Funerals: Get Smart about Prices

I'll admit that gathering information about funeral prices is harder than it should be. In addition, funeral homes and cemeteries are subject to different requirements when it comes to providing you with information about their prices and options.

Funeral prices are not set in stone

If you only take away one thing from this article it should be this: funeral prices can vary greatly from one funeral home to the next. This means a funeral service at one funeral home can cost thousands of dollars more than a similar service held at another funeral home right down the street….so it pays to shop around!

Why most people don't compare funeral prices

Unfortunately, most people do not compare prices between funeral homes. This is understandable for a couple of reasons:

We don’t like to talk about or plan for death

Funeral plans often need to be made quickly - this can be especially burdensome when the death was unexpected

Most people simply do not know enough about funeral planning to even know what questions to ask or what items to compare

No one wants to be perceived as being cheap when it comes to making funeral arrangements for a loved one

However, you should approach the process of buying funeral goods and services just like you would any other major purchase - take the time to educate yourself as to the options and prices available in the marketplace.

Unfortunately, many funeral homes and cemeteries are reluctant to share their prices with you unless you use specific language when making your request. They know they stand a much better chance of selling you an expensive funeral if they can first get you into their office before providing any information about funeral costs.

The good news is that there are specific things you can say that will force the funeral home to give you their price information for FREE....and no funeral home would ever dare give you a sales pitch when you use this specific language.

There's an easy way to gather information about funeral prices

The best advice I can give you when it comes to collecting funeral price information is this: DON’T be afraid to pick up the phone and call it least three funeral homes in your area and ask them for a copy of their “general price list”.

Each funeral home’s general price list will describe services and merchandise in similar terms. This makes it easy to compare relative prices between competing funeral homes. Also, if a funeral home gives you a hard time about giving you information about their prices, forget them. That’s a good clue they know their prices will not compare favorably to their competitors.

If you would like to save money the next time you need to make funeral arrangements, you can search and compare local funeral home pricing at Parting.com.