Funeral notice in local paper - how much?

katiepoppycat

Hi, We're getting to a point where we can arrange my Grandmother's funeral so I started trying to find out the deadlines for the notice to go in her local paper. It's very important we do that as she had a very wide social circle and I can't see another way of reaching those people. I got a copy of the paper and it seems I have to go through a company called funeral-notices.co.uk. And they want £133 to do it! We will do it, but I am so angry at this price. They've got you over a barrel and there's nothing you can do about it. And I still don't have a deadline. It strikes me as grossly unfair. Has anyone else had this experience?

Robin9

Sorry to hear of your loss but you don't have to put a notice in the paper - that's your choice.

I arranged my MIL's funeral last week and chose not put a notice in the paper or have lots of flowers.

troubleinparadise

Notices in the paper have always been surprisingly expensive, certainly in the National ones, local ones less so. But in terms of spreading the information to a wider audience it probably is your only method.

Mind you, anything associated with funerals is surprisingly expensive, once you start looking into it.

Flugelhorn

How much were you wanting to put in the notice? I put a short notice in the paper indicating date, location and time and it cost me £20

Dymphna60

Was very expensive in our local weekly paper. £128 for name , date of death and funeral arrangements.
Would have been slightly cheaper with a floral border.

Yorkshireman99

katiepoppycat wrote: »

Hi, We're getting to a point where we can arrange my Grandmother's funeral so I started trying to find out the deadlines for the notice to go in her local paper. It's very important we do that as she had a very wide social circle and I can't see another way of reaching those people. I got a copy of the paper and it seems I have to go through a company called funeral-notices.co.uk. And they want £133 to do it! We will do it, but I am so angry at this price. They've got you over a barrel and there's nothing you can do about it. And I still don't have a deadline. It strikes me as grossly unfair. Has anyone else had this experience?

The advertisement not only appears in the printed copy but is available online. The basic advertisement cost around £50. This typical of local newspapers.

badger09

We put notices in 2 local newspapers in Hertfordshire. Nothing fancy. Cost £94.40 & £95.88. Dealt direct with the papers.

katiepoppycat

I was expecting £20-£40 and deal direct - that's what we did 2 years ago for my Mum. From what the funeral director says this is actually the only way the local rag can make any money so they gouge people for personals. Going to make sure I use up every last word! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Malthusian

How many people actually read the death notices cover to cover to check if anyone they know has died?

I realise that some people d'un certain age do, but I would have thought that word of mouth would do the heavy lifting, with a death notice standing a fairly low chance of reaching anyone who is isolated from that network.

SevenOfNine

We paid about £80, what you want in the ad is reflected in the price. Border, photo or emblems & more text than is necessary all adds to the cost.

When you say you "don't have a deadline yet", haven't you been able to speak with anyone to ask? It's also possible that the funeral director can place the ad for you, not necessarily cheaper or dearer but perhaps worth checking.

PasturesNew

I typed up one, just to see how much it'd cost, expecting to then do it in the following day or so (just seeing the process/price) - and the end price, for a really short entry, was about £70 (four years ago!). I didn't do it...

My initial thought was "as she'd moved from her home town to 300+ miles away about 20 years before, it'd be nice if her friends were scanning the obits to know she had gone..." - then I realised that, aged 90, it was unlikely there'd be anybody still alive anyway ... so I didn't do it. I also thought it'd provide an "audit trail" for those family research people who might've had her on their chart somewhere.... but not at that price

Facebook is increasingly used... but that's down to personal preference/fear and whether an appropriate group exists locally.