If you have concerns about pre-purchasing a casket or pre-planning your funeral, you are not alone. Most people who consider planning ahead have concerns about how their money will be kept safe. They wonder about changing their mind and if all the costs will be covered at the time of need. These are all concerns that you should get answers to before you start pre-planning your funeral. But did you know that online casket pre-purchasing is safer than traditional pre-planning?
If you want to be prepared, here are 6 reasons why you should pre-purchase a casket online.
1) You Can Get a Better Price
The main reason to buy a casket online is because it is more affordable than buying a casket from a funeral home. Whether you are pre-purchasing or purchasing at the time of need, it is true across the board that you can get a better price online than at a funeral home. The primary reason behind this is because online retailers like Overnight Caskets do not have as much overhead as funeral homes. This means they do not have to markup casket prices exorbitantly to turn a profit. Online retailers buy directly from the manufacturer, so you still get a high-quality casket, just for a more reasonable price.
Everyone likes saving money. Whether you are bargaining down the price of a new car or using coupons at the store. It is never a bad idea to save where you can.
Let’s look at the numbers. Overnight Caskets offers quality-made caskets that range from $850 to $3,200, with most caskets costing between $1,200 and $1,550. When you view a funeral home’s price list, their caskets usually range from $2,350 to $6,600. This is for a casket of the same material, design, and color. The most affordable option at a funeral home is to rent a casket. It costs between $650 and $900, depending on your area. This option is only for those who want a viewing then cremation. Doesn’t it seem easier and cheaper to just buy a casket online and skip all the fuss?
Overnight Caskets even offers free standard shipping to most states. All you need to pay for is the cost of the casket and the tax when you checkout online. There are no hidden fees, strange add-ons, or loopholes that require you to pay more.
If you want to be prepared and spare your family from the turmoil of planning a funeral, consider online casket pre-purchasing to get the best deal.
2) When You Pre-Purchase a Casket Online, You Can Get All the Information Before You Commit
Used car dealerships – and even new dealerships for that matter – get a reputation of being unpleasant, anxiety-provoking, and dodgy. Everyone dreads the haggling, negotiating, trickster tactics, and surprise expenses that come with buying a car. Buying a casket at a funeral home equally frustrating. Salespeople are shameless about steering you towards things that are out of your budget and going full-on guilt trip.
The FTC Funeral Rule states that funeral homes must provide a written price list upon request; however, most people shopping for a casket don’t know that they have the right to receive a written price list. This leads many people to be overcharged and steered toward paying for packages that they don’t really want.
When you begin the process of online casket pre-purchasing, you will probably notice that it is much easier to make a smart financial choice. This is because you get all the information up front. Right away, you know what the cost will be and what you need to pay in taxes at checkout. If you have any concerns about shipping, it is easy to contact Overnight Caskets to receive straight forward answers backed by honest explanations.
Pre-purchasing a casket online also allows you to take your time to do research. There are no pushy sales people trying to make their quota or rushing you to make a decision. When you pre-purchase online, you can do so in the comfort of your own home and at your own pace. Feel free to compare prices, Google terms that you aren’t familiar with, and take a look at your budget as you go.
3) You Can Change Your Mind As Much As You Want
Let’s say you decide to pre-purchase a casket online; the casket you initially pre-purchased is solid mahogany with an almond velvet interior. A few months later, you watch a documentary on burials and caskets. You learn that metal gasket caskets seal in order to provide better protection from the elements. Having a casket that seals is very important to you. Now you change your mind and want to swap your mahogany casket for a sealing metal casket.
Alternatively, maybe you decided that you want to be cremated instead. If you previously pre-purchased a metal casket, it isn’t safe for cremation. Now you will need to swap it out for a suitable wood casket.
When you do online casket pre-purchasing with Overnight Caskets, it is okay to change your mind! Simply contact Overnight Caskets and notify the sales team of your decision. If you already paid for the original casket, you can easily swap it out for a casket of the same price. When you switch to a cheaper casket, you will get a refund check in the mail. If the new casket costs more than the original one, then you will need to make up the difference.
As your life changes, your pre-planning should change too. For example, you may convert to a new religion, decide to live a minimal waste life, come into money, or change or lifestyle. It is easy for your funeral plans to keep up when you pre-purchase a casket online.
4) With Online Casket Pre-Purchasing, There is Less Risk of The Company Going Out Of Business or Being Sold
If you live in a bustling city, you may notice that a lot of the businesses you grew up with aren’t there anymore. The candy store on the corner has been replaced with a jewelry store. The skate park and rec center has been bulldozed to make room for high-rise condos. Even the restaurant where you went on a first date has been turned into a hipster IPA bar. And the local funeral home that handled the funerals of your grandfather and his grandfather before him? It also got knocked down and turned into apartments.
The risk of every brick-and-mortar business is the looming possibility of going out of business. Changes to the economy, global pandemics, gentrification, and raising rent prices make it harder and harder for business to stay afloat.
Now more than ever, there is a huge risk that, if you pre-purchase a casket with the local funeral home, they will go out of business and take your money with them. Another concern is if new owners buy the funeral home and will not honor the pre-need agreement.
This is why it is significantly safer to pre-purchase a casket with an online retailer. Businesses like Overnight Caskets do not face the same economic stressors as brick-and-mortar stores, so they are much less likely to go out of business. This means that your money will be kept safe and you can rest comfortably knowing that your casket is ready for you when the time comes – whether it is 20, 30, or 40 years down the line.
On the off chance that Overnight Caskets does get sold or goes out of business, the contract will be transferred to the new owners. They will see to it that you get the casket you paid for. Alternatively, if the contract cannot be fulfilled for any reason, Overnight Caskets will mail you a check to return your investment to you.
5) Your Family Will Not Need To Worry About Paying Extra Costs At the Time of Need
There is a scenario that many families commonly run into:
- A family member pre-plans with a local funeral home and tells everyone that they already paid for everything.
- When the time comes, the family contacts the funeral home to notify them of the loss.
- The funeral home announces that the family needs to pay an extra few thousand dollars on the package that their loved one already paid for.
- The family still has to fork over their hard-earned money and go through the financial and emotional stress of putting together a funeral.
If that sounds familiar, it happens all too often to families. Most funeral homes will claim that inflation has made their prices go up, so the family has to make up the difference. The whole point of pre-purchasing a casket is to ensure that your family will not have to pay for it themselves. It will also spare them from the agony of shopping for a casket while in the throes of grief
In comparison, when you pre-purchase a casket online with Overnight Caskets, your family will never have to pay more to account for inflation. This is because, when you pre-purchase your casket online, you lock in a price before inflation. No matter how much prices increase over the next few decades, you pay the same price as the day you selected your casket.
6) With Online Casket Pre-Purchasing, Your Money is Kept Safe Until the Time of Need
After you pre-purchase a casket with Overnight Caskets, your money is placed in a secure trust account. It cannot be touched until the time of need when your casket is shipped out. If you want to select a different casket or cancel your order, the money will be there waiting for you. You can easily cancel any pre-purchases up until the day that we ship the casket. However, please note that you may need to pay a 30% cancellation fee depending on the timeline of the cancellation.
If you have questions about this safe trust account for your money, contact Overnight Caskets to learn more.
Are You Ready To Pre-Purchase a Casket Online?
Whether you have been considering pre-planning for a long time or have recently started thinking about it, there is no bad time to start planning ahead. If you are ready to start the process of online casket pre-purchasing, you can begin by browsing the online catalog or consulting the FAQ to learn more.
Pre-purchasing your own casket is a lot to think about, so take your time to do research and ask questions. For more information about online casket pre-purchasing, check out these helpful resources:
The Funeral Pre-Planning Guide: Everything You Need to Know