FAQ

Question: What is the purpose of a casket?

Answer: Reduced to most practical terms, a casket is simply a container designed to hold the remains of the deceased. Caskets protect the dignity of the deceased and provide a beautiful way to have your loved one’s remains on display during a funeral or memorial services. In early days, the casket (or coffin) was primarily functional. Over time, the tradition of purchasing a casket based on design has grown as a way to honor the person who will be protected by the casket.

Question: How much does a casket cost?

Answer: Casket costs vary widely. A simple casket may be as low as a $1,000. Fully customized high-end models can go as high as tens of thousands of dollars. Fortunately, there is a wide range of options in all price ranges. This means you can easily find a beautiful casket to suit any taste and budget.

Question: Why are caskets so expensive?

Answer: The cost of a casket is determined primarily by what it is made of. Pricing is not unlike that of fine furniture. For example, caskets made of rare hardwoods such a mahogany will be more expensive that those made of common, readily available woods such as pine. High-end bronze models will be more expensive than those of stainless steel. The amount and type of ornamentation will also be a factor in the price. Customization and personalization can also add to the cost of the casket. The mark-up for caskets varies as widely as the prices. While it may be difficult to shop around, it is possible to save money by comparing prices. Funeral homes tend to have the highest mark-ups followed by retail showrooms. Online providers normally have the lowest pricing.

Question: Do I have to buy my casket from the funeral home?

Answer: No. You do not have to purchase your casket from the funeral home. The Funeral Rule, a law designed to protect consumers, specifies that your funeral home is required to accept a casket from a third party seller.

Question: Why are your caskets priced so much lower than at the funeral home?

Answer: We get our inventory from an independent manufacturer. We also do not have the high overhead of a funeral home, therefore we are able to offer supreme discounts on our products.

Question: Can you guarantee the quality of the casket?

Answer: Yes, we at Discount Caskets go through an extensive quality control process at the factory to ensure our caskets are of the highest quality. We offer a return or exchange policy if you are not satisfied with the casket. Please refer to our return policy.

Question: How come the funeral home recommends buying the casket from them?

Answer: Funeral homes do not want you to purchase anything related to a funeral elsewhere because it takes business away from them. However, with the growing number of customers exploring the option of online casket purchasing, the “steering” of a customer to funeral home provided funeral necessities has reduced over the past couple years.

Question: Where can I find Funeral Rules and Regulations?

Answer: You can find the Rules and Regulations by clicking HERE.

Question: How quickly can you deliver a casket to me?

Answer: We can usually get a casket delivered to you within 1-2 days from anywhere in the United States. We use all major airports to deliver the casket directly to the funeral home door, or your personal residence. If you’re located near one of our major warehouses, we can personally deliver the same day or next day.

Question: Do you have a specific casket that I saw at the funeral home?

Answer: There are 200 casket suppliers in the USA. All are made the same way. The only quality difference between them is our most popular casket which is our 18 gauge steel and all wood caskets have the thicker more expensive velvet lining. We also finish out the caskets on the foot end with velvet and if you open the foot end of a funeral home casket you will see bare cardboard. They don’t even bother to finish them out. Why not buy from the wholesale distributor, us, and cut out the funeral home. Again, we show you over 300 models and the funeral home shows you 7 or 8. We always have every model that they have, so it comes down to paying us $1095 and get it next day or buy from the pictures at the funeral home for $5000 and get it next day.

Question: What is the basic procedure to buy a casket from you?

Answer: Order online or call us to order over the phone. Once you know what casket you want, the order process only takes about 5-10 minutes.

Question: What payments do you accept?

Answer: We accept all major credit or creit cards including Master Card, Visa, Discover and American Express. We also accept Paypal & Cash App. If you’d prefer to do a wire transfer from your bank, that can be accommodated as well – please contact us. For those wanting to pay cash, please contact us for more details. You can also send us cashier checks by mail or express overnight. Call us for more information on how to send money by Western Union or our bank wire information.

Question: How is the casket protected from shipping damage when you order from us?

Answer: The casket is shipped in one of two special cargo compartments under the commercial passenger airplanes (typically American, Delta or United) apart from the other luggage. There is a thin layer of Styrofoam, followed by a layer of bubble wrap. Over that are placed large blocks of hard Styrofoam which provide most of the support as well as 5″ thick styrofoam caps over both ends. Over that is a double-walled cardboard box and then another double-walled box over that.There is roughly 3-5 inches between the outer box and the inner casket so if the box is ruffled on the outside, the casket will not be scratched or dented 3-5 inches below the box surface. After it gets to the airport the courier typically picks up your casket and delivers it directly to the funeral home in a van. We will email you or text you to notify you that the casket has been delivered.


Question: Should I mention to the funeral home that I will be buying a casket from you?

Answer: It is best to get the pricing before your loved one passes. If that is not possible, then it is best to send someone in they do not recognize to get the pricing. Basically you approach them saying 1) You do not have much money, no insurance, you are the only one paying and you don’t have any choice but to choose a funeral home that gives you the best pricing. 2) You do not live that close (3-4 miles away if lots of funeral homes around and 10-15 miles away if there are only 1 or 2 funeral homes around. So in summary, I am shopping, shopping, shopping, I don’t live close and this is all out of pocket and I am the only one paying. I am getting some help because my aunt has already purchased a casket so I am only shopping for the funeral and burial services. You will want to buy the casket from us because we have 650 models to choose from with an average price of $850 to $1,095. The funeral home is $2,000 to $5,000 for similar caskets and they will only show you 7-8 to pick from.

Question: What is the difference between a half couch and full couch casket?

Answer: We sell 93% half couch caskets and 7% full couch caskets. With half couch caskets, both halves independently open up but during viewing or visitation, only the left half is opened up to display the upper part of your loved one. With full couch caskets, the top is just one piece and the full length of your loved one is viewed during visitation. With the full couch casket, often they come with a foot panel that is removable and covers the lower part of your loved one. Sometimes a blanket is used to cover part of your loved one. The funeral homes usually do not have any and often have to buy from us.

Question: Do you ship to Alaska and Hawaii?

Answer: We ship to Hawaii, but only Honolulu. We also ship to Alaska and have our own associate in Alaska to help. Shipping will cost more, but the procedure is the same.

Question: How do I know if I'll need an oversized casket?

Answer: Caskets come in different widths. If a man is less than 240 pounds or a woman is less than 200 pounds they will usually fit in a standard 24″ or 23.5″ inside width. We have other caskets that are 25.5″, 26″, 27.5″ and 28″ wide inside which also fit in a standard vault. We have larger inside widths of 29.5″, 31.5″, 33.5″, 35.5″, 38.5″ and 42.5″ that require oversize vaults. If you get the 31.5 or larger often you have to get oversized plots or use two plots. Funeral homes don’t have have access to many oversized caskets and quite often buy from us.

Question: Will your regular sized and oversized caskets fit a standard sized vault?

Answer: All metal caskets that are 24″ to 28″ wide inside will fit in a standard vault. All wood caskets that are 23.5″ inside will fit in a standard vault. Larger caskets need an oversized vault. We have the largest selection of oversized caskets in the world with over 150 models. To see them, go to the oversize caskets tab on the top left side of the web site. Funeral homes hate it when they have to buy from us because we are the only one that has that particular size and color. 80% of all the caskets we sell are sold directly to the funeral homes.

Question: What is the difference between 18-gauge and 20-gauge caskets?

Answer: 18 Gauge is about 30% thicker metal than the 20 gauge caskets. Obviously the thicker caskets cost more. Your car is around 18-gauge metal. 20-gauge is about the thickness of your license plate. Our 18-gauge caskets weigh 210 pounds and our 20-gauge caskets weigh 170 pounds. We sell mostly the thicker 18-gauge. We are about $995-$1095 on 18ga and the funeral home is $3000 to $6000. Same caskets except ours have the nicer velvet lining that theirs do not have. When you lift up the right hand side of a funeral home casket, often it will not even be lined but rather have bare cardboard. This is one way to tell if a funeral home is buying the cheapest quality of casket they can buy which is often the case. Check for the lining material on the 18gauge steel caskets and check to see if they are finished out on the foot end or do they have bare cardboard. If the funeral home is going to cut corners on things you can easily see, can you imagine the corners they cut on things you can’t see on the casket.

Question: Will the funeral home store the casket for us?

Answer: By law, all funeral homes have to accept the casket if they have your loved one. It is rare that they will store the casket, before they have your loved one because they don’t want to help you in buying a casket elsewhere.



Question: How much extra is expedited shipping?

Answer: Please call for a quote.

Question: Do you offer financing?

Answer: We will soon offer financing options.


Question: The funeral home already has the body and they are charging me like they are the only funeral home around. What can I do?

Answer: The statistics say that the average funeral home in the USA does 50-100 funerals per year or approximately 1-2 per week. That one sale per week has to pay all the overhead and bills plus make a profit, so yes they are outrageous. Rural ones are $4500-$5000 and city or suburban ones are typically $6000 to $9,000 just for the funeral services plus the casket. The nicer funeral homes and especially the ones with attached cemeteries are usually $2000 to $3000 more than the small independent funeral homes. You can transfer from one funeral home to another and only pay a $495 transfer fee. If the competing funeral home shows no interest in picking up the body from the first funeral home, then possibly he is friends with them or have the same parent company. Go find another funeral home to transfer to. Often we can suggest a funeral home in your area.


Question: What about the Funeral Home's discount package?

Answer: The funeral home will charge you $6,000 to $15,000 for a typical funeral package. This includes a casket and funeral services. Usually their casket prices are 4x what ours are so it is always cheaper to buy the casket from us because we are a distributor and we sell to the funeral homes. Buy the funeral services from them. They are required to accept outside caskets and not charge anything to receive them. They are also required to give you a General Price List which is an individualized price sheet of all the funeral home caskets. If they do not give you an itemized list, you can report them to the Federal Trade Commission at 877-382-4357. See their web site for more details on the Funeral Rule here.

Question: Can you give me tips on how to save money on the burial?

Answer: It’s similar to shopping for the best funeral home. Visit cemeteries that are further away and explain that you are shopping for the best price. They are way “out of the way” but you would bury there if the price is right. Often cemeteries make you buy a vault or grave liner which is the box which goes into the ground first and the casket goes inside of that. You will also have to pay open and closing fees (dig a hole for the casket).