Not the most pleasant subject but one that is often filled with huge mark-ups: funeral expenses. Walmart has begun selling caskets and urns online. Prices for caskets range from $1,000 to $3,200.

From an article in USA Today:

“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.”

“You can get a quality casket for $1,000 rather than pay $2,000, $3,000 or $5,000 in a funeral home. That’s where it helps the consumer,” he said.

Obviously, any time you’re in the process of purchasing a casket, it’s a pretty emotional time and I’ve heard horror stories about the high mark-ups on funeral expenses.

I came across an interesting comment in that USA Today article:

“Years ago a friend of mine who was an Industrial Engineer did a cost study at a large casket maker in Alabama. He found that the difference between their casket that retailed for about $800 and ones that retailed for over $5000 was less than $100 in materials. And the overall materials cost was less than $150. This was in the 1970s, but the opportunity to undercut funeral homes and even the Wal-Mart and Costco prices is still there. Incredible that anyone can profit so greatly on someone’s death, or would want to.”

You can read the full article here: Wal-Mart starts selling caskets, urns online