Custodian Fees - Are These Normal??

• •I’ve been doing my yearly portfolio review, and man, these custodian fees are starting to chafe a bit.
• •On top of that, there’s a storage fee that works out to another $150.
• •So, I’m looking at $400 a year just to hold onto my shiny assets.

I’ve been doing my yearly portfolio review, and man, these custodian fees are starting to chafe a bit. I’ve currently got around $180k in my Gold IRA spread across a few different precious metals (mostly coins, some bars) and my current custodian charges me an flat $250 annual fee. On top of that, there’s a storage fee that works out to another $150. So, I’m looking at $400 a year just to hold onto my shiny assets. Is this pretty standard folks?

I remember when I first set this up a few years ago (around 2020), I was so focused on getting the right allocation and understanding the tax implications – being an accountant, that was huge for me – that I didn't deep dive into the custodian fees as much as I probably should have. Now, with inflation ticking up and every dollar feeling more precious, I'm second-guessing. I'm based in Atlanta, and I see a lot of local setups, but I'm thinking of looking nationally for better rates.

Has anyone ever tried negotiating these fees? Or even switched custodians to get a better deal? I’m trying to figure out if this is just the cost of doing business in a precious metals IRA or if there are more competitive options out there. I’m especially interested in hearing from anyone with similar portfolio sizes. I’ve been digging through different company websites, but sometimes the fee structures are so opaque it’s infuriating.

I’ve found some really good info on general IRA rules in the Learning Center, which was super helpful when I was first setting things up, but I’m looking for more real-world experiences on custodian fee comparisons. Any insights or recommendations on custodians with transparent and reasonable fee structures would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!