Bullion Max Gold IRA Reviews, FAQ and Guides

Bullion Max Gold IRA Review

No minimum

Fully functional “gold eCommerce” site allows you to actually shop for bullion with live pricing and purchase online.
Free shipping for orders over $199.
Offers competitive pricing and premiums by keeping their overhead low.
Offers sales, specials, and deals on specific bullion products.
With no preferred custodians or depositories, the onus is on you to find an acceptable custodian and depository who will work with this dealer.

If you want to buy gold online, few Gold IRA providers actually allow you to “buy gold online” — that is, price-shop, fill up a “shopping cart” with loot, and hit a “Buy” button. Bullion Max is different. With Bullion Max, you can actually buy gold online. Even if you don’t set up your Gold IRA here, you may find yourself doing your price shopping here and will almost certainly make a purchase, based on their extensive inventory and excellent customer service.

Company Background

Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Torrance, CA, Bullion Max distinguishes itself with a true “e-commerce” experience. If you want a huge selection of bullion products with live pricing and online ordering, as well as live market updates, Bullion Max has you covered. They deal in bulk, offer competitive prices, and even advertise sales on popular IRA-qualified bullion products.

Additionally, they have a wealth of information on their site (even if it’s a little hard to find), as well as a podcast and other media resources you can follow to become a more informed precious metals investor.

Reputation, Reviews, and Achievements

As an eCommerce platform, probably the most relevant metric for the Bullion Max reputation is its Shopper Approved ratings, which are excellent. The company enjoys an average rating of 4.8 stars out of five from over 6,500 reviews. That’s a lot of positive social proof. On Trustpilot it’s only 4.5 stars out of less than 60 reviews, but still — nothing to sneeze at.

On the Better Business Bureau website, Bullion Max enjoys a near-perfect 4.96 score from almost 50 reviews. Its BBB grade is A. Bear in mind that the highest BBB grade is A+, so Bullion Max doesn’t enjoy the best possible marks … but they’re only half a letter grade away from perfect.

Customer Service

Bullion Max offers excellent customer service. The toll-free number is staffed by experts for a large time range (Monday through Friday, 9am to 8pm ET). You can also email info@bullionmax.com and expect a prompt response. Finally, a chat support bubble is available in the lower righthand portion of the website so you can talk to an expert without waiting for a call to connect or an email to be answered.

Bonuses and Incentives

Bullion Max offers free shipping on orders of $199 or over. Considering the price breaks and quantities needed to fund a Gold IRA, it shouldn’t be too hard for you to activate this bonus for your purchases to reach the funding minimum.

Like many eCommerce stores, Bullion Max also offers sales, deals, and specials. Check the website for the most current offers.

Fees and Charges

Since Bullion Max does not set up Gold IRAs themselves, they charge no associated fees — no setup fee, no annual maintenance fee, no storage and insurance fees. Those fees will almost certainly exist for your IRA, mind you, but they will be between you and the IRA custodian you choose. Bullion Max has no part in that.

The only fees Bullion Max charges are premium over spot (the markup over the market value of the precious metals themselves) and shipping fees. Remember, Bullion Max offers free shipping on orders over $199.

Minimum Investment

There are no funding minimums for working with Bullion Max, since they aren’t an IRA custodian nor do they set up your IRA. They are a wholesaler of precious metals with a robust eCom presence. As little gold or silver as you want to buy and transfer to your IRA, they will sell you. Just keep in mind that they offer free shipping on orders over $199 and the more quantity you buy, the better price breaks you usually get on the premium over spot.

Your IRA custodian, however, might have funding minimums, so make sure to ask them. Remember, financial advisors recommend keeping only 5-10% of your net worth in precious metals, so people with smaller retirement nest eggs may require a lower minimum funding limit to adhere to those recommendations.

Product Selection

Bullion Max highlights an array of featured products on its landing page, but to dig into its product offerings, the best place to start is the header menu (which isn’t fixed to the top of the page like the masthead. You must scroll to the top to find it.) There, you will find sections for Gold, Silver, and Platinum/Palladium, which drop down to subcategories like bullion, proofs, rounds, bars, and various mints and refineries.

First things first — it’s fantastic that you can click through to each product page and not only get a wealth of product information (weight, diameter, history, fineness, etc.) but also see live pricing and add it to a shopping cart. Such a better shopping experience.

It’s also fantastic that all four IRS-approved precious metals are represented on the site. Well, almost. Bullion Max has lots of in-stock gold and silver bullion products and a handful of platinum products. Palladium? Not so much. There is just one page with generic palladium information and no “Add To Cart” button, implying that they don’t keep this least popular of the precious metals on hand.

This is perhaps not surprising, as palladium is the least-traded of the four. However, we might expect this to change if they came into possession of a palladium supply. Nor is it out of the question that they could track down some palladium bullion if you wanted to place a special order.

Bottom line — it’s great that they at least acknowledge it. Many Gold IRA providers don’t even acknowledge platinum or palladium, but for a well-rounded precious metals portfolio it is necessary to diversify into as many precious metals as possible. The IRS allows four; might as well go for four. Bullion Max seems to be on board with that.

Onboarding

Since Bullion Max operates a full-service eCom platform, onboarding with Bullion Max as your Gold IRA supplier is as simple as adding products to your cart and checking out, just like any online store. Speak to your custodian — you may be able to make arrangements to have your gold shipped directly to storage. If you have them shipped to you and take physical possession of your precious metals, you will have to ship them to your IRA custodian or storage facility yourself as a new contribution (and remember, there are limits to your contributions per year).

Your custodian can also arrange to purchase precious metals from Bullion Max on behalf of your IRA as well. That smooth eCommerce marketplace doesn’t make as much difference then, but at least you can shop live pricing and tell your custodian what to buy.

There is a toll-free number in the header of the Bullion Max that you can call if you need advice on Gold IRAs, asset selection, custodian selection. At the bottom of the information page on Gold IRAs (hidden in the footer), you are invited to call the toll-free number again or request a free information kit.

Custodial Options

Bullion Max does not offer Gold IRA custodial services in-house. It is a bullion dealer and broker, not a registered IRA custodian. Therefore, you will have to find a custodian yourself. Keep in mind that some Gold IRA custodians only work with certain gold dealers, so if you want to buy from Bullion Max, make sure the custodial service you select works with them.

As with any search for a Gold IRA custodian, look for one with experience in dealing with Gold IRAs and lots of positive social proof attesting to their competence. Custodial mistakes can incur serious consequences as far as taxes and unnecessary fees. If you want to monitor and manage your account online, make sure to select a custodian that offers it as well. Bullion Max offers a robust online gold marketplace, but not every Gold IRA custodian is that tech-forward.

Bullion Max does not mention any preferred custodians online, but you do have the option to speak with a Gold IRA specialist, and they likely have referrals if you want to use a custodian that Bullion Max is used to dealing with.

Storage Options

Bullion Max does not specify any storage partnerships. You will probably have the option of any IRS-approved bullion storage facility that your chosen custodian does business with. Make sure the storage facility you choose adheres to IRS guidelines with regards to security, insurance, and auditing.

Buyback and Liquidation Policy

Bullion Max does not have a separate buyback policy for their own products — that is, they don’t guarantee that they will buy back anything they have sold you. They do offer precious metals liquidation services, but they have a minimum transaction value of $1,000, so Bullion Max is only an option if you have at least $1,000 worth of precious metals you want to liquidate.

The process involves calling or emailing a Bullion Max agent, agreeing on a price, and shipping the metals to Bullion Max immediately. Bullion Max touts that there are no hidden fees, and they honor their quotes. Once Bullion Max receives your metal, they pay out according to the agreement.

Education and Client Empowerment

Bullion Max has a significant reservoir of educational materials on their site … but they’re not all easy to find. A few articles are highlighted alongside featured products on the landing page, but in general it’s easier to find a bullion coin to buy than a beginner’s tutorial on the Bullion Max website.

The “News/Resources” tab on the upper menu drops down to a FAQ, a section for market news, coin history and values, state tax information, and an impressive knowledge base.

The header menu contains no information about Gold IRAs. However, if you scroll to the footer, you will find an information and FAQ page about Gold IRAs. The fact that it’s buried in the footer is a reminder that Bullion Max is not about Gold IRAs first and foremost. Many of their products are absolutely appropriate for a Gold IRA, but they are wholesalers, not financial advisors.

Bullion Max does offer a weekly podcast, which you can use to stay plugged into the gold market and become a more savvy and informed investor. Their YouTube channel contains little besides recordings of the podcast, though, and you will find very little video content on the Bullion Max website. Many internet users learn the best from video content, so this is a disappointing omission.

Account Management

As an eCommerce platform, you can create an account with Bullion Max to store purchase information, track and manage your orders, and keep an online record of your transactions with Bullion Max.

However, this is not the same thing as managing your Gold IRA online. Your IRA custodian is responsible for your IRA account management, so make sure to speak to the custodian about what kind of account management access you will have when you work with them.

Final Thoughts

If you want to “buy gold online,” Bullion Max actually lets you buy gold online. They are a wholesaler who has invested significant time into creating a seamless online shopping experience, including live pricing and a shopping cart you can use to make real purchases. They have also amassed an impressive reputation in a short time.

If the end goal is a Gold IRA, that’s not the focus of Bullion Max. You will have to find your own custodian and arrange funding and storage through them.

However, with its low overhead and attractive premium over spot, Bullion Max may well become your go-to source of the bullion that will fund your Gold IRA.

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