Birch Gold Group Review

Our verdict

Birch Gold Group has the lowest minimum on our list, $5,000 for an IRA or a cash purchase, and a clean complaint record: 9 BBB complaints in three years with an A+ rating. It sells all four IRA metals and lists five depositories.

What holds it back is that it doesn’t publish its own markup, and its fee figures are an example for one custodian rather than a schedule Birch commits to. Its specialists are paid commission, and a fraud lawsuit filed in 2026 is pending. If you have under $25,000, Birch is worth a call; just get the fees, custodian and markup in writing first.

Birch Gold Group at a glance

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

All figures checked October 29, 2026.

Fees

Birch’s prices page (last updated September 30, 2026) gives a fee example using Equity Trust, “one of our preferred custodians”, with storage at Delaware Depository. Birch notes these are the custodian’s and depository’s fees, “not Birch Gold prices or fees”:

• One time: $50 setup plus a $30 wire fee, $80 in all
• Each year: $125 custodial fee plus $110 storage and insurance, $235 in all

That’s $315 in year one and $235 a year after, or $2,430 over ten years. Birch doesn’t say whether the $110 is segregated or not; it matches Equity Trust’s non-segregated rate, and Equity Trust charges $160 for segregated storage. A different custodian will have different fees.

Waiver: Birch says first-year fees are waived on transfers over $50,000, and that it pays the first year’s fees on initial purchases of $50,000 or more.

See gold IRA fees.

Minimum investment

Birch’s FAQ says it “currently requires a minimum investment of $5,000, though this can vary”. That applies to IRAs and cash purchases. At $5,000, though, a yearly fee of $235 is close to 5% of the account each year. Run the numbers in our calculator.

Custodian and storage

Birch says it works with custodians such as Equity Trust Company and GoldStar Trust Company, and you choose one. It lists these depositories:

• Delaware Depository (Wilmington, Delaware; Boulder City, Nevada)
• Brink’s (Los Angeles; New York; Salt Lake City)
• International Depository Services (Delaware; Texas)
• Texas Bullion Depository
• Texas Precious Metals Depository (Shiner, Texas)

Products

Gold, silver, platinum and palladium. Birch didn’t publish a list of IRA-eligible products on the pages we checked.

How its staff are paid

Birch’s FAQ says its specialists are paid commission on completed transactions. That isn’t unusual (American Hartford Gold does the same), but it’s a reason to ask why a specific product is being recommended.

Buyback and cancellation

Birch mentions buybacks in its marketing but doesn’t publish buyback or cancellation terms. Ask for both in writing.

Promotions

Birch advertises up to $10,000 in free metals on qualifying new purchases, IRA or delivery. The bonus depends on the purchase amount, a minimum applies, not all purchases count, and no end date is given. The offer page dates back to 2017.

Birch’s homepage features a celebrity endorsement. An endorsement tells you nothing about fees or markups.

Ratings and complaints

• BBB: A+, accredited since July 21, 2013. 9 complaints in three years, 3 closed in the last 12 months.
• BCA: AAA, 1 complaint, member since November 2011.
• Trustpilot: 4.8 from 341 reviews.

Legal record

Linebarger v. Birch Gold Group (C.D. Cal., No. 2:26-cv-05070) alleges fraud and misrepresentation. It was removed to federal court on May 11, 2026, and is pending as of October 29, 2026. An allegation isn’t a finding; we’ll update this when the case resolves.

We found no regulatory actions against Birch in our searches, which weren’t exhaustive.

Pros and cons

Pros

• $5,000 minimum, the lowest on our list
• First-year fees covered over $50,000
• Publishes a worked fee example with a named custodian
• All four IRA metals
• Five depositories listed
• 9 BBB complaints in three years; BCA AAA

Cons

• Fee figures are a custodian example, not Birch’s own schedule
• No published markup or buyback terms
• Commission-paid specialists
• Pending fraud lawsuit (2026)
• Free-metals offer with unpublished terms

Who Birch suits

• Savers starting with $5,000 to $25,000
• Buyers who want platinum or palladium in the IRA

Look elsewhere if you want one named custodian and depository up front (Augusta) or a published markup range (American Hartford Gold).

How we reviewed Birch Gold Group

We read Birch’s FAQ, prices page, custodian article, homepage, offer page and affiliate page, the Linebarger docket, and its BBB, BCA and Trustpilot profiles on October 29, 2026. We didn’t open an account. See our methodology.