Pros & Cons of Buying a Cremation Urn Online

When a loved one has died and been cremated, you'll commonly wish to get an urn for the cremated remains. Whether you choose to scatter the remains outdoors or keep them in your home, the urn will be a perfect receptacle. Additionally, it's common to have the urn on display at the visitation and funeral services. There are lots of ways to buy cremation urns — your funeral home may recommend one or more vendors in your community, as well as give you some websites to check out. If you're learning toward the latter option, keep in mind these pros and cons.

Pro: Better Value

Although there can sometimes be exceptions, it's common to find that products bought online are less expensive than those in retail stores. This can be for several reasons, but a common one is that an online vendor doesn't have the same expenses at retail stores, which allows it to price things lower. If you're trying to keep the funeral costs as low as possible, this may be appealing to you.

Con: Inability To Hold It

Given the importance of the urn that will carry the cremated remains of your loved one, you want to be 100 percent sure about what you're buying. Even though online vendors will have multiple photos of their products, there's nothing quite as useful as actually holding an urn in your hands to evaluate it. The last thing you want is for an urn to look nice online, but actually appear cheap once you unbox it for the funeral.

Pro: Wide Selection

Your local retailers may have a significant number of urns, but it's usually a safe bet that the online vendors you're considering offer more selection. An in-person store only has so much space, and can only hold a certain amount of stock. A warehouse-style online vendor, however, may have hundreds of different types of urns for you to consider. If you have a particular look that you're going for and that your local stores cannot get you, online can be valuable.

Con: Potential For Delays

The last thing you want is to not have the cremation urn in your hands in time for the funeral. The crematorium will commonly give you the remains in a plastic container, which probably doesn't have the appearance that you want for displaying at the service. Although online vendors can ship their urns in an expedited manner, there's always the risk of unforeseen delays with the postal service that prevent the urn from arriving in time.