Traditionally, caskets are purchased at the funeral home you decide to use for the services. More recently, other options have arisen. Retail casket stores and online stores, as well as wholesalers such as COSCO all offer caskets. Different options have their pros and cons.
Funeral homes offer the most convenient and straightforward option. You can see them for yourself, and include them in the total purchase of your casket. Do not underestimate the value of seeing the casket in person. Funeral homes are also the most expensive option. Traditionally, fees for funeral services were meant to cover overhead costs, and were minimized to keep competitive with other funeral homes. Casket sales represent the profit margin for funeral homes. As such, they usually are not the cheapest option, but that does not mean that they are always the most expensive. In fact, they still could be the best, depending on your options and your needs.
Retail casket stores are most common in large cities. They usually offer discounted rates and you can see them in person. However, most funeral homes in those areas have responded by offering discounts on their service fees only if you buy a casket from them.
Wholesalers offer inexpensive caskets, but usually from a less trusted company. Many times you cannot see them in person.
Online retailers will not let you see them in person; you have to make a judgment based on a very small picture and a short description.
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