Once upon an October dreary
Came a promotion oh so clearly
Walmart used the web to sell its caskets
All the better to enlarge its market basket...
That’s right. Walmart.com has begun selling caskets, offering them for between $999 and $3,199, though most of the 15 models available are priced under $2,000 - in some cases significantly below the prices charged by funeral homes.
The move is similar to one made by Costco.com several years ago.
Came a promotion oh so clearly
Walmart used the web to sell its caskets
All the better to enlarge its market basket...
That’s right. Walmart.com has begun selling caskets, offering them for between $999 and $3,199, though most of the 15 models available are priced under $2,000 - in some cases significantly below the prices charged by funeral homes.
The move is similar to one made by Costco.com several years ago.
- KC's View:
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The only problem with this program is that federal law inexplicably requires that caskets bought on the open market have to be shipped to funeral homes. Too bad...especially at this time of year, when you’d think that at least some folks might be willing to invest in an over-the-top Halloween decoration that little kids looking for candy are likely to remember.
I have the same reaction to this that I did when Costco made its foray into caskets a few years ago. Conventional wisdom says that funeral homes often are able to make a pretty good profit off the bereaved since they aren’t in any emotional state to make rational judgements ...so any common sense - or pricing pressure - that retailers like Walmart or Costco can bring to the process seems like a good thing.
Not that I’ll ever need. Once I’m gone, they should strip me down for parts, cremate the rest, scatter the ashes, and then have a really, really good party.
