Casket prices: what they cost and the fee you never have to pay

The casket is often the single most expensive item in a funeral, and it's where the biggest markups hide. Knowing what caskets actually cost — and your legal right to buy one anywhere — can save a grieving family thousands of dollars.

What caskets cost

Funeral homes typically show caskets from about $2,000 to well over $10,000, with the average family paying somewhere around $2,000–$5,000. The same casket bought from a third-party retailer often runs a fraction of that — sometimes half or less.

• Cloth-covered particleboard: the simplest, from a few hundred dollars.
• Steel (most common): roughly $1,000–$4,000 depending on gauge and finish.
• Hardwood, bronze, or copper: $3,000 to $10,000 and up.

The fee you never have to pay

This is the part funeral homes rarely volunteer. Under the FTC Funeral Rule, you can buy a casket from anywhere — Costco, Amazon, or an online casket retailer — and the funeral home must accept it and use it, and cannot charge you a handling fee for doing so. They also can't require you to be there when it's delivered. If a provider pushes back or tacks on a “storage” charge, that's a red flag worth questioning — see our guide to reading the price list.

The “sealed casket” upsell

A common pitch is that a gasketed or “protective” sealed casket preserves the body. It doesn't — no casket stops natural decomposition, and the FTC bars providers from claiming otherwise. Pay for a sealed casket only if you like it, not because you were told it protects anything.

If you're choosing cremation

You don't need to buy a casket at all. A simple cremation container is enough, and if you want a viewing first, most funeral homes offer a rental casket with a replaceable interior for a fraction of the purchase price. Our direct cremation guide covers the lowest-cost path.

Whatever you choose, compare the itemized casket price against your area's typical funeral costs on our costs by state pages before you decide.