Orion Metal Exchange Review

For a saver putting in five figures rather than six, flat fees dominate the maths. A $200 annual load is 0.2% on a $100,000 account but 2% on a $10,000 one, which is why most of the industry's minimums sit at $25,000 or above — below that the economics stop working for the customer.

Orion is built for exactly that end of the market. Third-party reporting puts its all-in annual cost at a flat $190 for balances up to $500,000, with setup at nothing or a nominal custodian charge, and storage-fee waivers of up to three years on qualifying accounts. Money has twice recognised it on cost, most recently naming it best for small-balance investors. If your alternative was not opening an account at all, this is the most realistic route on our list.

Orion is a dealer, not a custodian, and it does not store metal itself. That sounds like a limitation and is actually a structural advantage: clients select any IRS-approved custodian and depository, with segregated or commingled storage. Equity Trust and STRATA Trust are the custodians most often named, with Brink's, the Delaware Depository and International Depository Services as vault options.

That separation matters more than it looks. Metal held by an independent custodian at an independent depository is insulated from the dealer's own fortunes — a point the 2026 collapse of Rosland Capital made painfully concrete for customers who had paid a dealer but never had metal delivered to a vault.

Orion publishes no minimum and no fee schedule. Its site claims fees are lower than half of what competitors charge, which is not a checkable statement. Third-party figures for its setup fee range from nothing to $250, and reported minimums range from $5,000 to $10,000. Every number above should be confirmed in writing before you fund anything.

There is also a detailed public complaint on Trustpilot in which a customer alleges premiums of roughly 28–46% over spot at purchase and a buyback offer far below the metal's market value. Orion responded publicly, citing the customer's substantial portfolio gains and stating its service fees were around 5.65%. The two accounts cannot both be right, and the dispute remains unresolved. We are not in a position to adjudicate it — but with a dealer that publishes no pricing, it is exactly the scenario you protect yourself against by getting a quoted price per ounce against that day's spot, in writing, before you commit.

One more note on the ratings: Orion holds an A+ accredited BBB rating with two complaints in three years, and a Trustpilot score near 4.8 on a paid profile. Several affiliate sites quote a Business Consumer Alliance grade for Orion; we could not find a verifiable report, so we don't publish one.