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Casket shopping? Try Wal-Mart
The retail behemoth follows Costco's lead by offering a selection of caskets and urns online.
Don't look for them on the shelves of your local Wal-Mart store, but Walmart.com is now selling caskets and urns at bargain prices online.
The Associated Press reports that Wal-Mart quietly added these items to its huge online selection last week. And it noted that Costco has been selling caskets and urns online as well. Who knew?
- Bing: Celebrity deaths in 2009
This is great news, we think, because the exorbitant prices charged by funeral homes have been one of our pet peeves for decades. Funeral homes are required by law to accept a casket you buy elsewhere -- and can't charge you extra if you do.
No pine boxes at Walmart.com, but you can go for a steal on stainless steel for $895 (it's made in the U.S.) and only one of the caskets listed there sells for more than $2,000. Wal-Mart's caskets come from Star Legacy Funeral Network Inc., which sells caskets at its own Web site. Costco has comparable prices.
How much is shipping? Wal-Mart's site doesn't make that immediately clear, but Cheryl Phillips wrote at HULIQ.com, "It seems a bit final to press the 'Add to Cart' button but it's the only way to find out how much shipping is. Average shipping for a Wal-Mart casket is $99."
This latest Wal-Mart venture has produced lots of snarky comments online. For instance: "Would you rest the soul of a loved one with a product purchased from Wal-Mart?" a blogger wrote at The Huffington Post.
Why not, if we wanted to be buried for a dirt nap? But we'd rather be cremated, so we looked at the urns. Between Wal-Mart and Costco, the selection was pretty impressive, including a biodegradable model at Walmart.com for $69.99. There's also an nice selection of pet urns.
One more thing: If you order one of these products online, the only way you can return it is if it was damaged during shipping.
Related reading:
Hi,
I DO NOT FEEL THAT IT IS FAIR FOR THE FUNERAL HOMES TO COMPETE WITH THIS STORE, WHEN IT COMES TO THERE PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE IN THE FUNERAL BUSINESS. WHAT COULD THEY TELL A CUSTOMER ABOUT THE CASKET HE/SHE CHOOSES? IS IT AN 18GUAGE STEEL OR A 16GUAGE? OR IS A MAHAGONY OR A HARD WOOD OR A CHEERY OK? WHAT IS THE ALLOY AND STEEL CONTENT OF THE CASKET? IS IT A SEALER OR A NON SEALER? FOR WHAT I COULD SEE THIS IS GOING TO HIT THE CASKET COMPANIES VERY HARD, BECAUSE INSTEAD OF THE CLIENTS GOING TO THE FUNERAL HOMES TO MAKE A FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS WHICH WILL INCLUDE THE CASKET THEY ARE GOING TO FIND THEMSELVES ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DIFFERENT PRICES OF CASKETS FROM THE STORE NAMED
WHICH IS NOT FAIR TO THE CASKET COMPANIES OR THE FUNERAL HOMES.
Ok... This is sick. Wal-Mart is selling caskets, so I guess they want profit from everything including death.
So now we can "Save Money. Live and Die Better" instead of saving money and living better......
The sad, glad story of Gail & Dale,
Celebrating life on Whiskey & Ale, 
They stopped lifting glasses,
Cause they both needed caskets,
At the same time that...
Wal-Mart advertised a B1/G1 Price Blast-It! 
Okay, so we can get a casket from WM now - What's next, hold the funeral in the produce section of the store with a employee that they pay a min. wage to and they won't give enough hours to them to qualify for medical insurance?
Give me a break, I wouldn't set foot in the store while I was living. I don't want them to make any money from my death.
I wish WM would just go away.
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