Every dealer review on Gold Unpacked is built from primary sources: the dealer’s own website, the fee schedules of the custodians and depositories it names, complaint and regulator records, and federal court dockets. This page states that method — what a review covers, where each fact comes from, how figures are dated, and what a review leaves out. The method applies to every dealer review published here, including Augusta Precious Metals, Birch Gold Group, Goldco, Noble Gold, and American Hartford Gold. The criteria used to compare providers across those reviews are set out in the gold IRA comparison framework.
What a review covers
A review covers seven areas: the dealer’s identity, its published minimums and fees, the custodians and depositories it names, its buyback and cancellation wording, its promotions, what it does not publish, and its complaint and regulatory record.
- Identity. The legal name behind the brand and any other business names it operates under.
- Minimums and fees. Every minimum investment and every fee the dealer publishes on its own site, each with the date it was checked.
- Custodians and depositories. The IRA custodians and depositories the dealer names.
- Buyback and cancellation wording. The dealer’s buyback promise and its cancellation terms, quoted as written.
- Promotions. Any promotion the dealer is running, with the date it was checked.
- What the dealer does not publish. Fees, minimums, or terms missing from the dealer’s site. The gap is reported as part of the review.
- Complaint and regulatory record. Complaints and enforcement history, read as described under How the record is read.
Where each fact comes from
Each kind of fact comes from one kind of source.
- The dealer’s own website — for what the dealer publishes: fees, minimums, custodian and depository names, buyback terms, and promotions.
- The custodian’s or depository’s own fee schedule — for those firms’ fees. When a dealer publishes a summary of custodian fees, the review reports it as the dealer’s statement and checks it against the custodian’s own schedule where one can be found.
- The Better Business Bureau profile and complaints page — for BBB ratings and complaint counts.
- The CFPB Consumer Complaint Database — for complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
- Federal court dockets — for lawsuits, read on CourtListener.
- State attorney general, CFTC, SEC, and FINRA records — for enforcement actions.
Third-party review and ranking sites are not used as sources for any fact. A claim that appears only on third-party sites is not used.
All of these records are public. Investor.gov and the CFTC’s Learn and Protect pages are the regulators’ own consumer education resources.
How figures are dated
Every commercial figure in a review carries the date it was checked and the page it came from. Dealer fees and minimums change without notice. The date shows how current a figure is. The page shows where to re-check it. A figure that cannot be confirmed on a primary page is left out, and the review states the gap in place of the number. When a custodian’s own fee schedule cannot be found, the review says the custodian’s fees could not be verified. It does not repeat a number found anywhere else.
How a dealer’s own claims are handled
A claim a dealer makes about itself is attributed to the dealer, not restated as fact. A buyback promise, a price-match offer, or a years-in-business figure is reported as the dealer’s statement. Where two of the dealer’s own pages disagree, the review reports both versions and the page each appears on.
How the record is read
Complaint and enforcement records are reported with their limits.
- BBB ratings. A Better Business Bureau letter grade is reported as the BBB’s rating, alongside the complaint counts behind it. It is not treated as evidence of quality.
- CFPB zeros. A zero in the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database is reported with its limit: the database covers consumer financial products, and most precious-metals dealers fall outside it.
- “None found.” The phrase describes the searches that were run — which databases, under which names. It is not a clean bill of health.
- Lawsuits. A lawsuit is described by court, case number, filing date, and status. A dollar amount appears only when it is confirmed against the court record.
- Scope. Employment disputes and suits the dealer itself brought are not treated as customer complaints.
The site’s guide to gold IRA scams covers what to watch for on the buyer’s side of a precious-metals purchase.
What reviews do not do
Reviews on this site carry no ratings, no scores, no rankings, no top picks, and no “best for” labels. A review ends with the documents and written answers to request from a dealer, so the reader can reach a verdict on the record. The site supplies the framework and the record. The verdict stays with the reader.
Money and independence
This site may be paid when a reader contacts or opens an account with a dealer it covers. Payment does not change a reported fee, a reported minimum, or a reported buyback term. The full disclosure is on the page How Gold Unpacked makes money.
Corrections and updates
The date shown on a review changes when the review’s substance changes. A corrected fee, a newly confirmed figure, or an added record entry moves the date. A wording edit does not. The corrections policy is on the editorial standards page.