Lear Capital Review – Are Their Prices Legit, or Are They Still Scammy?
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By Tim Schmidt Sr.
Accredited Investor and Gold IRA Specialist
If you have been following the gold IRA industry for a few years, you know that not every company out there is fair, legit, and able to put the customer first. In fact, many companies in this industry are known as scammers, and there have been several that have been sued for deception and other shady practices. One of these companies is Lear Capital.
If you want to read the details, it’s all here. If you want to avoid the chaos, go back to our home page and find our list of top gold IRA companies.
Choosing Lear Capital means that you get to work with a well-known, previously trustworthy, precious metals dealer that offers self-directed IRAs. However, Lear Capital was sued just a few years ago for deceptive business practices and violating consumer protection laws. The company has since filed for bankruptcy and started to clean up its act. They are still in business and offering service to both new and existing customers.
Now that the company is on its seemingly best behavior after all of the controversy, is this the time to throw caution to the wind and give them another chance?
Let’s take a look in this Lear Capital review.
Is Lear Capital Legit and a Good Place to Get a Gold IRA in 2026?
At a basic level, Lear Capital is no different from most of the other gold IRA companies out there. They have gold coins and bars, silver coins and bars, and platinum coins and bars. All of them can be added to a gold IRA, which is meant for retirement. You can also buy coins from Lear Capitol for personal investments.
In 2022, Lear Capital went into bankruptcy after being sued, and for this alone, it’s difficult to recommend Lear Capital’s team. Since then, they have spent a lot of time improving transparency and making the entire process much more clear, but in the precious metals industry, I have absolutely no clue how they will fully pull themselves out of this.
Let’s keep checking them out, though. Maybe I will find that they are well on their way to being America’s precious metals leader and I will highly recommend Lear Capital.
First, though, I want to take a closer look at the lawsuits.
Lear Capitol Lawsuits – New York and Los Angeles
The first major lawsuit that Lear Capital dealt with was from 2021. They were sued by New York’s State Attorney General, Letitia James, for defrauding New Yorkers out of more than $10 million in precious metals. They were forced to pay $6 million in damages. The lawsuit also established that Lear Capital was involved in deceptive business practices and intentionally failed to disclose fees and other costs to their customers.
As this was going on, the City of Los Angeles also sued the company for similar reasons. That lawsuit led Lear Capital to face $2.75 million in damages.
In an attempt to avoid any future lawsuits and get out of paying, the company declared bankruptcy.
The bottom line here is that Lear Capital has a history of pushing otherwise satisfied customers into opening an account and making purchases, and then acting like they have excellent customer service while charging a lot of fees. By doing this, the company has collected millions at the expense of the customer…and when you look at reviews, they did this without the customers even realizing it.
What is Lear Capital? How Does it Compare to Other Gold IRA Companies?
Now that we have all of the lawsuit information out of the way, it’s time to look closer at Lear Capital and what it’s like having a precious metals IRA with the company in the post-lawsuit era.
First, as you know at this point, Lear Capital is a precious metals company that offers gold and other precious metals for both IRAs and personal investments. There is a limited selection of gold and silver and only a few platinum options, but it’s enough to have a precious metals IRA.
Something that is impressive about the company now that Lear Capital cleared their name, or are trying to, is the fact that they do offer a white glove service with extremely knowledgeable professional assistance for those who are going through the investment process.
Lear Capital can offer helpful assistance with investment decisions, and help to transfer an existing IRA account to their company in a timely manner.
A Lear rep will walk you through gold and silver investments, as well as help with purchasing gold, silver, and platinum.
From what I see, there is a huge difference between the Lear Capital of today when compared to the company pre-lawsuit, and some people really appreciate the improvements the company has made. Am I ready to jump in and start purchasing metals? No, but I have called Lear and went through the process, and from what I experienced, they had a great service with informative assistance…I just have a hard time letting things go.
Lear Capital has been around since 1997, and up until 2022 when it was forced into bankruptcy, it had processed more than $3 billion in precious metals. Lear Capital is particularly known for its focus on gold IRAs (Individual Retirement Accounts). Today, Lear Capital partners with secure, third-party vaults for asset storage, and it has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
How Does Lear Capital Work?
Lear Capital is an online precious metals shop, a professional coin grading service, and a full-service gold IRA provider. It’s working hard to become a reputable company based on what I’ve seen. Here’s how it works:
Investing in Metals – Gold, Silver, and Platinum Bars and Coins
When you work with Lear Capital, the first thing that you can do is buy gold, silver, and platinum. You can buy them for your own personal investments and store them at home, or you can buy them for your precious metals IRA. When purchasing bullion, coins, and other metals, an account rep will make sure that you are choosing the right metals for your accounts, and since they are more of a white glove service, you will work with the same account executive throughout the process.
For those opening gold and silver IRAs as precious metals investments, you will work with a custodian along with a senior account executive and a storage facility to make it all come together. When you buy bars and coins, Lear Capital will connect you with one of their partners for IRA investments, or you can choose your own.
Though Lear Capital is known for its coin grading accuracy, I do want to mention something that often surprises new investors — the spot price of metals is not the same as the price you will pay for the metals. This is not something that Lear Capital, alone, does. Even companies that truly have low fees put a markup on their coins, bars, and bullion. Lear Capital’s pricing for gold is typically marked up by about 10% above the spot price, while silver prices are marked up by about 17%.
Investing in a Precious Metals IRA
Lear Capital provides educational resources to help customers understand the process of investing in precious metals and setting up IRAs. The company facilitates the setup and rollover of retirement accounts to hold physical bullion or IRS-approved coins.
Customers can fund their Lear Capital IRA accounts via wire transfer or check, but checks may take longer to process. The process of setting up a precious metals IRA with Lear Capital typically takes about 10 minutes to complete the application, and accounts can be set up within 24 hours.
There are fees associated with these accounts, and we will get into those more, below. Lear Capital finally offers a transparent fee structure for its services, which includes a $280 one-time setup fee and a $200 annual fee for self-directed IRA accounts. In recent years, Lear Capital has streamlined the process for setting up a self-directed IRA, making it accessible for new investors.
Minimums are not publicly listed, though, but we do know that Lear Capital charges shipping fees for orders below $10,000, while orders over that amount ship for free. We also know that clients have a 24-hour risk-free guarantee to review and potentially cancel purchase agreements.
Expected Returns With Lear Capital
Many people want to know about returns when they make investments, but that’s not really something that we can tell. What we can do, however, is look at history.
Over the past 100 years, gold has had an average return of about 4.5%. This is a rate that outpaces inflation, which shows it still has its power of being a hedge against inflation. However, investing with a company like Lear Capital does come with fees, so you have to keep that in mind when trying to calculate returns.
Lear Capital: Pricing and Fees
Since Lear Capital got into so much trouble in 2022 for not being transparent, you can bet that they are being clear now. There is a clear pricing structure, a price match guarantee, and a 24-hour money-back guarantee.
When you buy gold, silver, or platinum, remember that there will be a markup over spot price and shipping and handling costs added in there.
If you choose a self-directed IRA, you will pay a $280 setup fee, which is a one time thing, and then $200 a year for maintenance. You will also have to pay for storage, but there are discounts and waivers for some customers.
- Less than $10,000 – $50 set up fee
- Over $10,000 – the set up fee is waived
- $25,000 to $50,000 – First year’s fees are waived
- $50,000 to $75,000 – First and second year’s fees are waived
- $75,000+ – First, second, and third year’s fees are waived
How to Get Started With Lear Capital
You can sign up for a Lear Capital account online by filling out the free gold IRA kit form. Once you do that, a representative will get in touch with you to finish the process.
To set up a precious metals IRA with Lear Capital, customers must work directly with the company’s IRA Processing Department. They will explain things like how Lear Capital’s precious metals must be stored in an IRS-approved facility to comply with regulations for IRAs.
Keep in mind that this is, 100%, a sales call. The Lear Capital representatives are trained to lure customers in with kind words and encouraging comments, and then go beyond “just information” to get you to invest.
You can fund your new gold IRA with a wire transfer, a certified check, a personal check, or a money order. Most people take the funds from an existing IRA and transfer or rollover.
If you want to buy metals from Lear Capital for personal investment, you can pay online, but you must use a wire transfer or send a check, and then they will send the metals to you.
Consumer Review Sites
This review isn’t the only one, of course. I always think it’s a good idea to take a look at other sources when considering if a company has the superior service you are looking for or if another option might be best.
Better Business Bureau – BBB
Lear Capital is accredited by the Better Business Bureau and it has an A+ rating. Currently, it has a 4.7 out of 5 stars. Many reviewers describe Lear Capital’s staff as patient, professional, and informative. Many customers also report that the process of investing with Lear Capital feels straightforward and stress-free, especially for first-time investors.
That being said, there have been a handful of complaints filed with the BBB over the past three years.
Trustpilot
Lear Capital is rated “Excellent” with 4.8 / 5 on Trustpilot. The first time we looked, Lear Capital had a 4.9-star rating from over 2,700 customer reviews on Trustpilot. When we looked again, at the time of this writing, it had gained over 300 reviews, but fell down to 4.8/5 stars.
Here, Lear Capital has received positive feedback for its no-fee buy-back program, allowing customers to sell back their coins without incurring fees.
Business Consumer Alliance
The Business Consumer Alliance has given Lear Capital its highest rating – an AAA rating
ConsumerAffairs
As of 2026, Lear Capital has a 96% customer satisfaction rating and a 4.9 rating on ConsumerAffairs.
Lear Capital Reviews: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Offers access to metals for those who want to purchase precious metals for personal investments or a precious metals IRA
- You get a personal account representative to help set up your account and to explain more about buying physical gold, silver, and platinum
- There is….now….a clear fee structure that can be trusted
Cons
- The previous bankruptcy and lawsuits are still hanging over Lear Capital, but it’s slowly working its way back according to the gracious feedback left by customers
- There is no minimum deposit listed – this isn’t uncommon in the gold IRA industry, however
- You must talk to a sales rep to open an account
Lear Capital Reviews Final Opinion
Lear Capital is not a company that has a flawless history or a sterling reputation. However, they have been putting a lot of work into themselves, and definitely have stepped up their game in recent years. I would expect that to continue into the near future, too.
Many investors are ready to give Lear Capital another try and open a gold IRA or make other investments. With responsive communication, now very transparent fees, and a money-back guarantee, for some, they might find great success here. For others who are still a bit jaded, there are plenty of other precious metals IRA companies out there, and many have much better reputations when compared to Lear Capital. I’ve provided a list below of other reviews you can peruse:
FAQs:
Is Lear Capital a legitimate company?
Yes, Lear Capital is a legitimate company with a history of lawsuits and bankruptcy due to unethical business practices. They were sued for millions, which hurt the company’s credibility. They are still around and putting efforts in to improve.
What are the main complaints people have against Lear Capital?
There are many complaints from former and current customers that Lear Capital did not disclose fees, and in turn, they collected millions of dollars in commissions without telling their customers. They were sued and had to pay out over $8 million to those who were affected.
Who is the owner of Lear Capital?
Lear Capital was founded and currently owned by Kevin DeMerritt.
What was the Lear Capital lawsuit about?
The main thing about the lawsuit is that the state of New York first sued the company for deceptive business practices. Attorney General Letitia James stated that Lear Capital did not disclose millions in fees to more than 1,000 customers. The suit was settled, but another suit came from the City of Los Angeles alleging the same. To avoid further issues, the company declared bankruptcy.