Sprott Money is a precious metals dealer in Toronto. They sell gold, silver, and platinum products online and offer storage options as well. The firm has received complaints for delivering damaged products, taking too long to process transactions, and offering a poor buying experience.
Moreover, the company uses unethical marketing tactics to distract consumers from these complaints.
Before you start trading with them, it would be best to see what they are trying to hide:
About Sprott Money:
Sprott Money is a gold and silver bullion dealer based in Toronto, Canada, and has been operating since 2007. They sell gold, silver, and platinum products including coins, bars, and wafers both online and over the phone. The CEO of the firm is Eric Sprott.
Sprott Money offers IRA precious metals accounts to US residents and Canadians. Their office is located at No Walk-Ins, 130 Queens Quay E Suite #1224, Toronto, ON M5A 0P6, Canada and it opens from 8 AM to 6 PM.
You can order gold, silver, and platinum to your home and store them in a self-directed IRA account with this service provider. Apart from running this company, Eric Sprott runs the Sprott Money Podcast with his team members where he discusses various topics related to the industry.
The various kinds of IRA accounts you can open with this company include:
- Life Income Fund (LIF)
- RIF (Retirement Income Fund)
- RESP (Registered Education Savings Plan)
- RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan)
And plenty of others.
While they seem like an ordinary bullion dealer at first, Sprott Money has a ton of red flags. The first one is the evident lack of information on their fees. In the bullion market, it’s very easy to fall prey to hidden fees.
They do, however, give information on how much commissions they charge on trades. Sprott Money charges $20 per trade on trades under $2000. They don’t charge any commissions on trades over $2000.
You can sell precious metals to this company as well as buy from them.
Now that you have an idea of Sprott Money and Eric Sprott, let’s look at some of the red flags this company is trying to hide from its clients and you:
Sprott Money Disclaimer: Avoiding Responsibility
Eric Sprott runs the Sprott Money Podcast and is a prominent influencer. However, his company doesn’t take any responsibility for the claims it makes on its website. These claims include the quality of suggestions they give and the offers they gave on the site.
They also mention in fine print that they are not insured by any government insurer including the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation.
It might seem like a harmless thing to do but this disclaimer shifts all the risk on the investor, ie, you. Coupled with the various disputes this company is involved in and the various complaints it has received, Eric Sprott doesn’t seem as reliable as he claims to be.
Sprott Money BBB Accreditation: Manipulating Customers
Sprott Money has a BBB-accredited profile. Contrary to popular belief, a business doesn’t need to maintain any quality and ethical standards to get BBB accredited. To get accredited on BBB, you need to pay an annual fee that goes upwards of $10,000.
As you may realize, it’s a highly unethical way of marketing a business. Many consumers would think a business is BBB accredited because of its quality service or products but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
CNN had done an extensive investigation on this matter. They found scammers and fraudsters who were facing federal charges for their crimes, carrying A+ ratings on BBB because of their accreditation.
Having a BBB-accredited profile gives you a lot of control over your BBB page and it ensures you have an A or A+ rating regardless of your quality.
It’s quite a common tactic among scammers and shady businesses. Take, for example, Crestmont Capital. That firm has gained notoriety for spamming and harassing consumers yet maintains an A+ rating on BBB because of its accreditation.
Sprott Money Lawsuit: Sprott Money Ltd. vs. OHM
A few years ago, this bullion dealer found itself in a legal dispute when it filed a case against Neal Cabot Ohm in 2016. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount in 2017 and it was a 380 Personal Property case.
You can find more information on the lawsuit here: Sprott Money Ltd v. OHM, 1:16-cv-07566 – CourtListener.com.
Apart from these issues, Sprott Money has attracted numerous complaints from its customers and employees. I’m sharing some of them to help you understand what it’s like to work with them:
The customer Never Received the Product
Here, the reviewer complains that they never received the product they had ordered. The reverie had used Fedex to save money but they required the reviewer to be present at home.
Still, they didn’t leave the package at the reviewer’s home and they had to call FedEx to find out. In the end, the company told them that they will need to come to the drop place, which is 2 hours away.
The reviewer says that traveling for 2 hours to get their $200 coins is a little too much.
Sprott Money Delivered Damaged and Unpolished Gold Coin after Charging $2300+
Mark had purchased a new 2021 Maple Leaf 1 oz .9999 gold coin from this bullion dealer. Sprott Money claims these coins are flawless.
But when Mark received his package he didn’t get any flawless products. The coin was in a plastic bag with a deep scratch along the left side of its obverse side. Moreover, the coin was unpolished and without an assay.
Due to such damage, Mark can’t display the coin. He points out that this coin is in the worst condition among all the coins present in his collection. Mark also highlights that displaying this coin would be an embarrassment to Canada.
He adds that the coins he has purchased from other dealers have always arrived well-polished and in a protective clear coin holder along with an assay.
But Sprott Money didn’t deliver on any of these things.
Also, Mark questions the authenticity of his coin and has contacted two firms to check if it’s a gold coin or not. He says that the coin was not worth CAD 2345.
Sprott Money Takes Too Long to Process Transactions
William says that Sprott Money doesn’t have sufficient staff to handle its client load. Also, their administrative processes aren’t well-defined and the forms aren’t user-friendly at all.
He points out that there aren’t any guidelines or specifications on how to fill those forms out.
William was due a 5-digit payment and it took the business full 5 business days to process it. He says that it was a huge waste of his time and money as this company tries to hang on to its clients’ money as long as it could.
Sprott Money Reviews By Employees:
Several employees of Sprott Money have also shared their discontentment with the way this company works.
They complain that the company offers terrible pay and there is no room for growth. In other words, you’re stuck with low pay for a long time if you work at Sprott Money.
Here are some of those Sprott Money reviews:
Sprott Money: Conclusion
Sprott Money has several issues you simply can’t ignore. First, they use unethical marketing tactics to mislead consumers into trusting them. Furthermore, the Canadian bullion dealer has received complaints for delivering damaged products and taking too long to send a client his money.
These aren’t small problems. Hence, it would be better to find a different bullion dealer who truly cares about their clients.
Ordered a gold coin from Sprott Money a few months ago.
It had a HUGE scratch. When I complained, they didn’t respond. I tried to contact them multiple times but they ignored me. They are not worth your money people, stay away from Sprott Money.
Sprott is using his brand name to sell nonsensical products at horrible price points. Sprott Money has some of the worst rates I have seen in the market.
Don’t buy from them.
My experience with Sprott Money was horrible. They shipped me the wrong product and when I complained, they claimed that I was lying. Now, why would I lie about getting the wrong product huh?
The drama went on for days and then, they just stopped replying. That’s it. They didn’t even try to do right by a customer. Sprott Money only cares about itself, not about its clients.
Thank you for this review. Very helpful.