Program Highlight:
Discount Caskets Online

Wal-Mart has started selling caskets on its website at prices that undercut many funeral homes, long the major seller of caskets. The move follows a similar one by discount rival Costco, which also sells caskets on its site. The move may raise awareness of the fact that there are numerous companies selling discounted caskets online, including Overstock.com. Federal law requires funeral homes to accept third-party caskets.

Wal-Mart recently quietly put up about 15 caskets and dozens of urns on its website. All caskets on the site range in price from $999 to $2,000, except for the Sienna Bronze Casket, which sells for $3,199. Caskets ship within 48 hours. Walmart.com is allowing people to pay for the caskets over a period of 12 months for no interest.

Wal-Mart’s caskets come from Star Legacy Funeral Network Inc., a company based in McHenry, Ill., that sells the same caskets for about the same price on its site, along with many others.

The move gives more power to consumers and helps them avoid high mark-ups on caskets, which can often be several hundred percent, said R. Brian Burkhardt, a funeral director who blogs as “Your Funeral Guy.’’

-Adapted from: “Wal-Mart starts selling caskets online” By Associated Press, The Boston Globe, October 29, 2009, http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/10/29/wal_mart_starts_selling_caskets_online/ retrieved 11/2/09.

 

11/09