Rosland Capital is a precious metals broker that serves clients on a national and global scale. Since being founded in California in 2008, they have expanded to serve people in all 50 states, Germany, Hong Kong, Sweden, and the UK.
Rather than focusing exclusively on IRA services, Rosland Capital has a wide range of inventory. Many of their products are eligible for an IRA. But they also have collectible numismatics, exclusive specialty products, and even PGA Touring and racing coins. They are the only partnered dealer to offer these products.
IRA Fees
If you use Rosland's IRA services, there are a few fees to keep in mind. You'll pay $50 for setup, so an employee can show you where to sign the paperwork. Rosland partners with Equity Institutional as a custodian, and they charge $100 per year for maintenance.
The cost of storage is typically $100. However, if you get a segregated vault, the cost is $150 each year. Paper statements have a $40 fee, but if you sign up for online statements instead, you won't need to pay any fees.
Is Rosland Capital a Scam?
Rosland Capital is not a scam. If you want to get a sense of the company's reputation, you don't have to look further than the Better Business Bureau website. There are 285 reviews left by customers, giving an average of 4.69 stars. The Bureau itself has accredited Rosland Capital and gives them an A+.
When you go to other websites, you'll find reviews that are slightly more mixed. Trustlink has gathered 70 reviews and shows 3.7 stars. This indicates that most customers are satisfied, but there have been a few negative complaints. Trust Pilot's star rating is the worst at 2.9, but they have also only logged six reviews.
There have been quite a few complaints filed with the BBB, though they are outnumbered significantly by the good reviews. In comparison to the 285 reviews, there have been 21 complaints in the last three years. Ten of those were in the last year. That's less than a tenth of the positive feedback.
Still, it's a good idea to look at some of the issues that people had. We can see how Rosland Capital resolved the problems and determine whether there are any major patterns.
Customer Complaints
Overvalued Coins
At the beginning of August in 2022, a customer complained about the gold coins that he had purchased. He said that he had spent tens of thousands of dollars on coins that had been valued at a certain amount per ounce. But when he received the coins, he discovered that the value of the gold was actually significantly lower.
The customer had bought 18 coins and believed that he had suffered major losses. He wished to return the coins for a full refund.
Rosland Capital responded the next day to say that they had been in contact with the customer regarding his issue. The problem was that the customer did not understand that there is a major difference between purchase pricing and spot pricing. Purchase pricing is always marked up, since that is how precious metals dealers turn a profit.
The company representative said that the customer said he'd look further into it. But the customer followed up and stated that he wasn't satisfied with the response. He said that he had spent $50,400 on the initial purchase, but the coins that he received were worth $30,000, for a reduction of nearly half their value.
Rosland Capital responded to say that they take customer complaints seriously. They stated that they had not done anything wrong during the interaction, but that they had offered the customer a higher buyback price. They had done this despite not being obligated and despite the usual buyback price being lower.
The customer indicated that he would accept nothing less than a full refund, so he chose to keep his coins. If he decided that he wanted to use the buyback program in the future, he was advised to contact his specific representative to make sure he got the right deal.
Selling Frustration
One customer left a complaint in July of 2022 regarding his issue with the buyback program. He stated that he had made his initial coin purchase in 2015. Prior to making the purchase, he asked how he could sell the coins back when he was ready for liquidation. His representative said to just get in contact with Rosland.
The customer stated that now that he was trying to sell his items, Rosland Capital refused to talk to him. He had sent emails and made phone calls and left messages. He left his order numbers so that the business could look up the items.
Rosland responded to say that they had contacted the customer and explained how to sell the coin. The customer said that he'd consider the quoted price and decide whether he wanted to make the deal. If he had further questions, he'd call.
But the customer followed up to say that he was unhappy with the negative response. He said that Rosland Capital had called him during business hours, when most people are working and unavailable. He picked up their third call. He was asked to agree to be recorded before he was told the offer for his coins. When the customer asked the rep to email the offer, he was rebuffed.
He said that the rep was unpleasant and rude, and that he believed the company should be investigated.
Rosland Capital responded to say that they had been unable to converse successfully with the customer. The rep needed to create a purchase order for the coins, which would show the coins and their buyback prices. The customer was under no obligation to go through with the sale if he disliked the price offer.
They then copied and pasted the buyback section of the buyer agreement, which was signed when the customer made the initial purchase back in 2015. It listed the exact details regarding how buybacks work and the time frame in which they can be executed.
The customer said that he had decided he wouldn't do any more business with Rosland Capital. He said that he would not give verbal consent to an agreement without first hearing the agreement. Furthermore, he said that he had gotten in contact with a more reputable company. He accused Rosland Capital of selling him coins in subpar condition while claiming they were high quality.
Rosland Capital never responded to this, so it seems that the customer and the company have parted ways. Though the customer was unsatisfied, it doesn't seem like Rosland Capital did anything wrong. They were just trying to adhere to their policies regarding buyback documentation.
Confused Elderly Customer
In June of 2022, a customer left a complaint about a transaction from April of that year. He stated up front that he is 92 years old and contacted the company after seeing their advertisement on television. His goal was to buy 1 ounce bullion coins. During the transaction, he was told that there would be a 2.5% commission. He agreed to the price and sent a check to Rosland.
But when he looked at the actual invoice for his transaction, it said that he had bought 1/4th ounce coins at a much higher price than the per-ounce price initially quoted. The customer asked his son to get in contact with someone at Rosland to correct the issue. Initially, the salesperson said that they would without any additional commission.
The customer was told that if he wanted 1 ounce coins instead, he'd have to wait a few weeks until the transaction closed. Eventually he was contacted and told that he would be sent 86 gold coins, which was much lower than the amount he should have received based on the original price. He asked his son to correct the issue.
The customer was then told that he had to pay an extra $100 plus a 3% commission for the new gold coins, even though the original agreement had involved no extra commission. He said that he didn't want this and asked to either exchange his coins or to have his initial transaction refunded.
The company rep told him that neither of those options were a possibility. The price of gold had dropped by 7% since the initial transaction, so they could not refund the full price. The customer stated that this wasn't buyer's remorse due to the market, it was the buyer being confused about their account losing 30% of its value for no reason.
The company responded with the contact information of their compliance officer, including their phone number and email. The customer had been contacted and was told that he would receive a full refund for the transaction. Rosland Capital didn't have any obligation to do that, so it bodes well for their customer service. They took a market loss on the refund in order to make sure that the customer was satisfied.
Issues Locking Price
On March 16 of 2022, a customer left a complaint about a transaction that occurred on the 4th of that month. The customer bought multiple gold coins and was told that in order to lock the price, he would need to mail a check. The price would then be locked at whatever it was when the check arrived.
He sent the check on the day of the transaction. When it arrived, the sales rep told him that he was lucky because the price of gold had dropped that day. But then he wasn't given an invoice. When he called, an invoice was sent by email. The price of the coins was much higher than he had anticipated.
He called to ask why the price of the gold had changed so much when it had gone down that day. The sales rep said that it had increased suddenly later in the day. The customer was also told that he would receive a call to coordinate the delivery, but he said he would refuse to sign for the package.
In addition, he said that he met the eligibility requirements for a promotion in which you get free additional products if you spend enough. But he was told that the promotion didn't apply to his order, and he wasn't given a reason why.
Rosland Capital responded the following day to say that they had gotten in contact with the customer and issued a complete refund. The matter was considered resolved on their end. The customer confirmed that he was told that his order had been cancelled, and that he would receive the full amount of his check in a refund within the next 30 days.
Pros & Cons of Rosland Capital
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Cons
Final Thoughts
Rosland Capital is a solid company that has inspired multiple positive reviews. There are hundreds of people who say that they were extremely happy and would buy gold here again. Then there are a handful of complaints, most often from people upset that the purchase price of their metals was much higher than the spot price.
The purchase price will always be higher than the spot price, since the spot price is the lowest value of the metal at any given time. Without additional markups, a company can't turn a profit. But it's possible that Rosland's pricing is more dramatic than what people expect. They are told upfront that there's a 2.5% commission, but not if there were additional markups beforehand.
Despite this, Rosland has solid business policies, and they seem to care about customer feedback. They have issued several full refunds even when they weren't obligated to do that. When customers have been unsatisfied with the solutions, it's usually out of Rosland's control. We can recommend working with them, as long as you do your research on their pricing before you say yes.
There are some other companies that might better suit you, too. Firms like Goldco automate the entire IRA signup process, and they have significantly fewer complaints about their pricing spread.