How to sell/market cemetery plots?

May 3, 2009 12:13 PM

Trying to sell four adjacent cemetery plots. Funeral home suggested Craigslist ads, which I am currently running with pictures and *very* competitive pricing. No nibbles. Unconvinced that people in the market for such things actually read Craigslist. Need brilliant ideas on how and where to reach potential customers for cemetery plots in greater Seattle area. (Skywriting is out.)
posted by dorgla to grab bag (12 comments total)

my guess it that people looking for cemetery plots in this day and age probably aren't scouring the internet, but rather, would look in the same place they'd look to find local garage sales.
where i grew up, that was the PennySaver - a nearly free weekly paper full of classifieds and a smattering of local news.
Looks like in Seattle it's the Little Nickel?
posted by andshewas at 12:36 PM on May 3

I've seen cemetery plots advertised in regular newspaper classified ads under the "Miscellaneous For Sale" category.
posted by amyms at 1:08 PM on May 3

You can place an ad online here.
posted by halogen at 1:09 PM on May 3 [1 favorite]

If you can't find a buyer you might consider donating them to a local hospice. You would get a nice tax deduction (if the hospice is a non profit) and the hospice patient with no means to buy a plot would have one less thing to worry about.
posted by Jandasmo at 2:04 PM on May 3

Other funeral homes? Church bulletins? If it is a city or town owned cemetery you could try the town offices. Most certainly the target group reads the local Irish Sports page (The obits page), a small classified placed on that page should do it.
posted by Gungho at 2:15 PM on May 3

Ha... amazingly enough my partner and I are about to do the same thing, except in Queens, NY. We are considering using the site halogen linked to, GraveSolutions. (a name which I find quite funny).
posted by kimdog at 2:49 PM on May 3

I'd second contacting a few funeral homes. Eventually, somebody's gonna come along that needs a grave or two.
posted by sadiehawkinstein at 2:55 PM on May 3

I actually answer this question about twice a month at work. Here's my two cents:

Ideally, I'd second what Jandasmo said and advise you to donate them to a local hospice, but I deal with all the local hospices (I'm in Seattle, too) on a daily basis and I don't know any that take them. Why? Not sure, but I'm guessing that no one has thought of it and/or their legal departments won't allow it. Ditto for churches.

As for selling them, the odds are not in your favor. There's next to no aftermarket for graves in the US, especially for areas with a high cremation rate, and Seattle's cremation rate is well over 50%.
posted by Vavuzi at 3:01 PM on May 3

Send a quick MeMail to ColdChef, he's a professional undertaker who might be kind enough to share an idea.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 6:48 PM on May 3

... umm... as opposed to an amateur undertaker, I guess?
posted by pseudostrabismus at 6:49 PM on May 3

OP: If you're still reading the thread, I asked around the business. No one I asked has heard about anyone who successfully sold a grave in Seattle. I did find out, however, that there is one hospice that will accept the graves as a donation. You can get a tax write-off for the donation. If you want to shoot me an email, I can tell you which hospice it is.
posted by Vavuzi at 8:51 PM on May 6

Vavuzi...I emailed you ...or at least tried to. Yes, I *do* want to know which
hospice will take these!!! Please advise!

Dorgla
posted by dorgla at 2:41 PM on May 10