To die for: Cut-price coffins on offer for Aussie bargain-hunters
Discount warehouse retailer Costco has launched its range of cut-price coffins aimed at shoppers who enjoy digging up a bargain.
Prices range from as little as $360 to $3800, including home delivery or to a funeral parlour.
The bargains can save shoppers more than $1,000 on a higher-end solid timber casket priced around the $3000 mark, compared with boxes costing up to $7-8,000 from a funeral home, according to the Australian distributor.
The Italian-made coffins are quality checked, Scientia Coffins and Caskets told 7 News, to ensure the caskets are top notch, despite a price tag guaranteeing 50 per cent less than others on the market.
“It’s a final act of love. So we don’t want people to be burying somebody or cremating somebody in something that is second par,” Scientia founder and CEO Issac Leung said.
“We wanted to do something that was innovative… but also bring innovation to an industry that has been very traditional.”
The purchase is simple. Costco members can select the style they want at one of the warehouse’s nine stores across Australia, then pay and arrange delivery on the spot.
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Managing Director of Costco Australia, Patrick Noone said the venture allowed the wholesale giant to continue to offer “good value and good savings”, on products that span “anything from a plain wooden box up to a mahogany casket with zinc linen lining”.
“It’s an area where we can bring competition to the marketplace, offer great value still to our members in an industry that perhaps could use a bit of competition,” Mr Noone said.
The Australian venture with Scientia has been 18 months in the planning, but casket sales have proven successful in the US where the bulk grocery chain was born.
The coffins are now available at Costco’s Ringwood store in Melbourne and will be available from the store’s other locations in coming weeks.
News break – May 5
