Costly deaths: Urns and caskets impacted by supply chain issues; some local funeral homes to raise prices

Impacted by supply chain issues and higher demand, urns and caskets are now costing more

People are paying more for cars, trucks, and even foodstuff, but the cost of dying is also increasing as a result of supply chain issues. FOX 10's Steve Nielsen reports.

PHOENIX - Cars, trucks, hotel rooms and even meat have all gone up dramatically in price in the last year, but those are not the only things that are costing more.

The cost of dying is also going up.

The rising cost of dying can also be blamed on reasons that are now well-known to the American public, including supply chain issues and an increase in demand. In the Phoenix area, many funeral homes may be increasing prices in the weeks ahead.

"Really you could point to any of them and say they’re hard to get," said Bryce Bunker with Bunker Family Funerals and Cremation. "We have had urn companies that we have worked with in the past that essentially have had no product available."

Bunker says while the urn and casket supply has started to rebound in the last few weeks, the costs have risen dramatically.

"We're certainly feeling the pressure," said Bunker. "We've had unprecedented price increases from suppliers, and surcharges that we’ve never -- I’ve never experienced in my career here."

"The prices are going to be going up across the board," said John Perks with Regency Mortuary.

For Perk, he has some empty shelves, a sign that some urns he offers are out of stock.

"Some of the ones we carry, we just aren't getting," said Perks, who is also on the board of the Arizona Funeral, Cemetery and Cremation Association.

Perks said the industry will be forced to raise prices soon.

"Unfortunately, we have to cover what our costs are as well," said Perks. "We're funeral directors because we like to serve people, and it hurts our feelings that we have to do that as well."

According to the National Funeral Directors Association, costs have risen on funerals slower than the national average on other services, but new surcharges have impacted that, according to several local funeral homes.

"I don’t see this changing anytime soon," said Perks. "Let's not get our hopes up. This is a new world we're in, and we all have to get used to a new norm."

Perks says he will be raising his prices on March 1. Before the pandemic, he said he rose prices about every two years. Now, he says he has been forced to do it every four months.