Money Metals Exchange Review: Fees, Minimums, Custodians, Complaints

Is Money Metals Exchange legitimate, and what does it charge?

This page is part of our Gold IRA Companies Compared library and follows our company research methodology.

We do not give verdicts on companies. We show what Money Metals Exchange says about itself, what independent records we could open, and what we could not check.

Money Metals Exchange is mainly an online dealer. For IRAs, its website says you pick an outside custodian, and Money Metals sells the metal and ships it to a depository.

On fees, the picture is thin. Its IRA page lists no setup fee, no annual fee, no storage fee and no minimum. Its depository pages say storage fees are "[e]xtraordinarily Low" and "usually lower than those charged by a precious metals ETF such as SLV or GLD," but give no dollar figures. The only fee figures we could find for an IRA came from the fee schedule of a custodian that Money Metals suggests, and that schedule is a 2024 version.

We could not read the complaint count on the company's Better Business Bureau page, and we could not query the federal complaint database. Both gaps are explained below.

Who is Money Metals Exchange?

The company's About page calls it "Money Metals Exchange LLC" and describes it as "an online bullion exchange." It says the company was founded in 2010. It names Stefan Gleason as President and CEO, and Clint Siegner and Mike Gleason as directors. The BBB's profile, as described below, lists Siegner and Mike Gleason as owners and Stefan Gleason as president, and shows a mailing address of PO Box 2599, Eagle, ID 83616-9120. The website footer shows the same box number. The About page does not list a separate headquarters street address.

According to the About page, the company buys and sells gold, silver, copper, palladium, platinum and rhodium. It says clients can also store metals, invest through IRAs, or borrow against their holdings. The page lists no business licenses or registration numbers. It says one of the directors oversees "AML/BSA" compliance, which stands for anti-money-laundering and Bank Secrecy Act rules, but gives no details.

Claims the company makes about itself

These are marketing statements. We have no independent source for them and do not repeat them as fact.

• The About page is titled "The #1 Precious Metals Dealer in the U.S." with no source for that ranking.
• It says clients can store metal in "North America's largest private vault." We found no outside source for this.
• It says Investopedia named the company a "Best Overall" dealer. We did not open the Investopedia article.
• The About page says the company has "750,000 customers" and shows a badge reading "Over $7 Billion in Trusted Transactions." The Company Reviews page shows "Over $4 Billion" "In Trusted Transactions" in its body text, and its page description (not visible text) says "over 75,000 customers." The pages disagree by a factor of ten on customers and by $3 billion on transactions. We do not know which figure, if either, is current or how it is counted.
• The Company Reviews page shows testimonials, a link reading "Best Overall Rated #1 by Investopedia" and a Better Business Bureau badge, but no star rating, review count or outside review platform.

Quick facts at a glance

How does a Gold IRA with Money Metals Exchange work?

A Gold IRA is a self-directed IRA that holds physical metal instead of mutual funds or stocks. Usually three companies play three roles, and the dealer is only one of them.

• The dealer sells you the metal. Here, that is Money Metals Exchange.
• The custodian legally holds your IRA and sends the tax forms.
• The depository is the vault where the metal is kept.

Our guide to the custodian, the dealer and the depository explains why the company selling to you is not the company holding your account. For a plain overview of the whole process, see how a Gold IRA works.

Money Metals' IRA page describes three steps:

1. Choose a custodian and fund the account. The page suggests New Direction Trust Company (NDTC), which it says "offers low fees and great customer service for our clients," and says Money Metals can work with any self-directed IRA provider.
2. Lock the price on the gold, silver, platinum or palladium you want. The page says you receive payment confirmation and shipment tracking.
3. Complete the transaction. You sign and return confirmation forms, your custodian pays on the IRA's behalf, and Money Metals ships the metal to the depository you chose.

If you hold your money in an old employer plan, our guide on rolling a 401(k) into a Gold IRA covers the paperwork. The Money Metals page says you can generally roll over a 401(k) if you no longer work for the plan sponsor. It also says transferring from an existing IRA, within IRA rules, avoids tax and early-withdrawal penalties. These are general statements, not tax advice.

Which metals does Money Metals say qualify?

The IRS has a rule for collectibles. When an IRA acquires one, the IRS says it "is treated as an immediate distribution from such account." A distribution can be taxable. Gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion escape that rule only if they are "of a certain fineness" and a bank or approved nonbank trustee keeps physical possession of the metal. See fineness and purity.

Money Metals' accepted-metals page gives a "general list" of examples with these fineness figures: gold .995, silver .999, and platinum and palladium .9995. It lists items it treats as unacceptable, including rare or graded coins, the South African Krugerrand, and pre-1965 90% U.S. silver coins. Its IRA page says "No slabbed/graded 'rare' coins are allowed" and notes that American Gold Eagles are an IRS exception to the purity rule. The accepted-metals page cites no IRS section. Your custodian and depository make the final call on what they will take, and the IRA page itself says they may require a mint mark or certification.

What does Money Metals say the fees are?

We looked for three layers of cost.

Metal prices and premiums

The "spot price" is the market price for raw metal. A dealer sells above spot and buys below it. The extra is the premium, and the gap between its selling and buying price is the spread. Our explainer on how dealer premiums work covers this in detail.

Money Metals' FAQ page says premiums "vary according to the product in question." It says privately made bars and rounds are "hard to beat when it comes to low premiums," and that scratched items are sold at a discount in a "Bargain Bin." It gives general spread figures for the industry: bullion "bid/ask spreads of less than 10%," and proof coins and other collectible coins "30%, 40%, or more." These are the company's statements, not data we tested.

We did not compare Money Metals' prices with any other dealer's, and we do not call its premiums low or high. The pages we opened do not publish enough to confirm whether it is a low-premium dealer, and we make no such claim. Check the buy and sell price for the exact item when you decide.

IRA setup and annual fees

Money Metals' IRA page lists none. It does criticize "huge set up fees" charged by sellers of home-storage IRAs, but it gives no figure for its own program or for its custodian partners. This is a gap to fill before you open an account. Ask for the current fee schedule of the specific custodian and depository in writing.

Storage fees

Both storage pages carry the heading words "Extraordinarily Low Fees" and say fees are "usually lower than those charged by a precious metals ETF such as SLV or GLD," but neither gives dollar amounts for the depository. The precious-metals-storage page says "Minimums usually apply and storage rates will vary" without naming the minimums. It says vaulting companies "charge anywhere from 50 to 80 basis points" a year, and that "IRA storage programs can be much less," without figures. That is the company's description of the industry, not its own price list. One basis point is one hundredth of a percent.

Both pages say "You'll never pay a dime to ship and insure" and that holdings are "audited internally each week and by a third party each year." Those are company claims. We saw no audit report.

Other costs in the terms apply to ordinary orders: a "$50 payment default fee" for late payment, and a possible 5% restocking fee on returns (see the terms table below). The FAQ page shows a banner for "Free Shipping on $199+ Orders." We did not read shipping charges for smaller orders.

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

We found no stated minimum for IRA purchases on the IRA page or the storage pages, and no minimum sale amount on the Sell to Us page. A lack of a published minimum does not mean there is none: the storage page says minimums "usually apply." Ask each firm in writing.

Money Metals also offers loans against metals; we do not review that program.

Who are the custodians, and where is the metal stored?

This is a clearer area than fees. The IRA page names custodians (the firms that legally hold the IRA) in two groups.

Suggested and turnkey custodians. The page suggests New Direction Trust Company and lists these firms as offering "turnkey storage with Money Metals Depository": New Direction Trust Company, Mountain West IRA, Preferred Trust Company, Advanta IRA, American IRA Company and MidAtlantic IRA, LLC.

Other trustees for other storage. For clients who store elsewhere, the page lists IRA Services, Ramsey National Bank, Kingdom Trust Company, Strata Trust Company, Forge Trust Company and GoldStar Trust Company in addition to those above.

These are the company's statements. We did not contact any of these firms and do not know their arrangements with Money Metals. The NDTC link on the page is a sponsor link. The page does not say what Money Metals receives, if anything, when you sign up through it.

What the custodian's fee schedule shows

New Direction Trust Company (NDTC) posts a PDF fee schedule labeled V.101524, with changes effective November 15, 2024. Our reading tool could read the text, but the table columns came out scrambled, so we use only lines we could match with confidence. In its precious metals section, the schedule lists an annual administration fee of $220 (previously $185) and a processing fee of $130 (previously $95) for purchases, sales and exchanges. It says storage fees are set by the depository and billed to the account, and are not part of its own schedule.

Treat these numbers with care. The schedule is two years old, NDTC's fees page gave no figures when we opened it, and fee schedules change. An NDTC application PDF hosted on the Money Metals site shows header text about an account-opening fee of "$75.00" on paper or "$30.00" online; we could not tell whether that is current. Ask the custodian you choose for its current schedule before you sign.

Is the custodian on the IRS list?

The IRS publishes a list of approved nonbank trustees and custodians. Its page was last reviewed June 28, 2026 and links to a list dated April 1, 2026. We searched that list for NDTC and each other firm named on the Money Metals IRA page and found no matching entry. We did not check how each firm is chartered or regulated, so we draw no conclusion. Ask your custodian in writing how it is authorized to act. Our guide on custodian requirements explains what the law asks for.

Where does the metal go?

The silver-gold-storage page says the depository is "[l]ocated in low-crime Eagle, Idaho, adjacent to the county sheriff's office"; the precious-metals-storage page words it as "with the county sheriff's office located on the second floor." The BBB profile lists Money Metals Depository as a related business. Other claims, all the company's own:

• The depository offers "Fully Segregated" storage, with metal "segregated, routinely audited, and never rehypothecated" (silver-gold-storage page) or "never commingled or rehypothecated" (precious-metals-storage page). Rehypothecation means reusing a customer's asset as security for the holder's own borrowing. See segregated and commingled storage.
• Contents are "fully insured by Lloyd's of London." Our guides to IRA metals insurance and how to verify your metals list what to ask for.
• Both pages say metal is "held in true bailment" and remains the customer's property.
• The company's legal disclosures say the depository "does not offer any unallocated storage methods, including through its partners," and that customer metals are not covered by state or federal insurance programs.
• The same disclosures say Money Metals may take a limited security interest in stored metals for amounts owed on related transactions, and may sell the metals to cover a payment default that is not fixed within fifteen calendar days after written notice.

The IRA page also says owners can withdraw bullion and take possession under IRA distribution rules. It warns against "home storage" or "LLC" IRA structures and tells readers to consult an attorney and accountant before trying an unconventional structure.

What does Money Metals say about buying back your metals?

The IRA page says: "We will offer to buy the metals you hold, adjusted for current spot prices at the time." That is an offer, not a promise of a specific price. The Sell to Us page explains the process:

• You click "Click Here to Sell to Us" on a product page or call the company. A representative quotes the buyback price, and Money Metals says it will lock your sell price by phone and send a Purchase Order.
• Items must be in "good, marketable condition." Coins that are not "Brilliantly Uncirculated" are bought at "Bargain Bin" prices.
• Items need to show weight and purity. The page says "Any items that do not have their weight AND purity stamped onto the item cannot be bought."
• The Sell to Us page says metal "should be shipped promptly via US Postal Service Registered Mail" and gives no payment timeframe. The legal disclosures add: "You must ship the metals within two (2) business days (unless the shipment has already been made or Money Metals already has possession of your metals)." They say "We highly recommend shipping via Registered Mail" and "You are responsible for insuring the shipment for its full value," and that Money Metals "strives to issue payment within three (3) business days of receipt of the metals."
• Sales are binding. The page says "You are committing to sell and Money Metals Exchange is committing to buy at the price shown."

The legal disclosures add that prices may be lowered if an item cannot be resold in its received condition, and that buy and sell premiums "will therefore fluctuate over time." The Sell to Us page lists no selling fee. Its claim that buyback prices are "well above" competitors is marketing we did not test.

In an IRA, any sale must run through your custodian, and the page does not explain how selling from an IRA works. The Sell to Us page links to a retirement-accounts program but gives no IRA selling details. Ask Money Metals and your custodian how an IRA sale, a transfer, or a distribution of metal in kind would work, and what each would cost.

Because we found no published spread, we cannot tell you the gap between the buy and sell price for any product. The CFTC says "If fees are not available in writing before your purchase, that is a red flag," and suggests asking about the buy-back price.

What do the website terms say?

We read the Terms of Use and Legal Disclosures. We are not lawyers. Key points, in the company's words where quoted:

The terms we read had no IRA-specific disclaimers. We did not see the custodian's account agreement or the depository's storage agreement. Read both in full.

A class action waiver means you agree not to join a group lawsuit. A lawyer can tell you how these clauses would apply to you.

What does the BBB profile show?

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) publishes business profiles, customer reviews and complaint records. We could not open BBB's website, so everything below comes from screenshots of BBB's Money Metals Exchange pages supplied by the site owner on October 16, 2026. The screenshots did not show an exact capture date; the newest review in them is dated October 10, 2026. Treat these figures as unverified by us beyond what the screenshots show. We found the BBB profile address through a web search and have not opened it.

BBB's "About This Business" text on the profile reads, as supplied by the business: "Money Metals Exchange, LLC buys and sells precious metals (bullion). Money Metals Exchange, LLC also offers secure storage, depository storage, and collateral lending." We treat that as the company's description, not as something BBB verified.

How to read the BBB figures

The A+ is BBB's letter grade. The 4.27 is something different: an average of star ratings that customers wrote, which BBB does not use in its rating. The profile's own line says "Customer Reviews are not used in the calculation of the BBB Letter Grade Rating." BBB's page also says it does not verify information from third parties, does not endorse any business, and that the nature of complaints and responses can matter more than the number.

What the customer reviews showed

The screenshots covered the first of 13 pages of reviews, with ten reviews dated April 24 to October 10, 2026. Three were one-star reviews and most of the other seven were five-star as far as we could read. We draw no conclusion from ten reviews out of 121. The company replied publicly under most of them, including all three one-star reviews.

The one-star reviews are customers' allegations and opinions, and we have not verified them. In general terms: one concerned a delay at a physical location, and the company replied that it could not find a transaction under the name given. One alleged that a shipping charge on a small order appeared at checkout, and the company replied that shipping and insurance on smaller orders are shown at checkout, with free shipping on larger orders. One alleged that worn or clad coins were received and a remedy refused; the company replied that it replaced coins the customer reported as clad or foreign, does not warrant against condition, and prices on the assumption that some coins are worn. These replies are the company's statements.

The BBB complaint counts

BBB has a Complaints tab for this company. The screenshot of it was too small to read, so we cannot report any complaint count or what the complaints say. Do not read the missing number as good or bad. Open the BBB profile yourself and read the Complaints tab, including the company's responses.

What public records did we check?

Our methodology lists the records we look for on every company. Here is what happened for Money Metals Exchange, as of October 16, 2026.

Court records we found

Money Metals as plaintiff. The Justia docket for Money Metals Exchange, LLC v. LawChart.org, No. 1:2024cv00257, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho lists Money Metals Exchange, LLC as the only plaintiff. The defendants are listed as LawChart.org and "Does 1-50." The docket shows the complaint was filed on May 24, 2024 and gives the nature of suit as "Other Fraud." Justia's page was last retrieved July 22, 2024 and shows no end date. It does not describe the claims, and we did not see the complaint or any later events. We do not know how the case ended.

What we did not check

We make no claim that Money Metals has, or has not, been the subject of a lawsuit, regulatory action or complaint outside the records above. A search that finds nothing is not proof that nothing exists. Our guide on how to verify a dealer walks through those databases, and our precious metals enforcement database will list cases we confirm.

The CFTC advises that "retail metal dealers are not regulated at the federal level," and suggests checking complaint history with your state regulators, which we did not search.

What should you ask Money Metals Exchange before you sign anything?

Ask for answers in writing.

1. Which custodian and which depository would hold my account, and may I see each one's current fee schedule? The IRA page names several custodians, but not their fees.
2. What is the total yearly cost of the account, adding the custodian's annual and processing fees to the storage fee? Storage figures are not on the pages we read.
3. What are the sale price, the spot price and the buyback price for each product I am quoted? Ask for all three at the same time.
4. What are the minimums for an account, for storage and for a purchase?
5. Does the company or the custodian receive anything when I use a sponsor link or a suggested custodian?
6. What are the custodian's charges when I sell, take a distribution, transfer out or close the account?
7. Can I read the depository storage agreement, including the security-interest and default terms, before I send any money?
8. How are your representatives paid? The CFTC suggests asking this directly.
9. Can I see proof of the insurance and the latest third-party audit?

See also how to evaluate a Gold IRA company.

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. Gold and silver prices go up and down, and our guide on price volatility explains how large the swings have been. Counterparty risk, meaning the chance that a company you depend on fails to do its part, is covered in our counterparty risk guide. We do not predict prices, and nothing on this page should be read as a forecast.

The CFTC warns that once money moves into a self-directed IRA, "you are on your own." Read the custodian's and depository's documents.

How does this compare with other companies?

We publish every company review on the same set of fields so you can read them side by side, and we do not rank them. See, for example, our review of U.S. Gold Bureau; an APMEX review is planned. Our Goldco review uses the same layout. A side-by-side page is planned: Goldco vs Money Metals Exchange.

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

On October 16, 2026 we opened Money Metals' home, IRA, storage, FAQ, legal disclosures, About, reviews, Sell to Us and accepted-metals pages and the New Direction IRA application PDF. We also opened NDTC's 2024 fee schedule and fees page, the IRS nonbank trustee pages and collectibles page, the CFTC advisory and the Justia docket. We ran a name search in FINRA BrokerCheck, could not get a result from the CFPB database, and reviewed the BBB screenshots (the complaints screenshot was unreadable). Anything that came only from Money Metals is written as its statement.

Fees, terms and company information are reviewed every three months under our update policy. If something here is out of date, tell us through our corrections page.

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.