How We Review Gold Brokers

What we check first

The very first thing we check is whether a resident of South Africa can open, fund, and withdraw from the broker. If a broker does not accept South African clients, or if there is no practical way to move rand in and out, we do not rank it. This basic usability matters more than any feature.

We also look at the broker's regulatory licences, particularly whether an entity holds an FSCA licence in South Africa, but we remind readers to check which entity their own account is opened with. Then we examine the trading conditions for gold, such as spreads, leverage, and platform quality.

Where our numbers come from

Every number we quote comes from the broker's own documents, such as contract specifications, fee schedules, or terms of business. We record the date we read those documents, and we do not guess or rely on third-party summaries. For example, if a broker lists a spread for XAU/USD, we use that figure only if it is current on the date we checked.

We also test the broker's platform ourselves, using a demo account where possible, to see how orders are executed and how the interface feels. However, we do not run a live account with real money, so our experience is limited to what a demo can show.

Honest limits of our testing

We cannot test every possible scenario, and we do not have access to a broker's internal systems. Our review is a snapshot at a point in time, and conditions can change. We state the date of our check on each broker page so readers know how fresh the information is.

We also do not verify the broker's financial stability beyond what is publicly available, and we cannot predict how a broker will behave under extreme market conditions. Our ranking is an opinion based on the evidence we gathered, not a guarantee of quality or safety.