I can remember back in the late 1970s and into the early 1980s when itemized pricing was new and being forced upon funeral homes nationwide as part of a consumer protection Federal Trade Commission rulings on funeral service in the USA.  In my opinion, in the long run, the FTC rulings on itemization actually not only helped consumers understand what they were paying for, but it encouraged funeral home owners to know where their income and expense numbers were at.  Because of that, funeral homes and their owners became better businessmen and created higher profits — even if they charged less.

So now, according to the Australian web-site, Choice.com, the University of Sydney Business School has conducted surveys of pricing in Australia and is coming out with a recomendation for itemized pricing.  The study did market research and called more than 120 funeral homes.

Some findings from the report include the fact that Australian funeral conglomerate, InvoCare, owns a dominant 40% of the Australian market and up to 80% on the east coast of the country.  The survey also called into question the practice of InvoCare having different franchise names for some of their funeral homes.  For instance, it was noted a consumer could call funeral chains such as Simplicity Funerals, Guardian Funerals, and White Lady Funerals without realizing they were calling funeral homes owned by the same conglomerate.

Funeral Director Daily take:  As referenced above, I don’t think funeral homes should be afraid of listing what they do and what their prices are for such.  Competition is good for both the consumer and the business — I always believed that I could give more service for the dollar and that was a positive thing and advantage for our funeral home.

The above mentioned survey failed in a couple of areas in my opinion.  As you read it, it seems that they always wanted the prices to be lower for the consumer.  I’ve learned, over time, that not all consumers want the “rock-bottom” lowest price and many consumers want, and will pay for, some extra things to get done by funeral homes for them.  I think it is a real misconception that many surveys such as this one seem to believe that all consumers want the lowest dollar service — that just isn’t so.

I also take exception to the survey when it says that many funeral homes take advantage of “impaired” decision makers who are coping with loss and won’t go look around.  That is a common mis-perception that has been advanced by people that just don’t know the values of most funeral directors.

In any case, just like has happened in the United States, I think that there is a common area where the Australian consumer and the Australian funeral goods provider can come together for the mutual benefit of both.  [wpforms id=”436″ title=”true” description=”true”]