Caskets
When you go to the funeral home you will at one point or another have to confront the infamous casket room. It can sometimes feel a little daunting and creepy to walk into a room full of casket and pick out the one you like most.
When you enter the room you can expect the sales representative to hand you a casket price list and show you around the room. The lower-end caskets are most likely to be ugly and in odd colors like baby blue and pink. They do this on purpose to drive you to the higher-priced
caskets—do not be fooled. They do this because nobody wants an ugly casket, and nobody wants to feel cheap.
You may also notice that the funeral home stores it’s “less-than-glamorous” caskets in the warehouse or storage unit in the back of the home. This is done on purpose so that you have to walk to the “ugly” part of the home to look at the “ugly” caskets.
Probably one of the biggest markups and moneymakers in the death care industry are the caskets. It is not uncommon for funeral professionals to markup caskets 200%–400%! Caskets frequently cost 30%–50% of the
total funeral expenses and can cost as much as $35,000!
The following factors affect the quality and cost of caskets:
MaterialCaskets are made of two main materials: metal and wood. As a rule of thumb, the higher quality the material, the more money you will pay. For example, you will pay much more for the 48 oz. bronze metal casket than you will for the particleboard wood casket with cloth covering. One isn’t any better than the other; they are just made of different materials.
First, let’s talk about metal caskets. Metal caskets come in several different types of metals. The following list of metal caskets starts from most economical to most expensive (The higher quality the metal, the more you will spend.):
Since you can’t tell the difference by looking at the casket, and because people will not be knocking on the casket while your loved one is being displayed, you won’t have to worry about upgrading to the thicker 18 gauge casket.
There is no visual difference between the two materials. Pick the 20 gauge over the 18 gauge. It is usually about $200 less expensive and the only difference between the two is insignificant metal thickness.
Brand NameLike most consumer products, you will pay a premium for certain name brands. The clothing industry has designer companies who charge premium prices for their name. Even though there may be little to no difference between products, they still charge more. The casket industry is the same.
There is one casket company who charges between 10%–30% more just for their name. This company is Batesville, and they are the top of the line company when it comes to caskets. All things being equal, you will pay more for the Batesville name.
Avoid name brand caskets. Avoid paying the premium prices for designer type casket companies; you will save hundreds.
Speaking of brand name… how about making your own brand? There are multiple sites online that will sell you construction plans to teach you how to make your own casket. If you are a handy person and enjoy woodwork…
you may consider it. There are several online retailers who will sell you carpentry plans on how to make your own casket.
FeaturesWhen you are purchasing a car there are about two hundred different upgrades you can purchase to make the vehicle more comfortable. While there might not be as many upgrades as automobiles, caskets also come with
quite a few options to upgrade.
In this section we are going to talk about one in particular called protective seals. Look at the list of metal caskets previously mentioned in this section. On this list you may notice the words ‘non-sealing’ and ‘sealing’ on the gauged metals. A seal is a rubber lip the manufacturer fits on the casket lid to ‘prevent’ the elements from entering in the casket. It costs the manufacturer less than $15 but increases the cost of a casket by more than $100.
Many funeral professionals sell the sealed metal casket because it has implied resolvability. This means that people think this miracle seal will somehow preserve their loved one for a longer period of time. This assumption is 100% wrong, inaccurate, and illegal to imply. The seal does nothing! In fact, it isn’t even a continuous seal. It has breaks in it to make it easier to open the casket.
Don’t buy the protective seal on a metal casket. If available, purchase the non-sealed casket over the sealed casket. You will save about $100.
RetailersOnce, I was looking for a birthday gift for my daughter. I soon found the perfect gift at a local retail store, but being the savvy shopper that I am I decided to continue my search in hopes that I could find it at a discount price. Well two days later, I found the same gift for 40% less than the previous retailer. Why in the world would I pay the additional 40% when I could get it cheaper at the other place of business?
If you purchase a casket from the funeral home, chances are you are going to pay more for the casket than you would if you had purchased it from an outside retailer. Many times the mortuary will lead you to believe that you have to purchase the casket from them. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact by law, the funeral home must accept caskets bought from external companies, and they cannot charge you a handling fee. This is great for you because this gives you the liberty to shop around and find the best deal out there.
To help give you an idea of the savings you can find, let’s take a look at an example. There is a beautiful solid mahogany casket that you can purchase in any funeral home around the country. This casket retails for about $6,000. You can purchase this same casket through several online companies for less than $2,000! That is more than a $4,000 savings.
As a rule of thumb, the more expensive the casket, the more money you can save. From the above example, that $6,000 casket is a high-end casket; therefore, you can save a ton. On a low-end casket you can expect to save a couple hundred dollars.
Buy your casket from a discount casket store. Purchase the casket from an external source. There are multiple online casket stores that will sell you a casket at a fraction of the cost that you will pay at most funeral homes. Dont worry about shipping, it isn’t a problem because the stores deliver them to the mortuary of your choice within 24 hours.
When you enter the room you can expect the sales representative to hand you a casket price list and show you around the room. The lower-end caskets are most likely to be ugly and in odd colors like baby blue and pink. They do this on purpose to drive you to the higher-priced
caskets—do not be fooled. They do this because nobody wants an ugly casket, and nobody wants to feel cheap.
You may also notice that the funeral home stores it’s “less-than-glamorous” caskets in the warehouse or storage unit in the back of the home. This is done on purpose so that you have to walk to the “ugly” part of the home to look at the “ugly” caskets.
Probably one of the biggest markups and moneymakers in the death care industry are the caskets. It is not uncommon for funeral professionals to markup caskets 200%–400%! Caskets frequently cost 30%–50% of the
total funeral expenses and can cost as much as $35,000!
The following factors affect the quality and cost of caskets:
- Material
- Brand name
- Features
- Retailer
MaterialCaskets are made of two main materials: metal and wood. As a rule of thumb, the higher quality the material, the more money you will pay. For example, you will pay much more for the 48 oz. bronze metal casket than you will for the particleboard wood casket with cloth covering. One isn’t any better than the other; they are just made of different materials.
First, let’s talk about metal caskets. Metal caskets come in several different types of metals. The following list of metal caskets starts from most economical to most expensive (The higher quality the metal, the more you will spend.):
- 20 gauge metal (non sealing)
- 20 gauge metal (sealing)
- 18 gauge metal (non sealing)
- 18 gauge metal (sealing)
- Steel
- Copper
- 32 oz Bronze
- 48 oz Bronze
Since you can’t tell the difference by looking at the casket, and because people will not be knocking on the casket while your loved one is being displayed, you won’t have to worry about upgrading to the thicker 18 gauge casket.
There is no visual difference between the two materials. Pick the 20 gauge over the 18 gauge. It is usually about $200 less expensive and the only difference between the two is insignificant metal thickness.
Brand NameLike most consumer products, you will pay a premium for certain name brands. The clothing industry has designer companies who charge premium prices for their name. Even though there may be little to no difference between products, they still charge more. The casket industry is the same.
There is one casket company who charges between 10%–30% more just for their name. This company is Batesville, and they are the top of the line company when it comes to caskets. All things being equal, you will pay more for the Batesville name.
Avoid name brand caskets. Avoid paying the premium prices for designer type casket companies; you will save hundreds.
Speaking of brand name… how about making your own brand? There are multiple sites online that will sell you construction plans to teach you how to make your own casket. If you are a handy person and enjoy woodwork…
you may consider it. There are several online retailers who will sell you carpentry plans on how to make your own casket.
FeaturesWhen you are purchasing a car there are about two hundred different upgrades you can purchase to make the vehicle more comfortable. While there might not be as many upgrades as automobiles, caskets also come with
quite a few options to upgrade.
In this section we are going to talk about one in particular called protective seals. Look at the list of metal caskets previously mentioned in this section. On this list you may notice the words ‘non-sealing’ and ‘sealing’ on the gauged metals. A seal is a rubber lip the manufacturer fits on the casket lid to ‘prevent’ the elements from entering in the casket. It costs the manufacturer less than $15 but increases the cost of a casket by more than $100.
Many funeral professionals sell the sealed metal casket because it has implied resolvability. This means that people think this miracle seal will somehow preserve their loved one for a longer period of time. This assumption is 100% wrong, inaccurate, and illegal to imply. The seal does nothing! In fact, it isn’t even a continuous seal. It has breaks in it to make it easier to open the casket.
Don’t buy the protective seal on a metal casket. If available, purchase the non-sealed casket over the sealed casket. You will save about $100.
RetailersOnce, I was looking for a birthday gift for my daughter. I soon found the perfect gift at a local retail store, but being the savvy shopper that I am I decided to continue my search in hopes that I could find it at a discount price. Well two days later, I found the same gift for 40% less than the previous retailer. Why in the world would I pay the additional 40% when I could get it cheaper at the other place of business?
If you purchase a casket from the funeral home, chances are you are going to pay more for the casket than you would if you had purchased it from an outside retailer. Many times the mortuary will lead you to believe that you have to purchase the casket from them. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact by law, the funeral home must accept caskets bought from external companies, and they cannot charge you a handling fee. This is great for you because this gives you the liberty to shop around and find the best deal out there.
To help give you an idea of the savings you can find, let’s take a look at an example. There is a beautiful solid mahogany casket that you can purchase in any funeral home around the country. This casket retails for about $6,000. You can purchase this same casket through several online companies for less than $2,000! That is more than a $4,000 savings.
As a rule of thumb, the more expensive the casket, the more money you can save. From the above example, that $6,000 casket is a high-end casket; therefore, you can save a ton. On a low-end casket you can expect to save a couple hundred dollars.
Buy your casket from a discount casket store. Purchase the casket from an external source. There are multiple online casket stores that will sell you a casket at a fraction of the cost that you will pay at most funeral homes. Dont worry about shipping, it isn’t a problem because the stores deliver them to the mortuary of your choice within 24 hours.