Am I getting hosed on gold IRA storage fees or is this the new normal?

• •Okay, so I’ve been building out my precious metals allocation within my IRA for a few years now.
• •But I just got my latest statement from my custodian, and the storage fee seems to have really jumped.
• •I’m with a well-known outfit, not going to name names here, but they’re one of the bigger players in the space.

Okay, so I’ve been building out my precious metals allocation within my IRA for a few years now. Started with a good chunk back in 2020 when things were looking a little… frothy, to say the least, and then added another tranche last year when I felt the market was still underpricing geopolitical risk. Up until recently, I really hadn't scrutinized the fees too much – it’s a relatively small percentage of the overall portfolio, maybe 5-7% of my 8-figure book, and frankly, I was more focused on the macro. But I just got my latest statement from my custodian, and the storage fee seems to have really jumped.

I’m with a well-known outfit, not going to name names here, but they’re one of the bigger players in the space. They use Delaware Depository for physical storage. My current annual fee is around 0.18% of the total value of the metals held. It used to be closer to 0.12-0.15% just 18 months ago. I know inflation is a thing, and operational costs are up across the board, but a 50% jump in storage fees in less than two years feels a bit steep, especially for what are essentially vault services. I'm holding a mix of Eagles and Maples, mostly 1oz coins, nothing overly exotic that would complicate storage.

Is anyone else seeing similar increases with their Gold IRA custodians or storage providers? I’m based in Greenwich, and a lot of us out here have some allocation to physical, so I’m genuinely curious if this is standard across the industry now, or if I should be calling my advisor to negotiate. I mean, we're talking about an additional few thousand a year for something that feels like a commodity service. I'm not going to lose sleep over it, but principle, right? I'd appreciate any insights or if anyone has successfully pushed back on these kinds of increases. What are you guys paying, percentage-wise?