Avoid Upcharges
How to avoid the most expensive funeral home upcharges
A price-shopper's procedural guide for U.S. families
Most of the cost overrun families experience in funeral arrangements comes from a small set of identifiable upcharges that the FTC Funeral Rule explicitly allows you to refuse. These are not 'hidden' fees — they are listed on the GPL — but they are presented at a moment when grief and time pressure make refusal feel callous. Recognizing the categories in advance is the cheapest possible insurance.
The seven categories of avoidable upcharge
- Casket markup. Funeral home casket markup runs 300-500% over wholesale. Substitute with Costco, Walmart, or Amazon casket — the FTC Funeral Rule forbids the home from refusing or charging a handling fee.
- Urn markup. Funeral home urn markup runs 200-300% over equivalent online retail. Substitute with an Etsy or Amazon urn after the cremation; the basic temporary container holds the remains.
- Death certificate markup. Funeral homes typically charge $20-$40 per certified copy; the state vital records office charges $10-$25. Order extras directly from the state.
- Embalming for direct cremation. Federal law (16 CFR § 453.5) forbids requiring embalming for cremation. Decline.
- Outer burial container ('grave liner'). Required by most cemeteries for burial, not by law. Cemetery purchase prices vary 50-200% from funeral home prices for the identical concrete or polypropylene container; price-shop both.
- Cash advance items with markup. Obituaries, flowers, organist, hairdresser, clergy honorarium are typically marked up 50-300% when arranged through the funeral home. Pay the third party directly.
- Memorial merchandise. Memorial DVDs, video tributes, custom prayer cards, register books, and fingerprint pendants run 200-1000% over equivalent online or DIY alternatives.
Worked savings example
A representative family who declines or substitutes each upcharge category on a baseline traditional funeral arrangement:
Upcharge avoidance — savings per category
| Category | Funeral home price | Substitute price | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casket | $3,500 | $1,200 (Costco) | $2,300 |
| Urn | $295 | $60 (Amazon) | $235 |
| Death certs (10) | $300 | $150 (state direct) | $150 |
| Embalming | $895 | $0 (declined) | $895 |
| Outer burial container | $1,495 | $895 (cemetery) | $600 |
| Obituary placement | $450 | $200 (direct) | $250 |
| Memorial DVD | $295 | $0 (DIY) | $295 |
| Total | $7,230 | $2,505 | $4,725 |
Pricing source disclosure
Every dollar amount on Cheap Funeral is sourced from each funeral home's published General Price List (GPL) under the FTC Funeral Rule (16 CFR Part 453). The Rule requires every U.S. funeral home to provide an itemized GPL on request — by phone, in person, or in many cases online. Where a home has not published a GPL we mark the listing accordingly rather than estimate.
National benchmarks throughout this article are drawn from the National Funeral Directors Association 2023 Member General Price List Study (NFDA, July 2023), which reports the median U.S. cost of a funeral with viewing and burial at $8,300 and the median direct cremation at $2,495.
Common questions
Frequently asked
Is bringing my own casket actually allowed?
Yes, federally protected (16 CFR § 453.4(b)(1)(ii)). The home cannot refuse or charge a handling fee.
Why are death certificates so expensive at funeral homes?
Markup. State vital records offices charge $10-$25 per certified copy; funeral homes typically charge $20-$40. Order extras directly from the state.
After the funeral
Estate settlement saves money on probate.
An average uncontested probate costs $1,500–$5,000 in attorney fees alone. EverSettled walks families through the document checklist, asset titling, and beneficiary claims — for free. No funeral-home upcharge.
Save on estate settlementRelated reading
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Cheap Funeral publishes the direct cremation, basic burial, and memorial service price for every U.S. funeral home that has filed a GPL. Browse by state, ZIP, or price tier.