The short answer
Expect a one-time setup fee, an annual custodian fee, an annual storage fee, and the dealer’s premium when you buy. Two custodians’ published fee schedules put the yearly account and storage costs for a small account at roughly $275 to $335. The dealer’s markup can cost far more than that, so get it in writing for every coin or bar before you buy.
The costs to expect
| Setup | A one-time account fee, $50 at both custodians below |
| Annual custodian fee | Flat, or tiered by account value |
| Storage | An annual fee, flat or based on the metal’s value, higher for segregated storage |
| Premium over spot | The dealer’s markup when you buy, which varies a lot by product |
| Exit costs | The dealer’s buyback spread, plus liquidation, shipping or closing fees |
Fees at two custodians
Custodians publish fee schedules, and it’s worth reading one before you sign anything. Here’s what two of them list. We have no relationship with either company; they’re examples of what published fees look like.
| Fee | GoldStar Trust (January 2026) | Equity Trust (November 2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Account setup | $50 | $50 online, $75 on paper |
| Annual custodian fee | $150 | $225 for accounts under $15,000, rising in tiers to $2,250 at $2 million or more |
| Commingled storage, per year | $125 | $110 |
| Segregated storage, per year | $225 minimum | $160 |
| Buying or selling metal | No fee | $10 per asset to sell, up to $30 |
| Shipping metal to you | $10 plus shipping costs | $50 minimum plus costs, and $50 per in-kind distribution |
| Closing the account | Not listed | $250 |
For a small account with commingled storage, that works out to about $275 a year at GoldStar and $335 at Equity Trust, before any costs of buying or selling. Neither custodian charges annual fees by the day, so closing an account early in the year doesn’t earn a refund.
The premium is usually the cost that matters most
Custodian and storage fees are visible and predictable. The premium, the dealer’s markup over the metal’s spot price, is easy to miss because it’s built into the price of each coin.
Here’s the scale of it. On a $50,000 purchase, a 5% premium costs $2,500. A 30% premium costs $15,000, which would cover the annual fees in the table above for more than 40 years.
Widely traded bullion coins and bars generally carry smaller premiums than proof coins, “limited edition” coins, or anything sold as rare or collectible. That’s where the largest markups hide, and regulators have gone after dealers for it.
A real case: markups of 92% to 130%
Between 2019 and 2022, a California dealer called Red Rock Secured sold about 950 customers, mostly older people, Canadian coins worth roughly $30 million for more than $69 million. According to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the markups ran from about 92% to 130% over the company’s cost, and salespeople discussed low markups on common coins before steering buyers to the expensive ones. Most victims used retirement savings. In April 2024 a federal court ordered the company and two executives to pay about $39 million in restitution, plus disgorgement and $12.25 million in civil penalties.
Our guide to what gold really costs explains how to check a premium against the spot price.
How storage fees are charged
Storage is billed in one of two ways. Some custodians and depositories charge a flat annual fee, which favors larger accounts. Others charge a percentage of the metal’s value, so your fee rises when the price of gold does. Many schedules combine the two, with a flat minimum and a percentage above a certain value.
Segregated storage, where your specific coins or bars are kept apart, usually costs more than commingled storage, where your metal is pooled with other customers’ metal of the same kind. Storage is typically billed once a year, starting when the metal reaches the depository.
Costs when you sell or take the metal out
Getting out costs money too. Dealers buy metal back below the price they sell it for, so part of the premium you paid doesn’t come back. On top of that, custodians may charge a liquidation fee to sell, shipping and insurance to send metal to you as an in-kind distribution, and a closing or transfer fee if you move the account.
How to compare gold IRA costs
- Ask the custodian for its current fee schedule and add up the setup, annual and storage fees for your account size.
- Ask the dealer for the premium over spot on each product, in writing, before you approve a purchase.
- Price the same products at two or three other dealers.
- Ask what the dealer would pay to buy the same coins back today. The gap between the two prices is a cost you’ll pay when you sell.
- If an offer promises free storage, free metal or waived fees, ask how it’s paid for.
Are the fees worth it?
That depends on the size of the account and why you want physical metal. Fixed fees weigh more on small accounts: $300 a year is 3% of a $10,000 account, every year. By comparison, large gold ETFs that hold physical bullion charge annual expense ratios of 0.25% to 0.40%, which is $25 to $40 a year on $10,000. The trade-off is that an ETF gives you gold’s price, not specific coins or bars in a vault. We weigh the two in Gold ETFs vs. physical gold, and the gold IRA guide covers the rest of the setup.
Frequently asked questions
Are gold IRA fees tax-deductible?
Not under current federal law for most people. Miscellaneous itemized deductions, which once included some investment fees, were suspended starting in 2018. A tax professional can confirm how the rules apply to you.
Can I pay gold IRA fees from outside the account?
Many custodians let you pay annual fees by card or bank transfer so the metal doesn’t have to be sold. Ask your custodian how it bills and what happens if a payment is missed.
Why do some companies advertise “no fees”?
A company can waive custodian or storage fees and still earn money on the metal it sells you. Compare the full cost, including the premium, rather than the fee line alone.
Sources
- GoldStar Trust, Fee schedule, revised January 2026, and Precious metals IRAs
- Equity Trust Company, Fee schedule FS-0001-03, revised November 2025
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Federal court orders California-based precious metals company, CEO, senior salesperson to pay over $56 million for fraud, April 2024
- The Motley Fool, SPDR Gold Shares vs. iShares Gold Trust: fees and liquidity compared, May 11, 2026
- Investor.gov (SEC), Investor alert: self-directed IRAs and the risk of fraud