When a loved one dies, few people want to shop around for the best price on the casket. That's why many people simply accept the price quoted by their funeral director. And that's also why many people end up paying too much for a casket. To address the need to hold down funeral costs, over 300 retail casket stores have sprung up across the country. Consumers say they can save thousands of dollars on the price of a casket when buying from these stores.
Customers choose the casket at the store, which then ships the casket to the funeral home.
But in several states, only licensed funeral directors are permitted to sell caskets, and retail casket stores have been forced to close their doors. Those who violate the law risk fines and imprisonment. In Meridien, Miss., casket store owner Ricky Dancy learned the hard way that funeral directors in his state enjoy a monopoly on casket sales. Dancy was arrested after a funeral director complained that Dancy sold a casket to Mary Anderson, whose son had died. Later this year, a federal court may consider whether it is constitutional for Mississippi to require that only funeral directors sell caskets at the time of death.