1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio, 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,800 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here in the United States, 3 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: the cost of a traditional funeral is between eight thousand 4 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:17,440 Speaker 1: and ten thousand dollars on average, and that doesn't include 5 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:20,200 Speaker 1: the price of the burial plot and other cemetery fees. 6 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: A casket alone runs two thousand, five hundred dollars on average, 7 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: making it the biggest single expense of saying goodbye to 8 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 1: a loved one. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 9 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:35,560 Speaker 1: the price of caskets has skyrocketed two over the past 10 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:39,560 Speaker 1: thirty years, outpacing the inflation rate for other consumer products 11 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:44,640 Speaker 1: by more than double So why exactly do caskets cost 12 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: so much? Is it simply the cost of materials or 13 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,280 Speaker 1: our funeral homes taking advantage of grieving customers who aren't 14 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:56,279 Speaker 1: emotionally prepared to shop around. What many people don't know 15 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: is that they don't have to buy a casket from 16 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: their funeral home. It's a federal law that funeral homes 17 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:05,399 Speaker 1: must accept all outside caskets, including ones they are bought 18 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,320 Speaker 1: online or from Costco for example. Before the article. This 19 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: episode is based on how Stuff Works. Spoke with both 20 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: a second generation funeral home director and the co founders 21 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:19,479 Speaker 1: of an online casket company aiming to disrupt the funeral industry. 22 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: Douglas Dutch Knee is the CEO and funeral director at 23 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: Knee Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services in ann Arbor, Michigan. 24 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: Knee and his six sisters grew up in a home 25 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:34,399 Speaker 1: above the family business, and he and his wife purchased 26 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:36,680 Speaker 1: the funeral home from N's parents in the year two 27 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 1: thousand and These own kids work there now too. When 28 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: it comes to the price of a casket, Nie says 29 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: that there are a lot of variables, which is why 30 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 1: he says he can offer families a no frills casket 31 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: for as low as nine hundred dollars to a high 32 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: end casket that runs six thousand or more. The biggest 33 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 1: differentiator is the material with which the casket is built. 34 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,639 Speaker 1: There are two main types of casket material, wood and metal. 35 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: Nie explained, with a wood casket, you can equate it 36 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 1: to furniture. A ma hagany, hickory, or walnut casket is 37 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: going to cost far more than pine or oak. For 38 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:15,799 Speaker 1: metal caskets, the US expensive models are made of twin 39 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,959 Speaker 1: e gauge steel, while the pricest are constructed from semi 40 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 1: precious metals like copper or bronze. For both wood and 41 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: metal caskets, the quality and details of the craftsmanship rounded 42 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:30,519 Speaker 1: corners instead of welded, for example, will also determine the price. 43 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: And then there are other considerations like the material inside 44 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: the casket. A crape interior is going to be less 45 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:42,239 Speaker 1: expensive than velvet. For military burial, the family might want 46 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 1: to customize the interior with an army or Navy seal. 47 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 1: All of this upgrades and details can add up. Knee 48 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,119 Speaker 1: insists that despite the high average cost of a casket, 49 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:56,240 Speaker 1: most funeral homes carry a range of caskets to meet 50 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: the budget of everyone in their community to make sure 51 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 1: that they have something for everyone. But there could be 52 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: other reasons why caskets have gotten so expensive. Josh Siegel 53 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: and Scott Ginsburg are co founders of Titan Casket, an 54 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 1: online casket retailer, and they argue that an outdated business 55 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: model they call it big Casket, is to blame for 56 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 1: the high price of most funeral home casket. It turns 57 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:25,800 Speaker 1: out the two large manufacturers, Batesville and Matthews, control of 58 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: the casket distribution in the US, as Siegel said, they 59 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: exclusively selled the funeral homes. Because of that structure, they 60 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 1: mark up their caskets three and that casket monopoly is 61 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: only one part of the problem, the Titan guys argue. 62 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: The other part is opportunistic markup. Ginsburg said, for the 63 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 1: most part, consumers in these situations don't shop. They go 64 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: to the same funeral home they've always gone to. It's 65 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: not right or wrong, it's just what people do. And 66 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: funeral directors understand people don't shop, which is why they 67 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,800 Speaker 1: and charged twice as much for the same casket. And 68 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: many Americans don't know that you have the right to 69 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 1: supply your own casket for a loved one's funeral. The 70 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: Federal Trade Commission enacted the Funeral Rule, which aimed to 71 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 1: bring greater transparency to funeral pricing. The rule also made 72 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,039 Speaker 1: it illegal for a funeral home to refuse to handle 73 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:22,919 Speaker 1: a casket the client purchased from a third party retailer, 74 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 1: which now includes online sales. A lot of grieving families 75 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:30,360 Speaker 1: simply aren't interested in shopping around for a better deal 76 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: on a casket, and that's understandable. That's one of the 77 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 1: reasons why that of caskets were still purchased through funeral 78 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:41,280 Speaker 1: homes as of twenty nineteen, but companies like Titan think 79 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: that if consumers knew how easy it was to buy 80 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:47,279 Speaker 1: a casket online and potentially a lot less expensive, then 81 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:49,960 Speaker 1: people would buy more caskets outside of the funeral home. 82 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,600 Speaker 1: Ni who is a past president of the Michigan Funeral 83 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: Directors Association and is currently an at large board member 84 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: of the National Funeral Directors Association, and says that funeral 85 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:04,600 Speaker 1: homes are happy to comply with the FTC's funeral rule 86 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:08,720 Speaker 1: a quote, families can choose to purchase something online and 87 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: there's not an issue at all. Our business model is 88 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,039 Speaker 1: to provide services to families, and the casket is just 89 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:16,159 Speaker 1: one of the items that can be chosen to ensure 90 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: that the services conducted the way a family wants. Besides, 91 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:24,279 Speaker 1: n points out fewer people are choosing a traditional burial anymore. 92 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 1: According to report, the cremation rate of Americans was around 93 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: fifty that year, and by traditional burial is expected to 94 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: drop to just of all funerals. With cremation, the body 95 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: is placed in an inexpensive plywood or cardboard container that 96 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: is also consumed in the fire. By the way, have 97 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: you ever wondered why undertakers are called undertakers? Back in 98 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the first undertakers were furniture 99 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:58,479 Speaker 1: makers who started building caskets as a sideline. They got 100 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: their name by being the people undertaking the burial. Today's 101 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:09,840 Speaker 1: episode is based on the article Grave Matters Why are 102 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:12,800 Speaker 1: Caskets so Expensive? On housetof works dot com, written by 103 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 1: Dave Rubs. The brain Stuff is production of I Heart 104 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot com, and 105 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 1: it's produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts to my 106 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,479 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 107 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.