Vault Metal LLC Review
Short on time? The essentials
- Legal entity on the BBB profile 1216-1282220: Vault Metal, LLC, headquartered at 108 Standard Street, El Segundo, CA 90245-3832 (per bbb.org, checked July 2026).
- BBB letter rating: A plus. BBB accredited since July 22, 2020. BBB file opened July 21, 2020. Business incorporated April 7, 2020, per the same profile.
- Named CEO on the BBB employee schema: Kyle Geralds. Named contact on the customer-service line: Erik Peterson.
- IRA custodian: Strata Trust Company, Austin, Texas. State-chartered under the Texas Department of Banking, per strataconvenient.com About page, checked July 2026.
- Depository partners named on Vault Metal risk and terms pages: Brink's Global Services USA (Los Angeles) and Delaware Depository. The Texas Bullion Depository in Leander is not listed.
- Strata Trust publishes a fee schedule with a 125 dollar annual account fee, 100 to 175 dollars storage, 40 dollars per transaction, and 35 dollars depository handling. Vault Metal's own pages advertise complimentary IRA storage and no hidden fees.
- Self-reported Trustpilot score on the Vault Metal homepage: 4.9 out of 5 across 82 reviews. Verify counts and dates on the live Trustpilot page before quoting them.
On this page
- What Vault Metal LLC actually is
- Founding history and the 2010 versus 2020 date question
- The BBB record, with numbers on the page
- The custodian: Strata Trust Company, Austin
- Where the metal actually sits
- The complimentary-storage claim versus the custodian fee schedule
- How Vault Metal LLC serves Texas investors
- How to verify a small precious metals dealer before you send money
- Worked example: fee stack on a 100,000 dollar Texas rollover
- Balanced pros and cons
- When Vault Metal LLC is a bad idea for you
- Frequently asked questions
- Sources
What Vault Metal LLC actually is
Vault Metal, LLC is a California limited liability company operating as a precious metals dealer under the trade name Vault Metal. The Better Business Bureau profile at business ID 1216-1282220 records the same legal name and files it under the Precious Metals Dealers category. The BBB profile has been active since July 21, 2020.
The registered address on the same BBB profile is 108 Standard Street, El Segundo, CA 90245-3832. The Los Angeles and Silicon Valley BBB office administers the file. The customer-service phone number listed on both BBB and the marketing site is (833) 899-0724. A secondary sales number of (855) 913-1969 appears on Vault Metal's contact page.
The public sales lineup on vaultmetal.com covers physical gold, silver, platinum, and palladium in bullion coin, round, and bar form. Named IRA-eligible pieces on the product pages include the American Gold Eagle, the Canadian Maple Leaf, the Austrian Gold Philharmonic, and the American Silver Eagle. The site also advertises rare and collectible coins outside the IRA channel.
Named management on the record includes Kyle Geralds as CEO on the BBB employee schema, checked July 2026. The customer-facing point of contact on the same profile is Erik Peterson. Two names on one BBB record is a small management footprint by industry standards, which fits a small-LLC operation rather than a large national dealer.
Founding history and the 2010 versus 2020 date question
The Vault Metal About page states the company was established in 2009. The BBB profile at business ID 1216-1282220 records a business-start date of February 11, 2010, and a business-incorporation date of April 7, 2020. The BBB file itself was opened on July 21, 2020. The three dates do not line up in the way a casual reader might assume.
One consistent reading is that the founder or team began a precious metals sales practice in 2009 or early 2010, then reorganised the operation as a California LLC in April 2020, and applied for BBB accreditation the following July. Under that reading, the current legal entity is roughly 5 years old, while the underlying trading history is closer to 15 years. Both facts can be true at the same time.
The lift for a reader is small and specific. When you weigh a dealer, weigh the age of the current legal entity that would be counterparty to your IRA rollover, not the marketing tagline. In this case the counterparty entity, Vault Metal, LLC, is a 2020 California limited liability company. That is the record on file at the BBB.
The BBB record, with numbers on the page
The Better Business Bureau profile for Vault Metal, LLC sits under business ID 1216-1282220 at the Los Angeles and Silicon Valley BBB. The letter rating on file at the time of our check is A plus. The business has been BBB accredited since July 22, 2020. Both facts source directly to bbb.org profile 1216-1282220, checked July 2026.
Corporate accreditation from the BBB is not a review of investment merit. It confirms a business meets BBB standards for advertising, transparency, complaint handling, and time in business. An A plus letter with active accreditation is a favourable public record. It is not a guarantee of price competitiveness or a substitute for reading a written custodian fee schedule.
The Vault Metal BBB profile is unusually thin on complaint volume for a five-year-old dealer, which reads as a positive early signal. A Texas reader should still open the profile in a separate browser tab and read the customer-review dates. Low volume plus a favourable letter is a cleaner base than a favourable letter with a public complaint pattern behind it.
The custodian: Strata Trust Company, Austin
Under IRC 408(a)(2), an individual retirement account can only be custodied by a bank, a federally insured credit union, a state-chartered trust company, or an IRS-approved non-bank trustee. Vault Metal, LLC is a dealer, not a trustee. Vault Metal names Strata Trust Company as its self-directed IRA custodian on the Metal IRA section of its own site.
Strata Trust Company is a Texas-chartered trust company headquartered at 901 South MoPac Expressway, Building 1, Suite 300, Austin, Texas 78746. Strata is regulated by the Texas Department of Banking (per strataconvenient.com About page, checked July 2026). The parent history traces to Horizon Bank SSB, a Texas state-chartered bank founded in Waco in 1978.
The IRC 408(a)(2) status of Strata Trust is public and verifiable, which is the point. Any dealer that names a state-chartered trust company by legal name gives a reader the ability to test the pairing at the state banking regulator. Vault Metal passes that basic disclosure test on its Metal IRA page. Do the check yourself before you open an account.
Practically, a Texas resident who opens a Vault Metal IRA opens an account that sits under a Texas trust company. The paperwork flows through Austin. That is a real Texas footprint for the custody leg of the transaction, even though the dealer itself is not in Texas and the metal itself does not ship to Texas.
Where the metal actually sits
Vault Metal's Risk Disclosure page and its Terms of Service page name two IRA-eligible depositories: Brink's Global Services USA and Delaware Depository. The Brink's location referenced is Los Angeles. Delaware Depository is at 3601 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware. Both are IRS-approved non-bank trustees for IRA storage of precious metals.
Neither location is inside Texas. The Texas Bullion Depository, the state-administered vault operated by Lone Star Tangible Assets in Leander under contract with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, is not named on any Vault Metal page we captured. That is a specific gap for Texas readers who value in-state storage at a state-audited vault as part of the pairing.
Two IRS-approved private depositories are still IRS-approved private depositories. Metal held at Delaware Depository or at Brink's Los Angeles is legally IRA-eligible and privately insured. The distinction versus TxBD is not legality; it is jurisdiction, audit chain, and the specific comfort a Texas reader may want from a Texas state-run vault. Read the depository disclosure at the intake call in writing.
The complimentary-storage claim versus the custodian fee schedule
The vaultmetal.com home page and the Metal IRA page advertise complimentary IRA storage and describe the fee posture as no hidden fees. On the surface, that reads as a strong transparency claim. Below the surface, the custodian on record for a Vault Metal IRA is Strata Trust Company, and Strata publishes its own separate fee schedule.
The Strata Trust fee schedule prints a 125 dollar annual account fee, a 100 dollar annual commingled storage fee, or a 175 dollar annual segregated storage fee. A 40 dollar precious metals transaction fee applies per buy or sell or exchange. A 35 dollar depository handling fee applies per delivery. A one-time 50 dollar setup fee applies unless the application is submitted electronically, per strataconvenient.com fee schedule.
Read the two claims side by side. Complimentary IRA storage on Vault Metal's own page can only mean one of two things. Either Vault Metal reimburses the Strata storage cost during a promotional window, which would be a defined discount rather than a permanent free service. Or the storage cost is quoted at zero to the customer while the underlying custodian bills the same 100 to 175 dollars per year.
A Texas reader should not resolve that ambiguity by phone. Ask the Vault Metal intake specialist to name the exact promotional window in writing, the exact custodian invoice line items, and the exact renewal terms after any promotional year. The Strata Trust schedule is public. The Vault Metal reimbursement policy, if that is what it is, needs to be equally public before signing.
| Cost line | Vault Metal marketing claim | Strata Trust published fee |
|---|---|---|
| Account setup, one time | No hidden fees, no dollar figure printed | 50 dollars (waived if application is submitted electronically) |
| Annual account maintenance | Not printed on the Metal IRA page | 125 dollars per year |
| Annual storage, commingled | Complimentary IRA storage, per home page | 100 dollars per year |
| Annual storage, segregated | Complimentary IRA storage, per home page | 175 dollars per year |
| Precious metals transaction | Not printed on the Metal IRA page | 40 dollars per buy or sell or exchange |
| Depository handling | Not printed on the Metal IRA page | 35 dollars per delivery |
| Partial transfer out | Not printed on the Metal IRA page | 100 dollars per partial transfer |
| Full account closure | Not printed on the Metal IRA page | 250 dollars |
Source: vaultmetal.com Metal IRA and home pages, and strataconvenient.com Precious Metals IRA fee schedule, both retrieved July 2026. Confirm any figure quoted on a sales call in writing before signing.
How Vault Metal LLC serves Texas investors
Vault Metal, LLC does not operate a public sales office in Texas. The only address on the BBB profile 1216-1282220 is the El Segundo, California headquarters at 108 Standard Street. A Texas customer opens an account by phone at (833) 899-0724 or through the online form at vaultmetal.com. There is no listed Texas sales team on the record.
The custody leg of the account, however, does have a Texas footprint. The named IRA custodian is Strata Trust Company at 901 South MoPac Expressway, Austin, Texas 78746. Strata is a Texas-chartered trust company under the Texas Department of Banking. Trust accounting, statements, and custody correspondence flow through Austin, not through California.
The storage leg does not have a Texas footprint. Vault Metal's Risk Disclosure and Terms pages name Brink's Global Services USA in Los Angeles and Delaware Depository in Wilmington, Delaware. Neither is inside Texas. The Texas Bullion Depository in Leander, the state-administered vault run by Lone Star Tangible Assets, is not named as a storage partner on any Vault Metal page we captured.
Texas has no state personal income tax on wages and no state personal income tax on retirement distributions (per Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, checked July 2026). Federal rules under IRC 408 and IRC 72(t) drive the tax picture for any rollover into any dealer, including Vault Metal. The Texas-specific factors here are the Austin custodian and the absence of in-state storage.
A Texas reader who wants a full Texas pairing (Texas dealer, Texas custodian, Texas Bullion Depository storage) will not get it from Vault Metal today. A Texas reader who is fine with an out-of-state dealer plus an Austin custodian plus Delaware or Los Angeles storage may find the Strata pairing acceptable. Ask for TxBD by name in writing before you assume anything.
How to verify a small precious metals dealer before you send money
Vault Metal is a real-world case for a general lesson. When a dealer is a small LLC, when the marketing page makes an easy fee claim, and when the custody arrangement runs through a separate trust company, the reader has to check both layers. The checklist below runs in about an hour on any dealer that fits that pattern.
- Open the BBB profile in a new browser tab. Record the letter rating, the accreditation start date, the business-start date, the business-incorporation date, and the last three customer reviews with dates.
- Read the dealer's Risk Disclosure and Terms of Service pages end to end. Note every named custodian, every named depository, and every named product category. The named pairings are what you will verify next.
- Look up the named custodian at its state banking regulator. Confirm the trust company is state-chartered, active, and in good standing. For a Texas-chartered trust, check the Texas Department of Banking public list.
- Pull the custodian's own fee schedule from its public website. Compare it line by line against any complimentary fee claim on the dealer's page. Any silence at the dealer level plus a printed line at the custodian level is a question to raise in writing.
- Verify each named depository against the IRS list of approved non-bank trustees under IRC 408(a)(2). Confirm the location and the insurance carrier. If the dealer names a depository not on that list, stop the process and get a written explanation.
- Search SEC EDGAR full-text and the CFTC sanction database for the dealer's legal name and the custodian's legal name. Public enforcement actions are the strongest verifiable signal you will find in this segment.
- Ask by email for the account minimum, the promotional storage window (if any), the post-promotional storage cost, the dealer spread, and the buyback policy in writing. Keep the email. Do not accept phone-only quotes.
Worked example: fee stack on a 100,000 dollar Texas rollover
Worked example: Houston resident, 62 years old, IRA balance 100,000 dollars
Consider a Texas resident, age 62, living in Houston. He holds an IRA balance of 100,000 dollars at a national brokerage in a mixed stock and bond allocation. He calls a small precious metals dealer that advertises complimentary storage on the home page, then routes his account to a separately named Texas trust company custodian.
He accepts commingled storage to keep the sticker cost low. Under the custodian's published schedule, the account carries a 125 dollar annual account fee and a 100 dollar annual commingled storage fee. If the dealer covers the first year of storage, year one prints as 125 dollars plus a waived 100 dollars, and years two through ten print as 225 dollars each.
Over ten years, that base custodian and storage line adds up to 2,150 dollars, before any transaction fees or depository handling. Two rebalancing trades a year at 40 dollars each add another 800 dollars. Two annual depository handling charges at 35 dollars each add another 700 dollars. The total custodian-side ten-year cost lands near 3,650 dollars, all sourceable from the custodian schedule.
Now layer the dealer spread, which the dealer's own page does not print. A 4 percent spread on the 100,000 dollar purchase is 4,000 dollars. An 8 percent spread on the same purchase is 8,000 dollars. The ten-year total, spread plus custody, is 7,650 dollars at a 4 percent spread and 11,650 dollars at an 8 percent spread. Ask for the spread in writing before signing.
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.
Balanced pros and cons
What Vault Metal LLC offers
- A BBB letter rating of A plus and active BBB accreditation since July 22, 2020, on profile 1216-1282220 in Los Angeles.
- A named IRA custodian (Strata Trust Company) that is state-chartered under the Texas Department of Banking, verifiable in Austin.
- Two named IRA-eligible depositories on the Risk Disclosure and Terms pages: Brink's Global Services USA in Los Angeles and Delaware Depository in Wilmington.
- A public California LLC address at 108 Standard Street, El Segundo, plus two direct customer-service phone numbers on the record.
- A stated product lineup covering American Gold Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, Austrian Gold Philharmonic, and American Silver Eagle inside the IRA channel.
Where the record leaves questions
- The complimentary IRA storage claim on the home page is not reconciled against the 100 to 175 dollar per year storage fee that Strata Trust publishes on its own schedule.
- The Metal IRA page does not print the account minimum, the account setup fee, the annual account fee, the transaction fee, or the depository handling fee that the custodian charges.
- The About page states an establishment year of 2009, while the BBB profile lists a business-start date of February 11, 2010, and a business-incorporation date of April 7, 2020.
- There is no Texas sales office, no Texas Bullion Depository partnership on any captured page, and no Texas-resident sales team on the record.
- The BBB profile is small in review volume, which is a thin evidence base for a Texas reader trying to size the customer experience at scale.
When Vault Metal LLC is a bad idea for you
You should probably look elsewhere if any of the following is true.
You want in-state Texas storage at the Texas Bullion Depository in Leander. Vault Metal names Brink's Los Angeles and Delaware Depository, not TxBD. A dealer that publicly lists TxBD is a cleaner fit for that specific preference.
You require every custodian line item printed on the dealer's own page. The Vault Metal Metal IRA page does not print the 125 dollar annual account fee or the storage line that Strata Trust charges. You will have to cross-check the custodian's own schedule.
You want a fully explained dealer spread before you order coins. No spread policy is printed on any captured Vault Metal page. The 4 percent versus 8 percent gap in the worked example above is not a small number over ten years.
You value long track record above all. The counterparty entity is a 2020 California LLC. Under-6-year LLCs are not automatically weaker, but a reader who indexes heavily on decades-old track records should note the date.
Your rollover balance is small (under 25,000 dollars). Fee drag hits smallest balances hardest, and any unresolved fee claim compounds that pain. The Harry's Coins fee explainer covers the math a reader needs.
Frequently asked questions
Is Vault Metal LLC a legitimate business?
Yes. Vault Metal, LLC is registered as a California limited liability company and has an active Better Business Bureau profile at business ID 1216-1282220 in Los Angeles. The letter rating on file in July 2026 is A plus and the firm has been BBB accredited since July 22, 2020. Legitimacy at the registration and BBB level is not the same thing as full fee transparency, which is where a reader still has to do work.
When was Vault Metal LLC founded?
The dates on file are not identical. The Vault Metal About page states 2009. The BBB profile 1216-1282220 records a business-start date of February 11, 2010, and a business-incorporation date of April 7, 2020. The most consistent reading is that a precious metals sales practice started around 2009 or 2010, and the current legal entity was organised as a California LLC in April 2020.
Who is the CEO of Vault Metal LLC?
The BBB profile 1216-1282220 lists Kyle Geralds as CEO on the employee schema, checked July 2026. The customer-facing contact on the same profile is Erik Peterson. Both names appear on the profile itself, not just on marketing copy, which makes them verifiable public disclosures rather than pure brand claims.
What is the actual BBB rating for Vault Metal LLC?
The letter rating on the BBB profile 1216-1282220 in July 2026 is A plus. The business has been BBB accredited since July 22, 2020. The BBB file was opened on July 21, 2020. The BBB rating and accreditation status align with the marketing claims that Vault Metal makes on its home page.
Who is the IRA custodian behind a Vault Metal IRA?
Vault Metal names Strata Trust Company as the self-directed IRA custodian on its Metal IRA page. Strata Trust is a Texas-chartered trust company headquartered at 901 South MoPac Expressway, Austin, Texas 78746, regulated by the Texas Department of Banking (per strataconvenient.com About page, checked July 2026). Under IRC 408(a)(2), a state-chartered trust company is a valid IRA trustee.
Where does Vault Metal store IRA metal?
The Vault Metal Risk Disclosure and Terms of Service pages name two IRA-eligible depositories: Brink's Global Services USA in Los Angeles and Delaware Depository in Wilmington, Delaware. Both are IRS-approved non-bank trustees for precious metals storage under IRC 408. Neither is inside Texas, and the Texas Bullion Depository in Leander is not named on any Vault Metal page we captured.
Does Vault Metal LLC really offer complimentary storage?
The Vault Metal home page advertises complimentary IRA storage. The Strata Trust Company published fee schedule lists a 100 dollar annual commingled storage fee or a 175 dollar annual segregated storage fee. The two claims can be reconciled only by a dealer-side promotional reimbursement or by a first-year waiver, and neither dollar figure nor time window is stated on the Vault Metal Metal IRA page. Ask for the terms in writing before signing.
What is the account minimum at Vault Metal LLC?
No captured Vault Metal page prints an IRA account minimum in a specific dollar amount. Vault Metal's own copy points the reader to a phone call at (833) 899-0724 or the online contact form. The Strata Trust standard IRA product does not require a specific account minimum on its public schedule. Ask the intake specialist for the minimum in writing.
Does Vault Metal have a Texas office?
No. The only address on the BBB profile 1216-1282220 is 108 Standard Street, El Segundo, CA 90245-3832. A Texas customer opens an account by phone or through the online form. There is no listed Texas sales team on the BBB record or on the marketing site as of July 2026.
Can Vault Metal LLC store my IRA metal at the Texas Bullion Depository?
The Texas Bullion Depository is not named on any Vault Metal page we captured in July 2026. The Risk Disclosure and Terms pages name Brink's Global Services USA (Los Angeles) and Delaware Depository (Wilmington). A reader who specifically wants state-run TxBD storage should ask the intake specialist directly in writing and confirm the depository details before opening an IRA.
Is Vault Metal LLC registered with the SEC or the CFTC?
Physical bullion sales are not securities under the Securities Act of 1933 and do not require SEC registration. A search of SEC EDGAR full-text records for "Vault Metal" from 2020 through July 4, 2026, returned no matching filings, and a search of the CFTC sanction database returned no matching orders. Consumer protections in this segment run through state precious-metals-dealer statutes, FTC advertising rules, and the BBB complaint process.
How does 20 percent federal withholding on an indirect rollover work?
If the source plan sends the holder a distribution check made out personally, the plan administrator must withhold 20 percent for federal income tax under IRS Publication 590-A. The holder then has 60 days to redeposit the full pre-withholding amount into the new IRA. If that fails, the withheld portion becomes a taxable distribution. Before age 59 and one half, the same event may trigger a 10 percent tax under IRC 72(t). A trustee-to-trustee direct rollover avoids both problems.
Sources
- Better Business Bureau, Vault Metal, LLC profile, business ID 1216-1282220, letter rating A plus, accredited since 7/22/2020, business-start 2/11/2010, business-incorporated 4/7/2020, CEO Kyle Geralds. bbb.org profile 1216-1282220, checked July 2026.
- Vault Metal home page and Metal IRA page, including the complimentary IRA storage claim, no hidden fees claim, and self-reported Trustpilot 4.9 out of 5 across 82 reviews. vaultmetal.com home page, retrieved July 2026.
- Vault Metal Risk Disclosure page naming Brink's Global Services USA and Delaware Depository as IRA storage partners. vaultmetal.com risk-disclosure page, retrieved July 2026.
- Vault Metal Terms of Service page confirming the legal entity name Vault Metal, LLC and the depository disclosures. vaultmetal.com terms page, retrieved July 2026.
- Strata Trust Company Precious Metals IRA fee schedule: 125 dollars annual account fee, 100 dollars commingled storage, 175 dollars segregated storage, 40 dollars per transaction, 35 dollars depository handling, 50 dollars account setup, 250 dollars closure. stratatrust.com Precious Metals fee schedule PDF, checked July 2026.
- Strata Trust Company About page listing the Austin, Texas 78746 address and confirming state-charter status under the Texas Department of Banking. stratatrust.com about page, checked July 2026.
- Delaware Depository, IRS-approved non-bank trustee for precious metals IRA storage, corporate address 3601 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware. delawaredepository.com about page, checked July 2026.
- SEC EDGAR full-text search for "vault metal" between January 1, 2020, and July 4, 2026, returned zero matching filings. efts.sec.gov search endpoint, checked July 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, Publication 590-A, distributions and rollovers rules including 20 percent mandatory federal withholding on indirect rollovers and the 60-day rule. irs.gov/publications/p590a, checked July 2026.
- Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. section 408, individual retirement accounts, trustee eligibility, and IRA structure. law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/408, checked July 2026.
- Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. section 72(t), 10 percent additional tax on early distributions. law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/72, checked July 2026.
- Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, no state personal income tax reference. comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/98-1010.php, checked July 2026.
- Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Texas Bullion Depository program page describing the state-administered vault operated in Leander. comptroller.texas.gov/programs/depository/, checked July 2026.
- Texas Department of Banking, Texas trust company list including Strata Trust Company as a state-chartered trust. dob.texas.gov entities-regulated index, checked July 2026.