Scott R. Hillford
Author & Founder Gold Is Money 2
Disclaimer: Some or all of the companies reported here may provide compensation to us, at no cost to our readers. This is how we keep our reporting free for readers. Compensation and detailed analysis are what determines how companies appear on this website.
Investing in gold and other precious metals can be a powerful and lucrative addition to your portfolio. When utilized effectively, these assets can diversify your retirement holdings, appreciate in value, and offer a robust alternative financial investment with significant benefits.
However, navigating the world of precious metal investments comes with its challenges. The sheer number of options available can be overwhelming, making it difficult to identify the most suitable platform for your needs.
In such scenarios, an expert review can be invaluable, guiding you towards informed decisions and providing clarity on your choices. With that in mind, here is an in-depth review of Swiss America.
Prior reading further, it is important to acknowledge that investing your savings is a not easy. When it comes to incorporating precious metals into your investment portfolio, how can you tell which companies are reliable?
After devoting extensive time and effort, we have conducted thorough research within the precious metals industry and compiled a selection of the most trustworthy companies.
Take a moment to read our list and determine if Swiss America Trading Corporation has what it takes to make the list this year!
This lets you to quickly compare the leading companies in this field and select the one that aligns with your specific requirements and investment objectives.
Or
Get a FREE Gold Information Kit from our #1 recommendation, by clicking the button below:
Protect Your Retirement!
About Swiss America
One of the near-constant challenges in the area of buying precious metals is the lack of information that is available on the companies from who you are buying.
From often fail to adequately list information about who they are, what their qualifications are, and what their competitive advantage is. That is NOT the case for Swiss America.
Indeed, Swiss America lists an array of information about who they are, including:
Client Testimonials
This is EXTREMELY comprehensive - perhaps more so than any other About Us page, we have ever reviewed.
Services Provided
You can use the website to create an account, which can be done exclusively online. Once you do that, you can begin to take advantage of an array of services that are offered by Swiss America. This includes buying gold, silver, and platinum coins, bars, or bullion.
Unfortunately, while the About Us page is extremely robust, information on the exact services provided seems to be woefully short. It appears that you have to create an account to be able to access an online directory of the types of precious metals you can buy.
There is no listing or information on how much the prices are to buy the various precious metals that are advertised on the website. This leads to an even greater challenge: There is no way to even determine what coins are for sale! This is extremely challenging, as it makes it difficult to make an apples-to-apples comparison about what services are available in Swiss America.
The website also lists IRA accounts under the "My Accounts" drop-down menu, implying that you can buy precious metals for your IRA account. However, again, the website is unclear about how they manage to create an IRA.
Does Swiss America manage IRAs? Do they only sell you gold that meets IRA standards? Do they know what the IRA standards are? Answers may be easily available once you create an account, but that's not the point - this is information you need to have BEFORE you create an account, as you need to know if it is even worth doing so.
Resources Available
The whiplash of Swiss America's website continues once you access their resources because there are a ton of resources that can be extremely helpful in keeping potential buyers informed. Indeed, the resources available are so broad that they are broken into two different sections.
The first is "News & Views," and it contains:
Next, there is an extensive "knowledge" section. This section deals with informing gold and precious metal buyers about the various aspects of precious metal investing.
Topics include:
In short, the information presented in this section of the Swiss America website is very impressive. It contains a slew of data and facts that help not only establish the company as a clear market leader but information that enables users to be more comfortable when making a precious metal purchase.
Website Design & Messaging
Here's where things start to get more problematic. Whether intentional or not, the messaging of the website leans conservative, with many of the news clips and content of the reports originating from a conservative point of view.
That isn't necessarily a problem - particularly if you share the same viewpoints - but it can be more of an issue if you don't. It also makes it harder to see the company as a financial marketer and instead positions them as being on an ideological crusade.
This crusade idea is enhanced by additional problems on the website, namely when they discuss gold-related conspiracies. They discuss things like the "war on cash," a hyperbolic statement at best, and make other statements that lead you to think that they are more interested in surviving the collapse of the modern banking system rather than helping retirees save money for the future.
It's also worth noting that the website design is somewhat older. You have to navigate back to the top of the website to access content if you are scrolling, making it far more difficult to get from one place to the next. However, a mobile version of the website is easy to use and very intuitive.
Social Media
We don't usually review social media, but the array of social media options displayed by Swiss America is so robust that it seems worth noting. Swiss America has many social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
As you would imagine, there is extensive cross-linking, meaning that much of the content leads back to the website. The Twitter and Facebook feeds are automated, and they are used to share information about precious gold that is in the news.
Swiss America also has a Google and iPhone app that users can download. It gives access to a user's portfolio and enables them to get the latest news on precious metals. This seems to be a case where the app simply provides another way for users to access the same information that they'd be able to use if they were on their website but in an alternative method.
Our Rating
Advantages
To be clear, there are many advantages of Swiss America. The transparency that the website shows about who they are and why you should do business with them is top-notch. We've never seen a website with as much information about who they are.
These advantages are buttressed by the vast array of informational material about buying gold, silver, and platinum. Charts, historical information, a detailed coin database - it's all here. This should make individuals much more comfortable with buying precious metals, and it should give users much more comfort in explicitly doing business with Swiss America.
Disadvantages
The most severe disadvantage is nearly a disqualifying one: You cannot access prices, inventory, or a database of available precious metals without starting an account. This makes comparison shopping impossible and creates huge roadblocks in opening an account and accessing services.
Swiss America may have the greatest and most robust array of precious metals in the world. Alternatively, they may have none. Regardless, this lack of information makes it very difficult for consumers to make an informed decision.
The website's occasional veering into conspiracy-oriented data belies a more troubling problem: It makes it seem as if the website wants people to invest in precious metals to protect from a meltdown of the financial system, not to enrich their pocket.
While this may appeal to a slice of their customer base, it makes it harder for the average investor that is simply interested in diversifying their portfolio to take them seriously.
Finally, the lack of additional services hurts Swiss America. In such a competitive precious metal marketplace, vendors need to be explicit about what they offer and consider offering other forms of enticements to get users and truly create a one-stop shop for all of the users' precious metal needs.
Not only was it unclear what Swiss America offered, but it wasn't clear what else they offered. Do they buy other gold? Can you invest in an IRA directly with the company? It doesn't appear so.
Other Reviews
Reviews from consumers and other customers who have used a precious metal service can often provide an excellent baseline and a degree of personal experience that can be critical in helping customers determine if a service is worth investigating.
Fortunately for customers, there is no shortage of reviews that have been made by customers about Swiss America's services - and, by and large, these reviews are very positive:
The reviews focused on something a little different than usual for a precious metal company: Users were appreciative of the knowledge of the staff and the way that staff members walked users through their purchases.
This is a point that came up over and over again. The company was repeatedly praised for its friendliness, business ethic, and pressure-free environment.
Verdict
Final Verdict
This is arguably one of the more frustrating reviews we've ever written. Swiss America is a reasonable company that leaves customers happy and ensures that customers have all the information that they need. From their websites and other reviews, it is clear that they are knowledgeable and ethical.
However, they lack such basic information on their website that it is impossible to see how they compare to other vendors that also have these positives - but with more information.
As such, we can't recommend Swiss America. If they don't have the most basic information, it is impossible to say if you can't find a better business.
Let our expertise and analysis help you before you invest your savings by reading our list of the best companies!
Or click the button below to visit Swiss America