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Perhaps you're a woodworker, or simply love the look of fine furniture and glossy mahogany.

The Princeton might be just for you at $5,100

Or maybe you like flashy details and riding in style. Then consider the Eldorado, a solid bronze box replete with velvet interior and 14-karat-gold-plated accents for $7,800.

Whatever casket you desire for that final good night six feet under, local funeral homes offer plenty of options.

From $400 cloth-covered fiberboard caskets to $25,000 models that would make the late James Brown proud, the casket is the most profitable item a funeral home sells.

"It is the single most expensive item you purchase, and the way in which funeral homes merchandise caskets, (it) can be on the predatory side," said Marie Lorz of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Central Ohio, a nonprofit industry watchdog group. "You won't see the cheap ones. They won't even be on the floor."

Maybe so, but that's not the case at Belton-Stroup Funeral Home in Fairborn, home of the Princeton and Eldorado, according to funeral director John Stroup.

"I go in and just explain how the (casket) room works — the metal caskets are carbon steel or they're stainless steel, and I explain the different woods — and then I step out," Stroup said. "I don't try to sell caskets, but then I've heard of other places that do."

And it's not just funeral homes anymore.

Thanks to the Internet, consumers can find bargains on burial goods at online stores such as Costco warehouse club and Caskets & More in Bloomington, Minn.

"We advertise (prices that are) 40 percent to 60 percent less than what funeral homes offer," said Thomas Wegner Jr., who operates Caskets & More with his father, Thomas Wegner Sr.

Wegner wouldn't reveal the wholesale price of caskets, a deeply guarded industry secret, but said funeral homes typically mark up caskets from 300 percent to 500 percent in metropolitan areas, less in rural areas.

"We mark up 75 percent and add the (shipping) freight," said Wegner, whose caskets range from $790 to $2,950, though higher-priced models are available at the customer's request.

Wegner said his interest in the business came from a "bad family experience," where the cost of his grandfather's funeral was "very troubling to my grandma."

He and his father founded the business, which also sells urns, monuments and other funeral goods, in 1999, much to the consternation of the local funeral industry.

"They have a self-professed right to think they're the only ones with the right to sell a metal box," Wegner said.

Mike Lewis, president the Greater Montgomery County Funeral Directors Association, said it's the consumer's prerogative to shop around, but they should keep a couple of concerns in mind.

"The problem I see with people doing that is that it definitely is a major factor in scheduling their service," said Lewis, a funeral director with Marker & Heller Funeral Home in Dayton and Huber Heights.

Also, the shipping cost will add to the bill, he said, and you can't be sure just what you're getting until it arrives.

"I have had a few families that have thought about buying online but decided not to because they were concerned what it might look like when it got here," Lewis said. "It's very difficult to see what it looks like from a photo."

Shopping for a casket?

The average cost of a funeral in the United States ($6,500) is almost four times that in Great Britain ($1,650) and and almost three times what it is in France ($2,200) or Australia ($2,100), according to the national Funeral Consumers Alliance.

Some of that difference can be attributed to the cost of the casket. The Funeral Consumers Alliance (www.funerals.org) offers these tips when considering a casket:

You can build your own casket or purchase one from outside the funeral home. Federal law protects your right to do so, and funeral homes are prohibited from charging you a handling fee.

Be wary of misleading product claims that can prod you to spend more money.

So-called "protective" caskets (caskets with a rubber gasket), for instance, are supposed to seal, thereby "protecting" the body from "outside elements."

The rubber gasket used to construct a "sealer" casket costs the industry $8.

But that $8 gasket is likely to raise the cost of the casket by $800 or more.

And what happens to a body in a "sealed" casket? Instead of the natural dehydration that occurs in most climates, anaerobic bacteria take over, the body putrefies and gases can't escape unless the casket has a "burping" seal.

Also, don't feel guilty about resisting sales pressure and choosing less expensive models.

"You need to be tough and you need to be very clear from the start," said Marie Lorz, past president of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Central Ohio. "You need to make choices for yourself based on your pocket book and your family's value system."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7408 or

agottschlich@DaytonDailyNews.com.