You are allowed to provide your own burial container – it isn’t necessary to purchase one from a funeral home. Funeral homes can’t stop you from buying a casket elsewhere, so they will sometimes go to great lengths to persuade you to buy from them – for a much higher price (the average markup on a casket can range from 300-500%!). But you can save hundreds of dollars by doing a little research first. There are lots of alternative places to buy caskets, even online (this is, after all, the 21st century!). Casket wholesalers such as FuneralBiz.com or DirectCasket.com offer sizeable discounts and charge little or no shipping costs. You can also usually get a bargain on a casket through local retailers who sell them; for a link to a national casket store directory, see the end of this article. And if you’re handy with the tools, and don’t mind a little hard work (and the task itself doesn’t thoroughly creep you out), you can always make your own casket! Many web retailers offer plans – even handyman Bob Vila of This Old House fame peddles casket plans on his site, BobVila.com.
If you do decide to buy a casket from a funeral provider, be prepared for a sales pitch. After all, like any retailer, they’re trying to sell you something – and get the most money from you that they can. Beware of offers such as “sealer” caskets that many funeral providers tout as “top of the line.” Such so-called “sealers” are said to protect and preserve the body, but often do just the opposite. This excerpt from Lisa Carlson’s book, Caring for the Dead: Your Final Act of Love, tells of a lawsuit against the Batesville Casket Company for this type of casket:
Barbara Osborne had no reservations about spending $4,000 for Daddy's “protective” copper casket. Two months later when she went to place flowers for Father's Day—the casket was “stinking to high heaven.” Batesville took four months to respond. A video of the rotting flesh confirmed Barbara's worst fears.
“Protective,” says the Batesville guarantee that Barbara was given. The Batesville website goes even further: “The urge to keep our loved ones protected and safe is fundamental to all of us. No wonder so many families are comforted by the ability to protect their loved ones with the Batesville Monoseal protective casket.” It's going to keep out air, water, and other elements, we're told.
The dictionary definition of protection is “to keep from harm.” Yes, the gasketed casket may keep out any bugs that didn't accidentally get closed inside in the first place, but Batesville doesn't bother to reveal that—by keeping air out—a sealed casket (in anything but the most frigid weather) becomes a slow cooker that will turn the body into a smelly stew.
The bottom line: caskets are caskets are caskets, and no matter what bells and whistles are attached, none of them are going to keep a body looking lifelike for long. All bodies decompose to some degree, regardless of how “well-sealed” they may be. Don’t feel guilty about not buying a special casket, because it won’t do any more to protect your loved one (or yourself, as the case may be) than a standard, no-frills model will.