Invocare’s curious grave sale

Gravesite sale now on!

This isn’t something you see every day!

In a surprising move, and coincidentally at a time when Black Friday sales are raging, Invocare is advertising price reductions on its burial and cremation memorial sites in Qld and NSW.

Invocare is the big end of town when it comes to funerals in Australia. It owns a stack of funeral homes across the country, as well as a bunch of private cemeteries and crematoria.

The substantial price reductions may be a sign of the times. We hear a lot about the cost of living crisis; how about the cost of dying crisis?

I’ve been chatting with a funeral director in the ACT who said that burials are down by 25%, blaming the cost of living crisis. (Cremations are waaaay cheaper, you see.)

Huge price drops

Anyway, Australia’s largest cemetery/crematoria and funeral provider, InvoCare, is offering discounted prices on grave sites and cremain memorial sites (ashes). These are BIG discounts that make you wonder about the feasibility of the original price and question Invocare’s high pricing model.

For example, at Albany Creek Memorial Park in Brisbane, plots now start at $11,539. They were $17K.

At Allambe Memorial Park on the Gold Coast, crypts were originally priced at $19,3777: they’re now $11K.

Crypts at Castlebrook (in Blacktown NSW) used to start at $46K; they’re now starting at $12K.

And at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Leppington NSW), crypts originally started at almost $86K (no, that’s not a typo): they’re now starting at $22K. 

There are price reductions across the board at Invocare’s NSW and Qld cremation and burial sites. (My guess is that people are hanging on to their loved one’s ashes. These lower prices might encourage them to inter/inurn them in a memorial park.)

It’s an interesting business strategy. After 20 years as a publicly listed company, Invocare was bought out by a private equity firm last year to the tune of $1.8 BILLION.

You see, private equity companies have realised that Australia is heading for ‘peak death’ as the Baby Boomers will soon hit their 80s – a time when their healthcare needs will increase, so will their palliative care needs, and, following that, their death care needs.

They’ve been sniffing around privately-owned funeral providers in recent months. Get ready to see lots of medium-sized funeral businesses taken over by private equity firms.

A booming industry

If there’s been one thing I’ve been harping on about since publishing The Bottom Drawer Book: The After Death Action Plan in 2013, it’s that there’s big money in death. It’s a billion-dollar industry. Yes, an industry.

While there are many wonderfully caring and incredibly helpful funeral directors on the front line, there are also some pretty shrewd bean counters behind the scenes.
So, have a conversation with your family. Fill out your copy of The Bottom Drawer Book. Let them know your funeral wishes. Tell them you’re ok with a cheap coffin. Let them know you don’t need an expensive crypt and that a ground burial site will do. Remind them that you want to be cremated because it’s cheaper. Invite them to make posies from the flowers in your garden instead of big flower arrangements. Shop around funeral directors – their service fees vary greatly. Ask them what you’re getting for your money. Their price guides should be transparent and their itemised quotes should be prompt. If they’re not, find another funeral director. If you’re feeling pressured to make decisions, walk away. Take your time.

It’s a whole lot easier to make decisions at a time of grief if you know what your loved one wanted. Please. Get organised, for your family’s sake.

Finding the right funeral director

At the end of the day, find a funeral director that feels right. One who allows you to ask questions. One who will respect your budget. One who will suggest cost savings. One who will carry out your person’s death care with respect. One who lets you know where your person will be kept. One who allows you to take your time.

Here’s a chat I had with funeral arranger Carly Dalton about that:

And, of course, you don’t need to have a funeral. It’s not a requirement. Instead, you can have a farewell or memorial down at the pub or bowls club with no time pressures, while your body is buried or cremated without mourners. Unattended or direct cremations have become a very popular option in recent years. There’s more info about all this funeral stuff in The Bottom Drawer Book.

So, if you’re looking for a plot or memorial space, check out Invocare’s sale.  You may be able to grab a burial bargain! (Yes, it feels weird writing that, but it is what it is!)