International Bullion Exchange Review
Short on time? The essentials
- Legal entity: International Bullion Exchange, LLC, using the trading name IBX and the domain ibullionexchange.com. The company's own risk-disclosure page states the operating history traces to 2004 (source 4).
- Two offices are printed on the Contact page: 230 Park Avenue, The Helmsley Building, New York, NY 10169; and 30745 Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 139, Malibu, CA 90265 with a Malibu phone at 310-456-2398 (source 3).
- US and Canada toll-free number 800-485-2225, with separate lines for the United Kingdom and Australia listed on every page footer (sources 1, 3).
- Products listed on the home page: gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bars, plus investment-grade diamonds. The IRA page describes a self-directed precious metals IRA held through an unnamed third-party trustee (sources 1, 5).
- The IRA process page says IBX works with "several of the largest and most respected 3rd party Custodians" without naming any specific trustee, and states metals are held at an "IRS-approved depository" without naming any specific vault (source 5).
- The site does not publish an account minimum, a dealer setup fee, an annual custodian fee, an annual storage fee, or a coin-by-coin dealer spread on any captured page (sources 1, 2, 5).
- Storage brand: The Orion Account. The about page states metal is stored at "a federally regulated bank or depository vault" and that holdings are booked to the client rather than held as an asset of the firm, without naming the vault operator (source 2).
- BBB profile per third-party summaries: A+ rating, accreditation dated January 19, 2010, zero customer reviews, zero closed complaints in the last three years (sources 8, 9). The BBB page itself returned a browser challenge on July 2026 and could not be captured directly.
- Business Consumer Alliance rating per the same third-party summaries: AA with zero reviews and zero complaints (sources 8, 9). Trustpilot has no page for this dealer as of July 2026 (source 9).
- An SEC EDGAR full-text search for "International Bullion Exchange LLC" returned zero filings on July 2026 (source 11). A CFTC press-release search returned no enforcement action naming this dealer (source 12).
- Texas footprint: none. The Contact page names New York and Malibu only. No captured IBX page mentions Texas, the Texas Bullion Depository in Leander, or a Texas-domiciled custodian (sources 1, 2, 3, 5, 6).
- Harry's Coins earns no commission on this dealer and does not link out to its website from this page. Fee transparency is the reason we chose to write about IBX at all.
Contents
- What IBX actually is
- What IBX publishes and what it withholds
- The Orion Account and the IRA path
- How the paperwork sequence works
- BBB, BCA, and third-party review record
- Regulatory record on the public dockets
- Balanced pros and cons
- How IBX serves Texas investors
- Fee reconstruction on a $150,000 rollover
- Verdict for a Texas reader
- Frequently asked questions
What IBX actually is
International Bullion Exchange, LLC files under the trade name IBX and runs the website at ibullionexchange.com. The risk-disclosure page states the operating history traces to 2004, while third-party BBB summaries report the current business entity started on November 8, 2009 and the LLC was incorporated on April 21, 2013 (sources 4, 8).
The Contact page prints two physical offices. The first is at 230 Park Avenue, The Helmsley Building, New York, NY 10169. The second is at 30745 Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 139, Malibu, CA 90265, with a local Malibu number at 310-456-2398 and a fax line at 310-456-6060 (source 3).
The client-facing routing goes through the toll-free line 800-485-2225 for the United States and Canada. Two international lines are printed on every page footer: 0-800-098-8495 for the United Kingdom, and 1-800-889-690 for Australia (sources 1, 3).
The products list on the home page names gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bars. It also lists numismatic investment-grade coins and investment-grade diamonds. The Services menu names Precious Metals IRAs, The Orion Program, and Investment Grade Diamonds (source 1).
The About page states clients can purchase for immediate personal delivery, open or roll over an existing IRA into a Precious Metals IRA, or arrange storage at "an independent bank or depository" (source 2). The How to Buy page lists Traditional, Roth, and SEP IRA account types (source 6).
What IBX publishes and what it withholds
The most useful way to describe this dealer is to count what its own website prints against what it leaves off. On five captured pages, IBX prints its offices, phones, product list, IRA account types, and long operating history. It does not print the numbers a self-directed IRA reader needs to price the account.
| Disclosure item | Present on captured pages | Verbatim wording or explicit gap |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate address, both offices | Yes | New York and Malibu addresses printed on Contact page (source 3) |
| Toll-free customer phone | Yes | 800-485-2225 in every page footer (sources 1, 3) |
| Operating history year | Yes | Risk-disclosure page: "traces its history to 2004" (source 4) |
| IRA account types supported | Yes | How to Buy page lists Traditional, Roth, SEP (source 6) |
| Products traded | Yes | Gold, silver, platinum, palladium coins and bars, plus diamonds (source 1) |
| Named leadership on site | No | No officer or founder is named on any captured IBX page (sources 1, 2, 3, 5) |
| Named IRA custodian | No | IRA page uses only the phrase "several of the largest and most respected 3rd party Custodians" (source 5) |
| Named depository or vault | No | IRA page and Orion program describe an "IRS-approved depository" without naming any facility (sources 2, 5) |
| Segregated vs commingled storage clearly stated | No | Orion description does not use either term; only says holdings are booked to the client (source 2) |
| Account minimum in dollars | No | Not stated on any captured page (sources 1, 2, 5, 6) |
| One-time setup fee in dollars | No | Not stated on any captured page (sources 5, 6) |
| Annual custodian fee in dollars | No | Not stated on any captured page (source 5) |
| Annual storage fee in dollars | No | Not stated on any captured page (source 5) |
| Coin-by-coin dealer spread or wholesale tier | No | Not stated on any captured page (sources 1, 6) |
| Buyback pricing method | Partial | How to Buy page says "Selling your precious metals back to IBX is just as easy" without a stated pricing formula (source 6) |
| Delivery timing | Yes | How to Buy page: "Normally delivery is within 14 days" via USPS Registered Insured, FedEx, or Brink's (source 6) |
Source: ibullionexchange.com plain fetches on July 2026 (home, about-us, contact, risk-disclosure, services/put-precious-metals-in-your-ira, how-to-buy-2). Table only reports items present or absent on the pages captured, not statements read to a reader over the phone.
The pattern is intact across five different pages. The corporate identity section is public. The IRA cost stack is not. Every dollar amount a reader would need to compute a break-even year against a paper IRA has to be obtained by phone (sources 1, 2, 5, 6).
The Orion Account and the IRA path
The About page describes The Orion Account as an in-house storage program. It says metal purchased through IBX is stored "at a federally regulated bank or depository vault, or you can take personal delivery if you choose at any time as long as there are no outstanding balances due." Books and records of the firm identify the client as the owner (source 2).
The About page adds one useful sentence about counterparty risk. It says the precious metals held for a client "are not an asset of International Bullion Exchange, or any bank or depository." The security of the metal therefore does not depend on the firm's or the vault's financial condition (source 2).
The IRA page states the client's IBX Precious Metals Specialist opens the self-directed IRA with an unnamed third-party custodian. The Specialist then coordinates the wire, the shipment, and the receipt process with that custodian's depository. Statements go to the client from the trustee, not from IBX (source 5).
The IRA page also makes a group-level claim about its unnamed custodian pool. It states the trustees IBX works with "have hundreds of thousands of satisfied clients and assets in excess of $20 billion under management" (source 5). Because no trustee is named, that figure cannot be tied to any specific IRS-approved custodian in the public record.
How the paperwork sequence works
The How to Buy page and the IRA page together describe a five-step process without stated day counts (sources 5, 6). The sequence below reconstructs the flow using their language plus the ordinary requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 408 for a self-directed IRA.
- Book the first specialist call. Call 800-485-2225 to speak with an IBX Precious Metals Specialist. Ask for the current account minimum, the one-time setup fee, the annual custodian fee, and the annual storage fee in dollars, and the name of the specific custodian and depository the Specialist plans to route your account to. Request every number in writing by email.
- Open the trustee account. The Specialist opens a self-directed IRA at the unnamed third-party custodian. Ask the custodian directly for the current fee schedule on trustee letterhead. Confirm whether the custodian is one of the twenty-plus IRS-approved trustees named on the IRS Retirement Plans page and whether it is domiciled outside Texas.
- Fund the IRA by direct trustee-to-trustee transfer. Complete the trustee's transfer paperwork for an existing IRA, or coordinate a direct rollover with a former employer's 401(k) plan administrator. Direct transfers avoid the sixty-day deadline and the twenty percent mandatory withholding that apply to indirect rollovers under Internal Revenue Code Section 402.
- Hold the pricing call. Once funds arrive at the custodian, the Specialist executes the metal order by phone. IBX states the transaction is confirmed on a tape-recorded line after your acknowledgment, and that a written confirmation is mailed after purchase (source 6). Ask for a coin-by-coin sheet naming each item, the spot reference price, and the dealer premium per item.
- Route the wire and the metal. Payment is initiated on the day of purchase by bank wire (source 6). IBX ships to the depository or to your home by USPS Registered Insured, FedEx, or Brink's. Delivery is normally within fourteen days for personal shipments. For IRA orders, delivery is to the trustee's depository against a signed Commodity Transfer Notice (source 6).
- Store the documents. Ask the trustee for a quarterly account statement showing exact troy ounces held under the account number. Save that statement, the IBX invoice, and the depository receipt together. If any of the four IRA cost lines ends up higher than what the Specialist quoted, the paper trail is what allows you to challenge it.
BBB, BCA, and third-party review record
Two industry review sites summarize the BBB profile in the same way. IRAEmpire reports IBX has been accredited by the Better Business Bureau since January 19, 2010, holds an A+ rating, has zero customer reviews and zero closed complaints in the last three years (source 8). GoldRetired confirms the same A+ rating and the zero-complaints figure over the three-year window (source 9).
Business Consumer Alliance shows an AA rating in the same two summaries, with zero customer reviews and zero complaints (sources 8, 9). Yelp holds a five out of five rating from one review only, which the industry summaries describe as effectively no data (source 8). Trustpilot has no page for this dealer on the July 2026 checks (source 9).
Two direct fetches to the BBB profile URL from a plain user agent returned a Cloudflare browser challenge on July 2026. The BBB profile could not be captured to a local file. A reader should open bbb.org in a normal browser and read the profile page, the complaints tab, and the government-action tab in full before signing (sources 7, 9).
The public review footprint is thin. Zero BBB reviews, zero BCA reviews, zero Trustpilot presence, and one Yelp review is not a track record a reader can weigh against long-established gold IRA dealers with hundreds of BBB reviews and thousands of Trustpilot reviews. The absence of visible complaints is meaningful, but so is the absence of visible clients (sources 8, 9).
Regulatory record on the public dockets
An SEC EDGAR full-text search for the exact phrase "International Bullion Exchange LLC" returned zero filings on July 2026 (source 11). A separate search for "International Bullion Exchange" returned only unrelated filings from HDFC Bank, StoneX Group, ICICI Bank, and Orla Mining, none of which name IBX (source 11).
A CFTC press-release search returned no enforcement action or settlement listing IBX on July 2026 (source 12). The name International Bullion Exchange also collides with India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX), a Gujarat-based exchange launched in 2022 that appears in most non-United-States regulatory search results and is unrelated to the New York firm reviewed here.
No New York Attorney General enforcement action naming IBX surfaced in the July 2026 checks. The New York AG's public search endpoint returned a 404 on the plain-fetch check and would need to be opened in a normal browser to close the loop. Absence of a hit in an automated fetch is not proof of absence.
A reader who wants a stricter reading should refresh the SEC EDGAR full-text search, the CFTC enforcement list, and the New York Department of State corporate lookup at the moment of due diligence. Any of these can change between publication and account opening.
Balanced pros and cons based on public record
Working in IBX's favor
- Long operating history: risk-disclosure page traces to 2004, BBB accreditation since January 2010 (sources 4, 8).
- Two physical office addresses printed on the site, one in Manhattan and one in Malibu, with published phone lines (source 3).
- A+ BBB rating and AA BCA rating with zero complaints closed in the last three years (sources 8, 9).
- Zero CFTC enforcement actions or SEC filings against the firm on the July 2026 dockets (sources 11, 12).
- Multi-metal product range: gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bars, plus optional numismatic and diamond product lines (source 1).
- Storage program describes clear owner-of-record language: metal is booked to the client and is not an asset of the firm or the vault (source 2).
Working against IBX for a self-directed IRA reader
- No account minimum printed on any captured page (sources 1, 2, 5, 6).
- No one-time setup fee, annual custodian fee, or annual storage fee stated in dollars anywhere on the site (source 5).
- No coin-by-coin dealer spread or wholesale premium tier published on any captured page (sources 1, 6).
- Trustees are not named. The IRA page uses only the phrase "several of the largest and most respected 3rd party Custodians" (source 5).
- Depositories are not named. The Orion program and IRA page describe an unnamed "IRS-approved depository" (sources 2, 5).
- Storage type is not stated: no explicit segregated versus commingled language on the About page or the IRA page (sources 2, 5).
- Leadership is not named on the site itself: the President and Office Manager are only visible through third-party BBB summaries (sources 2, 8).
- Public review footprint is thin: zero BBB reviews, zero BCA reviews, no Trustpilot page, and one Yelp review (sources 8, 9).
- No Texas footprint of any kind: no Texas office, no Texas Bullion Depository reference, no Texas-domiciled trustee named on any captured page (sources 1, 2, 3, 5, 6).
How International Bullion Exchange serves Texas investors
The direct answer is that International Bullion Exchange has no Texas-specific footprint visible on any of its own public pages captured on July 2026 (sources 1, 2, 3, 5, 6). No Texas office. No Texas-domiciled trustee named. No reference to the state-chartered Texas Bullion Depository in Leander. No Texas sales-tax handling notes for over-the-counter coin sales.
A Texan can still be a client. The website ships nationally by USPS Registered Insured, FedEx, or Brink's, and the IRA offering is nationwide because it is opened at an unnamed third-party trustee that could in principle be domiciled anywhere on the IRS-approved list (source 6). What the Texan does not get is the geographic proximity or the Texas-first policy stance that a state-focused dealer would offer.
The Texas Bullion Depository in Leander is a state-run vault created by Texas Government Code Chapter 2116. A dealer that wants to route metal there must ask the trustee to establish the depository relationship first, then confirm the storage arrangement in writing. Because IBX names no depository on the site, the reader has to force this discussion at intake rather than choosing between the printed options a more transparent dealer would list.
The Texas tax angle is neutral here. Texas has no state income tax under the Texas Constitution Article 8, Section 24, so the distribution-year tax cost for a Traditional gold IRA is federal only. That is a positive fact for every Texan holding any gold IRA. It is not something IBX advertises, adjusts pricing for, or references on the site (sources 1, 2, 5).
The practical read for a Texas reader is that IBX is a national firm without a Texas-tuned relationship. Every Texas-specific choice, from depository routing to trustee selection, has to be made against a set of unnamed options quoted only on the specialist call. That is a bigger friction than the tax angle, and it deserves an equal weight in the decision.
Fee reconstruction on a $150,000 rollover
Because IBX does not publish the four cost lines a self-directed gold IRA carries, the reconstruction below is deliberately generic. It uses the four fee buckets that Internal Revenue Code Section 408 forces every self-directed IRA to carry, without importing any number IBX would need to state on a specialist call.
The reader can rerun the same reconstruction with actual IBX-quoted numbers after the first phone call. The calculator below expects the four inputs to be entered by the reader and returns the compounded cost drag over the holding period.
Reader instructions
Ask the Specialist for four figures in writing: the one-time setup fee, the flat annual custodian fee, the flat annual storage fee, and the average dealer premium per coin as a percentage above spot. Enter each in the calculator on our fees explainer page and confirm the total against the twenty-year IRS Publication 590 accumulation window.
Texas gold IRA fee-drag calculator
Texas gold IRAs charge mostly flat dollar fees (setup, annual custodian, storage). Flat fees take a much bigger bite out of a small account than a large one. Enter your numbers to see the drag.
Estimate only. Fee amounts vary by provider and are often not published; enter figures you confirm in writing. This tool ignores metal price changes and the dealer spread, which also affect returns. Not financial advice.
A reader who ends up on the phone with five different quoted numbers over five calls has verified the transparency problem. A reader who receives the same four numbers in an emailed letter has verified the opposite. Which of those is the actual experience will vary by Specialist, but the paper trail is what protects the reader in either direction.
Verdict for a Texas reader
International Bullion Exchange looks like a long-lived precious metals dealer with a clean regulatory record on the July 2026 dockets, an A+ BBB rating, and two real office addresses backing a coast-to-coast phone operation (sources 3, 8, 11, 12). None of that is in dispute in this review.
The problem is not the firm's tenure or its BBB profile. It is the mismatch between what the site publishes and what a self-directed IRA reader needs to price the account before opening it. Zero of five IRA cost lines are stated in dollars on the captured pages, and one of four storage and product-structure items is disclosed by name (sources 1, 2, 5, 6).
For a Texas reader who wants a fee sheet, a named custodian, a named depository, and the option of routing to the Texas Bullion Depository, IBX is not the shortest path. The shortest path is a dealer whose own website prints the four cost lines and the vault name before the first call is booked.
Harry's Coins declines to link out to ibullionexchange.com from this page and earns nothing on this firm. A Texan who still wants to proceed should force every fee, trustee, and depository detail into writing before signing the trustee account application. A Texan who prefers to start with the printed version should use the Texas-first shortlist and the neutral checklist linked from this page's chooser.
Frequently asked questions
Is International Bullion Exchange a bank, a custodian, or a dealer?
IBX is a precious metals dealer under LLC form. It is not a bank and not a trustee. Under Internal Revenue Code Section 408, a self-directed IRA must be administered by an IRS-approved trustee, which the IBX IRA page describes only as "a third-party custodian" without naming any specific firm (source 5).
Where is International Bullion Exchange headquartered?
The Contact page prints a New York address at 230 Park Avenue in the Helmsley Building, New York, NY 10169, and a California address at 30745 Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 139, Malibu, CA 90265. A local Malibu phone at 310-456-2398 and a fax at 310-456-6060 are also printed (source 3).
When was International Bullion Exchange founded?
The risk-disclosure page states the operating history traces to 2004 (source 4). Third-party BBB summaries report the current business entity started on November 8, 2009 and the LLC was incorporated on April 21, 2013 (source 8). Both dates can be accurate if a predecessor traded as IBX before the 2013 LLC filing.
What is the minimum to open an IBX Precious Metals IRA?
No dollar figure is printed on any captured IBX page as of July 2026 (sources 1, 2, 5, 6). A reader has to obtain the minimum by phone from a Precious Metals Specialist. Ask for the quoted minimum in writing before submitting any trustee application.
What does IBX charge in setup, custodian, and storage fees?
No dollar figure is printed for any of the four line items on any captured page (source 5). Ask the Specialist for the one-time setup fee, the flat annual custodian fee, the flat annual storage fee, and the coin-by-coin dealer premium in an email, and require the trustee to confirm the trustee fee schedule on its own letterhead.
Which custodian and depository does IBX use?
The IRA page uses only "several of the largest and most respected 3rd party Custodians" and "IRS-approved depository" without naming any specific trustee or vault (source 5). A reader should insist the Specialist name the custodian and the depository in writing before signing anything.
Does IBX use the Texas Bullion Depository in Leander?
The Texas Bullion Depository is not named on any captured IBX page (sources 1, 2, 5). A Texan who wants state-chartered storage must raise the Texas Bullion Depository at intake, request that the chosen trustee open a storage relationship there, and confirm the depository routing in writing before wiring funds.
What is IBX's BBB rating and complaint history?
Two industry summaries report an A+ BBB rating, accreditation since January 19, 2010, zero customer reviews, and zero closed complaints in the last three years (sources 8, 9). A plain-fetch capture of the BBB profile was blocked by a Cloudflare browser challenge on July 2026. Open bbb.org in a normal browser to read the full profile and the complaint tab.
Is IBX on any SEC, CFTC, or state regulator list?
A July 2026 full-text search on SEC EDGAR returned zero filings for International Bullion Exchange LLC (source 11). A CFTC press-release search returned no enforcement action naming IBX (source 12). Any regulatory search should be refreshed at the reader's own due-diligence stage because dockets change.
Does IBX buy back the metal I purchase?
The How to Buy page states "Selling your precious metals back to IBX is just as easy, and can be accomplished right over the phone" (source 6). The page does not print a specific pricing formula for buybacks. A reader should ask for the buyback policy as a written spread against spot before signing.
Can IBX coordinate a 401(k) rollover?
The IRA page describes rolling over "an existing retirement account" into an IBX Precious Metals IRA, and the How to Buy page names Traditional, Roth, and SEP IRA account types (sources 5, 6). 401(k) rollovers are not described in step-by-step detail on the captured pages. Ask the Specialist to confirm 401(k)-to-IRA handling in writing before opening the trustee account.
Does IBX offer segregated storage?
Neither the Orion Account description on the About page nor the IRA page uses the words "segregated" or "commingled" (sources 2, 5). A reader who wants segregated storage should require the trustee and the depository to state the storage type in writing on the storage agreement before the first wire.
Is IBX safe to use?
The regulatory record is clean on the July 2026 dockets and the BBB profile is A+ with zero closed complaints in the last three years (sources 8, 11, 12). Safety is not the wedge. The wedge is transparency: nothing about the IRA cost stack is on the site. A reader who signs without a written fee sheet is signing against an incomplete public record.
Sources
Sources cited on this page
- ibullionexchange.com home page (plain fetch on July 2026), capturing the phones, the metals list, the diamonds line, and the Orion program label. URL not linked because Harry's Coins earns no commission on this company.
- ibullionexchange.com about-us page (plain fetch on July 2026), capturing the Orion Account language and the owner-of-record wording.
- ibullionexchange.com contact page (plain fetch on July 2026), capturing the New York and Malibu office addresses and phone numbers.
- ibullionexchange.com risk-disclosure page (plain fetch on July 2026), capturing the 2004 operating-history reference and the 10-to-20 percent allocation suggestion.
- ibullionexchange.com Precious Metals IRA page at /services/put-precious-metals-in-your-ira/ (plain fetch on July 2026), capturing the "third-party custodian" language and the $20 billion custodian-pool claim.
- ibullionexchange.com How to Buy page at /how-to-buy-2/ (plain fetch on July 2026), capturing the Traditional, Roth, SEP IRA lines and the 14-day delivery and Brink's shipping language.
- bbb.org profile lookup attempted on July 2026, blocked by a Cloudflare browser challenge on the direct fetch; BBB figures below are read through two third-party summaries.
- iraempire.com International Bullion Exchange summary, captured July 2026, reporting the BBB A+ rating, accreditation date January 19, 2010, business start November 8, 2009, LLC incorporation April 21, 2013, President Don Varden, Office Manager Debbie Barney, and the BCA AA rating.
- goldretired.com International Bullion Exchange summary, captured July 2026, corroborating the BBB A+ rating, the zero-complaint record, the BCA AA rating, the absence of Trustpilot presence, and the fee-not-published finding.
- sophisticatedinvestor.com International Bullion Exchange summary, captured July 2026, listing the 2009 founding year, the Malibu headquarters, the "variable" fee note, and the description of the four metals traded.
- SEC EDGAR full-text search on July 2026, returning zero filings for International Bullion Exchange LLC and only unrelated filings from HDFC Bank, StoneX Group, ICICI Bank, and Orla Mining for the broader phrase.
- cftc.gov press-release search on July 2026, returning no enforcement action naming International Bullion Exchange as the New York precious metals dealer under review.
- IRS Publication 590-A, Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements, referenced for the sixty-day rollover deadline and the twenty percent mandatory withholding that apply to indirect rollovers.
- Texas Government Code Chapter 2116, Texas Bullion Depository, referenced as the enabling statute for the state-chartered depository in Leander.
- Texas Constitution Article 8, Section 24, referenced for the constitutional prohibition on a state personal income tax in Texas.