owner on 2026-10-15, so we could not re-open them.

BBB's notes say it does not verify third-party information or endorse any business, that the nature of complaints can matter more than the number, that complaint text shown may not represent all complaints filed, and that a company's size and volume of transactions should be considered.

Complaint counts are not comparable between firms of different size and volume, and they imply nothing about which firm is more or less reliable. We do not know either company's number of customers or transactions. We draw no conclusion from the difference between 72 and 32.

All complaints are consumers' allegations, and the business responses are company statements. No judgment or order appears on the screenshots. For Goldco, the first two complaints read were dated 08/25/2026 (a family member alleged being unable to confirm access to an inherited account; Goldco responded that the person was not shown as an authorized party) and 08/21/2026 (alleged deceptive sales representations, excessive markups on specialty coins and an obstructed liquidation; outcome unknown). For Lear, page 1 held ten complaints dated 07/28/2025 to 07/04/2026, two marked Resolved and eight Answered, on subjects including how a spread was explained, payment delays and coins shipped back for sale. Lear's responses cited recorded verbal confirmations and signed agreements. We state nothing about complaints we did not see.

What do court and regulator records show?

Lawsuits and complaints are allegations unless a judgment or order says otherwise. A settlement resolves a case; it is not a finding that the allegations were true.

Goldco. In Goldco Direct, LLC v. Wilson, No. 4:18-CV-850-KOB, a Northern District of Alabama opinion dated March 27, 2019 lists Goldco Direct, LLC as the plaintiff. The court denied one defendant's motion to dismiss and his motion to transfer the case. We do not know how the case ended. Separately, ClassAction.org reports a "$2,000,000 settlement" in Summerton v. Goldco Direct LLC, in which the suit alleged Goldco sent more than one promotional text within 12 months to people on the National Do-Not-Call Registry who had asked to stop receiving texts. The page lists a final approval hearing on March 26, 2026 and does not say whether Goldco admitted wrongdoing. Lear Capital. On June 17, 2021, the New York Attorney General announced a lawsuit against Lear and its founder in Erie County State Supreme Court. The release alleged the defendants cheated "nearly 1,000 New Yorkers" out of "approximately $10 million," with undisclosed commissions "up to 33 percent" on more than $43 million in sales, and that they failed to register in New York. These were allegations. On January 3, 2022, the Attorney General announced the matter was settled: the office "secured $6 million" from Lear, with required "clear and conspicuous disclosures of its fees" and "a 24-hour cancellation period for retirement and certain higher fee transactions." The release states no admission or denial. We did not open the consent order.

Lear Capital, Inc. then filed a Chapter 11 case, No. 22-10165, in the District of Delaware. As of our 2026-10-15 check, the plan document gives a March 2, 2022 petition date and a $5.5 million customer fund, says Lear neither admits nor denies violating the law, and refers to a Los Angeles City Attorney matter settled for $2.75 million, saying Lear maintains it did not admit wrongdoing. Vermont's investor alert says "On June 12, 2023, the bankruptcy court confirmed the Plan." Vermont says Lear's principal "will contribute" the $5.5 million, while the August 2023 state releases we opened on 2026-10-15, such as South Carolina's, say Lear would provide it. The plan itself describes the fund as about $2.8 million in cash on hand plus a contribution from owner Kevin DeMeritt. We found no court judgment or finding of liability in the sources we opened.

Lear's own bankruptcy page calls the case "a financial restructuring rather than a business closure" and says no customer, vendor or business partner lost money; we found no court record that supports or disputes that, so it is the company's statement. Its complaints page says it "emerged from reorganization in early 2024."

Our CFPB database search (a search of the federal consumer complaint database) returned zero hits for each firm name as of 2026-10-15, and a FINRA BrokerCheck firm-name search returned no matching firm for either. A zero or a missing record is not a finding about the company.

Where do each company's own pages disagree?

Goldco.

• Annual fee and totals: $125 on the cost page, "around $80" on the FAQ; totals of about $225, about $200 and $200 to $300 across three pages.
• Buyback: a "highest price" guarantee that the footnote limits to after three years, with "No specific buy back rates guaranteed," against an About-page line promising the "highest buyback guarantee PLUS no fees."
• Ratings and awards: the home page headline says "Top Rated," the About page uses "#1" wording, and the home page cites a numbered Inc. regional rank. These are marketing claims, and we do not repeat them as fact.

Lear Capital.

• Custodian: Self Directed IRA Services, Inc. (FAQ) against Equity Trust Company (two pages); the fee page names none. Year-one cost is $315 (FAQ) against $315 or $365 (fee pages).
• Trustpilot review counts: "more than 2,700" on the legitimacy page, 3,281 on the complaints page and "more than 3,100" on the bankruptcy page.
• Customer count: "more than 100,000" on one page, "nearly 150,000" on the complaints page and "almost 150,000" on the how-to-open page.

What differs and what does not?

Contrasts of stated fact, with no judgment about them:

• Goldco's cost page states a $25,000 general minimum; Lear's fee page states $10,000.
• Both state a $50 setup or application fee; Lear adds a one-time $30 wire fee. Annually, Goldco's pages show $125 or about $80, and Lear's show $125.
• Lear's terms state a spread range of 2% to 35%, and its pages name custodians and a depository; we found no spread range, custodian or depository named on the Goldco pages we opened.
• Goldco's pages offer a buyback "guarantee"; Lear's terms say the law prohibits guaranteeing a buyback.
• Lear's terms require arbitration in Los Angeles; Goldco's public pages contain no arbitration text.
• Both display A+ on BBB per the screenshots; complaint counts are 72 and 32, which are not comparable.

What did we not check?

We did not see Goldco's customer agreement or Lear's transaction agreement, Lear's New York consent order, the bankruptcy confirmation order or the Los Angeles City Attorney's own filings. We could not read BBB pages ourselves. We did not search SEC EDGAR, NFA BASIC, CourtListener, Investor.gov, state regulators, PACER or state dockets for either company, or check either custodian against the IRS non-bank trustee list. Our guide on how to verify a dealer shows how, and the enforcement database will list cases we confirm.

Questions to ask each company

Ask for every answer in writing, and consult a qualified tax professional about your own situation.

Questions for Goldco

1. Which IRA custodian and depository would hold my account?
2. What are the setup, annual and storage fees today, given that your pages show $125 and "around $80"?
3. What is the price per ounce, the spot price at the quote, and the price at which Goldco would buy each item back today?
4. What does "highest price" buyback mean in dollars, and what applies in the first three years?
5. Is there a markup, premium or spread, in dollars and percent?
6. May I read the customer agreement, including dispute and cancellation terms, before I send money?

Questions for Lear Capital

1. Is my custodian Equity Trust Company or Self Directed IRA Services, Inc.?
2. Which first-year total applies to me, $315 or $365?
3. What is the Spread in dollars and percent for each item, and where will it appear on my invoice?
4. What price would Lear pay to buy each item back today, and what fees or time limits apply?
5. How do the claim time limit and liability limit apply where I live?
6. Which fee reimbursement applies to my purchase size?

How was this page researched?

On October 18, 2026, we re-opened the company pages cited above, plus the New York Attorney General releases, the Vermont alert, the Equity Trust fee page, the GovInfo opinion and the ClassAction.org report. Items we could not re-open were checked on October 15, 2026: the BBB screenshots, the bankruptcy plan, the South Carolina release and the CFTC advisory. Company pages were read through an automated reader, so short quotes may be trimmed; check the live pages. See our methodology for how we handle company claims, complaints and settlements.