Pacific Precious Metals Review

But what sets them apart from the rest?

Whether you're a seasoned investor or just starting to dip your toes into the precious metals pool, this comprehensive review will look into everything you need to know about Pacific Precious Metals. 

From their product offerings to their customer service, and why they might be the right fit for your investment needs—keep reading to discover if Pacific Precious Metals can help secure your financial future.

The first step for investing in precious metals and buying these products is to find a worthwhile gold company. Reviewing Pacific Precious Metals helps investors determine if the gold company is the most appropriate investment choice.

Company History and Rating

Pacific Precious Metals started in 2011 in Sausalito, California. They offer in-person and online precious metals sales and provide a buyback opportunity for previous clients. The Better Business Bureau has accredited the company since 2011 and has an A+ rating. As of 2023, there is only one customer complaint on their BBB profile.

What Products Do They Sell?

Pacific Precious Metals offers gold, silver, and platinum products for investors and collectors. Their gold products include Britain Queen's Beasts, American Buffalo, Mexico 20 Peso coins, Asahi gold bars, South African Krugerrand, Britannia King Charles III, Austrian Philharmonic, Chinese Panada, American Gold Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, and Valcambi gold bars.

Their silver products include American Eagle, American Buffalo, Canadian Maple Leaf, Chinese Panada, Austrian Philharmonic, Niue silver, silver bars, and bullion. Their platinum products include British Britannia, American Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, and PAMP platinum bars.

Customers can review their inventory on the company's website or by visiting their physical locations. Many of the prices for these items appear on the website.

Accepted Payment Methods

Pacific Precious Metals accepts cash and personal checks at their physical location. Online customers can use debit or credit cards to complete their orders. However, any order over $10,000 requires a wire transfer from the customer's bank account.

Buying Precious Metals

Customers can visit the website and set up a user account to buy precious metals through Pacific Precious Metals. Many of the items are available through the website. Customers can add the item in any quantity to the shopping cart on the website.

After they add everything they want, the customer can complete their transaction via credit card when shopping online. If they're going to place orders in person, the customer can visit any location.

If customers want to complete purchases of $10,000 or more, the customer must come to a physical location or call a customer service representative. The customer tells the customer service representative what they wish to add to their order, and then they complete a wire transfer from their bank account.

The company provides a price lock opportunity, but the customer must complete the transaction within 24 hours of receiving the price lock. There is a market loss policy for delayed payments, and they impose a $95 cancellation fee if a customer cancels an order.

After Pacific Precious Metals receives the payment, they ship the precious metals to the customer according to the client's preferences. All precious metals arrive in discreet packaging and are covered by insurance. If the packages are lost, stolen, or damaged during transport, the company files an insurance claim for the client.

Selling Precious Metals

To sell precious metals to Pacific Precious Metals, customers can sign into their user account, contact a customer service representative, and identify all the metals they've previously purchased from the company they want to sell through a buyback.

However, if they didn't buy metal from Pacific Precious Metals, they can click the "Cash for Gold" tab on the company's website. There is a form to complete to give them more information about the opportunity to sell their precious metals, or they can call a customer service representative.

Finally, the customer receives a kit for packaging their precious metals and sending them to Pacific Precious Metals.

The packaging requires the customer to list all items they place in the shipment, and they have discreet packaging for their metals. In the kit, there is a prepaid shipping label for the package.

Once the package arrives at Pacific Precious Metals, the precious metals are inspected for quality and to ensure they meet all standards. Next, a customer service representative contacts the customer with a cash offer. The client can accept the offer and get the payment or refuse.

If they accept the offer, Pacific Precious Metals will send the payment to the client's bank account or mail them a check. If they refuse the offer, Pacific Precious Metals returns the shipment to the customer.

Comparing the cash offer to the current market value of the precious metals helps sellers determine if they are getting a fair price. Most gold companies do not provide the total market value to secure a profit when they resell the metals to new customers.

If the customer doesn't feel they received a fair offer, they could request offers from other gold companies to complete a comparison.

Setting Up an IRA

Self-directing gold IRAs are helpful ways to save for retirement or generate wealth for the future. To open an IRA, the investor must hire an IRS-approved custodian to create and manage their IRA. Once the custodian completes the documents for the IRA, the investor determines how they want to fund the self-directed gold IRA.

They can roll over funds from a ROTH IRA or transfer funds from a traditional IRA into the new account. If they use funds from a tax-deferred IRA account, the gold IRA is considered a conventional IRA because all funds are taxed when withdrawn at retirement. If they use funds from a ROTH account, the funds are taxed before depositing them into the IRA account.

The custodian acts like a liaison between the client and their IRA provider. The IRA provider transfers the funds to the custodian, which are deposited into the new IRA account. Once the funds are available, the investor can use the funds to purchase precious metals.

Investors should remember that the transfer of funds from one IRA account to another must occur before the 60-day deadline. The investor faces an early withdrawal and tax penalty if the funds aren't deposited before the deadline.

Once the funds are available, the custodian coordinates the precious metals purchase for the investor. First, the investor lists all the metals they wish to purchase with the exact quantity. Then, the custodian transfers the funds to Pacific Precious Metals to buy the precious metals.

Once Pacific Precious Metals receives the funds, they ship the metals to the customer's preferred depository. Finally, the custodian gets documents showing that the metals were deposited into the depository.

Custodian and Depository

Increasing the IRA's Value

According to IRS regulations, investors face contribution limits when funding their self-directed gold IRA beyond the initial investment. The current regulations as of 2023 limit investors 59 or younger to contributions up to $6,500 yearly. If they are 60 or older, they can contribute up to $7,500 annually.

There aren't limitations on what type or quantity of precious metals they can invest in the IRA. However, the custodian must arrange the new purchases and send the precious metals to the depository. With gold IRAs, investors can add other investments to the account.

For example, they can add antiques, collectibles, artwork, and real estate to the gold IRA. Their custodian manages the sale of assets related to the IRA when the account holder retires. By adding these assets to a self-directed IRA, the account holder won't face capital gains taxes when the assets are sold.

Setting Up Distributions During Retirement

When the investor becomes 65, the custodian approaches them to set up distributions from the account. With a ROTH IRA account, the owner doesn't have to get any distributions when they retire.

However, if they have a traditional or tax-deferred IRA, the IRS requires them to receive distributions by the age of 72. If the account holder doesn't specify an amount for the distributions, the IRS can dictate how much they receive.

The custodian can set up distributions for the account holder based on how much they can pay in taxes yearly. However, if the owner chooses to liquidate their IRA account completely, they must pay the tax implications at the end of the tax season.

Inherited Gold IRAs

Tax Benefits of Gold IRAs

In retirement, the account holder can accept any amount, including the entire balance of the IRA, without paying taxes or reporting the money as income.

Assaying Services

Assaying services provided by Pacific Precious Metals help customers to determine what metals are inside a particular item. The services benefit collectors who want to determine the value of coins, jewelry, and other items.

In addition, investors who need to identify the purity level of precious metals to comply with IRS regulations use these services to determine if the item is eligible for inclusion in a gold or silver IRA.

These workers use DCP or ICP optical emissions spectroscopy to evaluate the metal. They may also use fire assay or wet chemistry methods to measure purity levels and identify other metals included in the design.

Jewelry Appraisal Services

Pacific Precious Metals offers jewelry appraisal services for all customers, even if they don't buy bars, bullion, or coins from the company. The appraisal services benefit investors and anyone who buys jewelry or clients who need to add a rider to their homeowner's insurance to protect their jewelry.

The company has licensed appraisers who can assess the pieces according to purity levels, diamond clarity, and other factors.

Top Items and Deals

The "Top Items" and "Deals" tabs on the website's navigation bar help visitors find discounted bars, bullion, and coins for investors needing more modest investments. If they visit the website often or set up alerts, they can find deals faster and won't miss out on these opportunities.