Ten Things to Consider When Buying a Cremation Urn From an Online Retailer

Cremation Urns are available at many online retailers, but not all are equal.  Here are the top 10 most important things to consider when buying an urn online:

1. Does this site help me get the right information on my urn?  If you have shopped for urns on the Internet you have seen engraving input fields that simply have you enter in a certain number of characters. Where should the name go? How should the dates be formatted? The best sites offer a guided process so that all of the typical information makes it onto the urn. Green Meadow Memorials realizes that this can make a stressful process more stressful and so developed an easy, step by step process that takes out all of the guesswork and enables you to quickly get the right information on your cremation urn with our step by step process .
2. Do you need it for a certain day? Nearly all online stores offer free shipping, but realize this is with the lowest cost carrier and it could take up to ten business days (over two weeks!) to arrive. Any time that you need it for a certain day it is advisable to take a premium shipping option to get it in three to next business day with a reliable carrier like FedEx or UPS.  At Green Meadow Memorials, all listed items are in stock and ready to be ordered.
3. When will the item ship?  Many sites, especially those with engraving, have vague information about when your items will ship. Large, confusing tables dates and days or ambiguous "same or next business day" type language make this prediction difficult if not impossible. Truly, some memorials are works of art and made on demand and so have a very variable lead time. If it does not give a specific day the item will ship on and it is at all time sensitive, use the email, chat or call them to get a concrete answer so your expectations are realistic.  At Green Meadow Memorials, every product page has the specific date listed on when your item will ship and this is also visible during checkout so you can skip asking the question.
4. How do refunds work?  Many sites for cremation urns advertise long return or satisfaction policies, but reading the fine print always says the same thing: no refunds for engraved items. This can be troubling as many sites don't offer clear previews of the engraving you have chosen, so you may not like the font or layout of your personalization. Expect that any engraved memorial sale is final unless there are extenuating circumstances. Finding a retailer that offers free or paid engraving previews can save you a lot heartache and is worth your effort.  Green Meadow Memorials offers a state of the art preview of your choices so that you know that what you are paying for is what you want.
5. What shipping choices are available? Free shipping is available on many sites selling cremation urns, but when combining personalization "lead times" and up to ten business days of transit time you may find that it takes weeks for your memorial to arrive. Knowing that faster delivery times make for happier customers the best sites offer inexpensive 3 Day or 2nd Day rates along with a next business day shipping option. The lack of premium shipping options should give you pause..  At Green Meadow Memorials we know that waiting can be frustrating so we negotiated hard with UPS and came with excellent rates that we pass on for three business day and next day delivery.  We offer both below our cost, which means many times our next day delivery is less expensive than our competitors two day service.
6. Is my information secure? A slow site with outdated styling and old content should give you pause. If the parts of the site that you can see are slow and outdated, how likely are they to have kept up on their security practices? Make sure you see "https" at the beginning of the URL - ideally on every page of the site you are buying from.  Green Meadow Memorials combines strong Privacy Policies along with state of the art platform and check out technologies to deliver the most secure process available today.
7. Where do these products come from?  Most sites don't even discuss this because all of their products are imported from around the world.  Some items are from necessity because they are not made in the United States but many other are, especially wood urns.  Green Meadow Memorials takes pride in sourcing 100% of our wood urns domestically from sustainable wood harvesting practices.  We are pleased to offer wooden urns made by skilled craftsmen and veterans that we designed.  They have remarkable quality not easily found in imported products.
8. Does this site specialize in memorials? Shopping for memorials can be done all over the Internet, but sites that specialize in memorials are ready to take care of you. When it comes time to address specialized questions regarding cremation urns, how ashes are transferred, what options there are and how to deal with issues that can arise during an emotional time you can count on the expertise of these dedicated retailers. A quality retailer will have helpful information like guides helping you choose the right size cremation urn. Years of experience and careful product selection make us singularly prepared to get you the right memorial done how you want it.
9. Can this item be personalized directly? Lasting memorials should be personalized directly with a laser or physical engraver so that the information about who is inside the urn can not be misplaced. Some urns have plaques that are stuck on with adhesive, over time this adhesive will age and lose it's stickiness and when it falls off it will likely leave a discolored blemish. Even worse, sometimes these stickers are DIY so you have to deal with getting it done straight and level on top of dealing with transferring the ashes.  Every item sold on this site can be directly engraved or printed on.
10. Can poems or verses be engraved or customized?  Many sites offer only blank lines on the front of the urn, leaving an abundance of space on the backside of the urn that could be used but is left blank. Other sites only offer selected poems or prayers to choose from, not allowing for customization. Shopping carefully online you will find that the best sites offer engraving on multiple sides of the urn with both suggested and completely custom field options available.  If shown at a wake or celebration of life ceremony, these extra lines and personalization options can help to better represents the memories and aspirations of a loved one. Green Meadow Memorials strikes the perfect balance by providing some classic and popular sentiments, poems and verses to choose from and also allows them to be customized while also providing completely blank lines to be used.  With such an important and permanent decision, we believe you should get the opportunity to engrave what you desire.

About Nat Juchems

Nat Juchems is a Co-Founder at Green Meadow Memorials and helps those grieving the loss of a loved one find the right memorial to cherish. Over the past seven years, Nat has worked in the online memorial industry and has helped thousands of families find and purchase the right cremation urn for their needs and budgets.

Outside of work, you can find Nat with his family enjoying being active outdoors, playing games indoors or training for Triathlons. Read more details on Nat's years of experience on LinkedIn.