Fisher Precious Metals Review

Nowadays, it's possible to buy anything online. But it's also important to avoid scams. Precious metals are an important investment for a balanced portfolio, but not every precious metals dealer has your best interests at heart. How do you choose the right one?

Fisher Precious Metals is a well-established company that's run by a pair of experienced professionals. What services do they offer? And are they actually legitimate? Here's what you should know before you decide whether to invest.

About Fisher Precious Metals

Fisher Precious Metals is a company that cannot be separated from its owners. In fact, the owners are responsible for the majority of daily operations. John and Lynn Fisher began their journey in the precious metals industry in 1993, almost three decades ago. Rather than beginning as dealers, they were individual investors.

Over time, they made many mistakes and learned a lot about the industry. They turned that industry knowledge into a business. The goal is to be the kind of company that they would have wanted to work with all those years ago.

There isn't much oversight of the precious metals industry. This makes it easy for private investors to maintain their privacy. But it also makes it easy for less reputable companies to pass themselves off as legitimate. Fisher Precious Metals has worked hard to gain a reputation that sets it apart from the rest.

The company has a strict policy against using high pressure sales tactics. Instead, they are committed to providing the advice that they'd give to one of their own family members. Judging by the positive response online, they do seem to succeed in this attempt. Their website even mentions that they will sometimes decline to make a sale if it's not in the client's best interests.

Many customers who call the company are able to speak immediately to one of the owners. There's a guarantee that you will be able to talk to John or Lynn within 48 hours. Every other employee has a personal investment in the precious metals industry, but nobody works on sales commission.

Since there are no sales commissions, there's no incentive for the employees to sell you items you don't need. The company makes an effort to foster ongoing relationships with their customers. When you call, you get access to all of their expertise.

Finally, the company believes that bullion coins from sovereign mints are the best investment for the long term. These coins don't have a high premium, so you don't pay much more than their actual value. At the same time, the coins are highly recognizable and easy to liquidate.

Qualifications

Fisher Precious Metals has multiple qualifications and accolades that help to cement its reputation.

Not only is the company involved with the Industry Council for Tangible Assets, but John Fisher is actually the Vice Chair. This makes him one of the most influential people in the precious metals industry. He is always kept abreast of the latest developments on a local and global scale.

Fisher Precious Metals is a member of the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation and Professional Coin Grading Service. These are the two largest coin grading organizations in the entire country.

The company is also a member of the Professional Numismatics Guild, American Numismatics Association, and the Gemological Institute of America. As such, they have expertise regarding numismatic rarities and gemstones. The gemstone expertise helps when it comes to appraising items that are brought into the store.

John Fisher teaches continuing education classes to financial professionals like investment advisors and CPAs in Florida. He has also been working with Kingdom Advisors for a decade to help their members connect with the right precious metals for investment.

IRA Services

You can hold precious metals in an individual retirement account, but you must comply with strict regulations. Fisher Precious Metals has some IRA services available. While IRAs aren't the company's biggest focus, the services are fairly comprehensive.

Fisher Precious Metals most commonly works with New Direction IRA. They are able to work with whatever IRA provider you want, but they prefer New Direction. In fact, both of the owners have their precious metals IRA held with New Direction as the custodian.

The company has created an entire website that has information about precious metals IRAs. This contains all the information you need about what type of investments you can make, how to get started, and what the risks and benefits are. It goes into more details about the paperwork and regulations involved.

Many precious metals IRA dealers have a minimum requirement to invest. But that's not the case with Fisher Precious Metals. No matter how much or how little you have to spend, you'll be given the same customer service treatment.

Storage Services

Fisher Precious Metals has three main depository options for your IRA. An IRA legally must be held in a licensed depository, rather than being kept at home. The three options include one depository in the US, one in Canada, and one in the Cayman Islands.

The Delaware depository from International Depository Services is the US option. IDS is one of the most extensive global providers of depository options. Delaware is also subject to special tax advantages.

The Canadian depository is also run through International Depository Services. It is located in Toronto. If you want to have your items stored accessibly but across the border, this depository is a great option. You can visit the full-service location and look at your metals in person if you want.

The Cayman depository is hosted through Strategic Wealth Preservation. This is a company built around helping investors to store their wealth in tax shelters and other havens where it's protected from the government. Every vault is totally segregated, meaning that your items are kept separate from everyone else's.

Regardless of the depository that you choose, the contents will be fully insured. This means that in addition to the security, you can be compensated if anything was to happen to your items. That makes them a lot more secure than they would be sitting in a home safe.

Selling Precious Metals

If you have precious metals of your own at home, you have the option to sell them to Fisher Precious Metals. In addition, if you have made a purchase through Fisher Precious Metals, you can use their buyback program. They promise that they'll buy back whatever you've been sold at a fair market price.

Unlike many other precious metals dealers, Fisher Precious Metals will buy all forms of precious metals. That means that in addition to buying coins and bars, they will also buy diamonds, sterling flatware, broken jewelry, and watches. They'll even purchase industrial materials like gold tubing.

According to the website, there is also a trade service. If you'd rather exchange your old jewelry for coins and bars, you can do that. All you have to do is give the company a call to work out the details.

Steps to Sell

If you are nearby, you can bring your items to the Fisher Precious Metals storefront to get an honest appraisal. But for the majority of people who aren't driving distance away, the first step is to call. As soon as you call, you'll be given a quote for your metals.

Assuming you agree to the price, you'll be sent a trading confirmation along with shipping instructions. You'll then ship the metals to the provided address. Once the package is en route, you can email the company the tracking number. That way, they'll be able to track the progress of the package.

When the package arrives, it will be opened under video surveillance. All of the items will be tested to make sure that they're authentic. Once this is done, the payment will be processed.

Payments can be sent to customers through direct deposit, bank wire transfers, or checks. If you bring your items to the storefront directly, you may be able to receive a portion or all of your earnings in cash.

Is Fisher Precious Metals a Scam?

Fisher Precious Metals is not a scam. The company has been around for several decades and has positive online reviews. The Better Business Bureau gives them an A+ rating and accreditation, and there have been zero complaints filed over the past three years.

When you look at third party review websites, Fisher Precious Metals consistently performs well. The BBB website shows 5 out of 5 stars based on 15 reviews, indicating unanimous praise. Fisher Precious Metals also has 5 out of 5 stars on Facebook with 11 reviews, as well as Yelp with 18 reviews.

It's very difficult to find negative feedback about the company. Every customer that we've found seems to report a totally satisfactory experience. This is a business that has been run by the same people for decades, and it seems to retain its family atmosphere.

Customer Reviews

Now let's take a look at exactly what the past customers have to say. As noted, there's very little negative feedback about the company online. This means that it may be difficult to find out how the company handles conflict. But the positive reviews do show where the company excels.

Obviously we can't look at every single review posted online about Fisher Precious Metals. But we can examine a few.

Positive Experience After Frustration

In June of 2022, a customer left a review saying that she was extremely thankful that she'd found Fisher Precious Metals. She had tried working with a variety of other popular companies, but these companies weren't good at communicating or used pushy sales tactics.

She said that she had been told by past companies that she couldn't even be quoted a price until she paid. That wasn't the case with Fisher Precious Metals. Even though it was the customer's first time investing, she came out of the transaction feeling totally comfortable and happy.

She worked directly with John Fisher. He spoke with her over the phone and through email, walking her through all of her inquiries. Additionally, he was careful about making sure that he could ship to her address. She invested a sizable amount in precious metals, but she was happy to find out that Fisher Precious Metals doesn't have any investment minimums.

The customer concluded by saying that the package was quickly shipped and arrived on time. She was happy with her experience and said she'd continue doing business with this company in the future.

Investment After Home Sale

One customer left a review saying that she'd recently sold her home. Because of the state of the economy, she didn't want to use traditional investments with the proceeds. Instead, she wanted to buy precious metals.

She contacted several precious metals companies prior to Fisher. Because she met their investment minimums, they were very eager to work with her. But the companies also didn't provide the level of education that she wanted, and she felt that some of the representatives were condescending.

She said that these companies would give her "educational materials" like blogs and videos. But they weren't willing to explain things to her over the phone. Given the amount that she planned to invest, she felt that these companies weren't doing enough to care for her as a customer.

Working with Fisher Precious Metals was different. When she went to the website, there was detailed but not overwhelming information. Then she met with John Fisher in person. He gave detailed explanations of the precious metals industry, the economy, and the different products available for purchase.

The customer concluded by saying that she believed that John Fisher was a more knowledgeable and customer-oriented person than the owners of the other companies she'd considered.

Coin Evaluations

On the company's Yelp page, one customer left a review regarding his experience bringing coins in for appraisal. He had a Queen Victoria coin that had been embedded into a ring. John Fisher did a professional appraisal and explained exactly how he had arrived at that price.

The same customer had brought in some collectible quarters that he believed were valuable. Unfortunately, John said that the coins weren't actually valuable. But he gave the customer the number for another coin dealer who might be interested.

The customer was amazed that John Fisher had bothered to offer this extra contact, as it really went above and beyond. He said that this gesture was definitely enough to earn the service five stars.