Buying a Casket Online Instead of from the Funeral Home

Your Legal Right to Buy a Casket Anywhere

Under the FTC Funeral Rule, you can purchase a casket from any retailer — online, at a warehouse store, from a local craftsperson — and have it delivered directly to the funeral home. The funeral home must accept it. They cannot refuse to handle it or charge a handling fee for using a casket they didn't sell.

This protection has been federal law since 1984. It's one of the clearest consumer rights in the death care industry, and one of the least understood.

Why It Saves Thousands

Funeral home casket markups are typically 300% to 500% over wholesale. A metal casket that costs a funeral home $800 from its distributor may carry a showroom price of $3,500. The same model — or a nearly identical one from the same manufacturer — sells online for $900 to $1,500 with free shipping.

On average, families who buy caskets from third-party sellers save $1,000 to $3,000 compared to the funeral home's price for a similar product. That's a significant portion of the total funeral cost.

The savings are largest on traditional metal and hardwood caskets. For simple, unfinished wood or cloth-covered fiberboard containers (used for direct burial or cremation), the price gap is smaller — these are already inexpensive regardless of where you buy them.

How the Process Works

Step 1: Get the funeral home's General Price List. Before discussing casket options with the funeral home, request their GPL. This gives you the baseline to compare against online prices.

Step 2: Choose a casket online. Major online retailers carry the same casket models as funeral homes — 18-gauge steel, 20-gauge steel, solid wood, veneer — with detailed specifications, photos, and customer reviews. Most offer 24-hour delivery.

Step 3: Arrange delivery. The retailer ships the casket directly to the funeral home's receiving area. You'll need the funeral home's address and a delivery window. Most online sellers coordinate this for you.

Step 4: Confirm receipt. The funeral home accepts the delivery and uses the casket for the service, burial, or both. They proceed exactly as they would with a casket from their own inventory.

The only timing constraint is that the casket needs to arrive before the scheduled viewing or service. If you're planning a direct burial or direct cremation with no viewing, timing is even more flexible.

What Funeral Homes Can and Can't Do

They can't refuse your casket. The Funeral Rule is explicit: funeral providers may not refuse to handle a casket furnished by the consumer, whether purchased from a third-party retailer or otherwise.

They can't charge a handling or receiving fee. No surcharge for accepting, moving, storing, or using a casket you didn't buy from them.

They can't require you to be present for delivery. Some funeral homes have tried to insist the family must sign for the casket in person. There's no legal basis for this requirement.

They can give you attitude about it. Some funeral directors make passive-aggressive comments about third-party caskets — implying inferior quality, suggesting liability issues, or warning about "problems" with outside merchandise. This is a sales tactic, not a legal concern. The casket meets the same industry standards regardless of where you bought it.

They can sell you their services separately. The casket purchase is independent from the service fees. You still pay the funeral home for their basic services, transportation, embalming (if you choose it), facility use, and any other line items you select.

Alternative Containers for Cremation

If the body is going directly to the crematory with no viewing, you don't need a casket at all. Funeral providers offering direct cremation must make alternative containers available under the FTC Funeral Rule — cardboard, pressed wood, or unfinished fiberboard options typically cost $50 to $200.

Some funeral homes will try to sell a "cremation casket" for $500 to $1,500. Unless you're having an open-casket viewing before the cremation, this is an unnecessary expense. Ask specifically about the alternative container option.

Practical Considerations

Shipping damage. Caskets are large, heavy items shipped via freight carrier. Damage is rare but possible. Buy from a retailer that offers a replacement guarantee and inspect the casket (or have the funeral home inspect it) upon delivery.

Sizing. Standard caskets are 24 inches wide interior. Oversized caskets (28 inches and up) are available online but the selection may be more limited. Confirm the interior dimensions match the deceased's needs before ordering.

Returns. Most online casket retailers accept returns if the casket is unused and in original packaging. Once it's been used for a viewing or service, it's not returnable — same as a funeral home purchase.

For a complete breakdown of how to compare funeral home pricing, exercise your FTC Funeral Rule rights, and identify where the real savings are in the arrangement process, the Choosing Between Burial, Cremation & Alternatives toolkit includes a vendor price comparison sheet and an FTC Funeral Rule rights checklist you can bring to the arrangement meeting.