I’m in an unusual position to comment on the news that RIP.ie will now charge funeral directors €100 per death notice. I used to be an undertaker for my family business before burying my Dad, the boss himself, – a unique thing to be able to say. And I’m also a website guy. You’re on my website right now. Gas, isn’t it?
This week, The Irish Times, owners of RIP.ie, announced they would start charging funeral directors €100 per death notice to much uproar from, well everyone. I honestly, don’t fully get the backlash beyond “monetising death”, but Ireland has been doing that for a long long time.
It’s Uneasy News That Provokes an Emotional, Irrational Reaction
As soon as I heard that RIP.ie was being bought by The Irish Times, I knew this day would come. RIP.ie had become the most bizarre platform in the country. Millions of views on a monthly basis. Millions of views from people just wanting to know who died today. The Irish Times bought the platform earlier this year for an undisclosed fee, but you can be sure it was a pretty penny given the potential income with those traffic numbers.
We all know us Irish do death better than anyone. Irish wakers are legendary, and the death notices on the radio have been a cultural phenomenon for many years. It was obvious that we would shift towards online, and that’s where RIP.ie came in.
RIP.ie was a family run business offering a simple solution to informing people about local deaths in a digital world. I remember when they first got in touch with us. My Dad was always a surprisingly digital forward man. He didn’t know how to use a computer very well, but he knew they were the future.
That’s why I’ve had computers at my fingers from the age of two.
He immediately said yes to offering RIP.ie to our own customers as a place to announce a death. Before long, people were asking for it before we could suggest it. RIP.ie wasn’t just one of Ireland’s biggest death websites, or biggest websites in the news space. It was one of Ireland’s biggest websites; full-stop.
Charging for Death Notices
Death notices are extremely typical around someone’s passing. People locally, nationally and internationally want to know if a neighbour, or long-lost friend as passed away. The world is a big place, and keeping up to date with who’s still alive can be tough when you get to a certain age.
The media packages for a funeral were typical. In my experience, most would take local newspapers and radio, while some would also take national newspapers and even newspapers abroad if they had moved away in their lifetime. Soon, RIP.ie was as typical as anything and it covered all bases. People could find local deaths, deaths in other counties and even any death in Ireland from anywhere in the world – all thanks to RIP.ie.
We did pay for RIP.ie but it wasn’t a mandatory service fee if I recall correctly. The idea was we’d pay a couple of hundred a year to have better looking panels beneath our announcements and some advertising around the website if people are looking for a funeral director. I was almost sure at some stage we paid something in exchange for a number of notices, but from what I’ve read about the RIP.ie controversy this week – I could be wrong.
On our bills, we would list “Media” and break down a cost for each item individually. Whether it was print, radio or digital, being charged for a death notice is completely normal. There is also an option to not have a death notice, but everyone wants it. It’s supply and demand.
Funerals are Expensive
Our family business was exactly what you expected from a local business mainly servicing the local parish. We delivered our service for a very fair price. Once we came home from a days work, we waited for, the usually local, family to come to us looking for a bill when they were ready. In fact, we were so fairly priced that I could never see myself taking it on as a full-time living. Hence, I’m a “former undertaker”.
Our bills were fair and transparent. We listed “Media” with prices for each placement. We’d also include the amount you were paying for, and what you were paying for, for every single service we billed you for.
We had no interest in price gouging people during a tough time. We weren’t in the business of “but sure the credit union is paying” but we were offering a service and as you would expect, every service bakes in some profit.
We all live in a capitalist society. There’s simply no avoiding it. Your doctor, dentist, mechanic, therapist or gardener are not in it for the love of you. They are offering a service that you want or need to avail of.
I will, however, admit that funeral directors are slightly different. We care deeply about our customers who were going through a difficult loss. We stress about everything running smoothly because we want you to worry about nothing else during such a horrible time.
Whenever we increased the price of a product needed or service provided, it pained by auld lad because he kept the margins fair trim. I remember he was shocked to learn what people in other counties were paying for funerals. Sometimes double what we were billing. We couldn’t get our heads around it.
But it’s a good time to be reminded that funerals are expensive in general. That €100 for RIP.ie might be unpalatable off the back of The Irish Times buying such an outlet, but it’s still a good deal.
The Price of Death Notices
When you post a death on RIP.ie it’s permanent. There are virtual condolence books, links to streams and church locations and it’s all available globally. This is something Irish radio stations or most Irish print media can’t match. Yet, many would charge over this amount for a death notice.
Today, if you go to the Irish Independent’s parent website, MediaHuis, you can book a death notice. Just a few days listing a death could cover over €50. The same could be said for any local radio or print media. It’s not all that unusual for death notices alone to cost from €50 to €300, depending on family requests.
I guess this is why it makes sense that I was a bit surprised by the backlash at €100. It’s a permanent listing on Ireland’s largest website, accessible globally.
What surprised me about coverage of this story is that everyone is being spoken to; politicians, funeral directors, RIP.ie themselves, but no one is talking to the families of those affected. If you’ve ever paid for a funeral, and I’ve been on both sides of this part, you’ll see the cost of death notices in general and €100 is about average.
The difference with RIP.ie is that it’s been taken over by a big media group and it’s being seen as a cash grab. Which it might very well be, but a website of that size with global appeal isn’t free to run. In fact, it can be somewhat costly.
Storm in a Teacup
I can’t help but see this as a storm in a teacup. You’ll have forums galore screaming that “this is a disgrace” and that The Irish Times is preying on vulnerable people.
This is the growth in digitisation of a death service. That is all. I have a few hot takes around this too. For example, I would argue this is the exact same as when The New York Times bought Wordle. People had something for free, and feared it would be locked behind a paywall. Wordle remains free today, but the negative sentiments that came with it just being bought at all – will linger forever.
Fears will live on that RIP.ie will eventually be locked behind a paywall. Something I very much doubt will happen. The traffic that RIP.ie gets is free traffic that won’t tolerate friction and keeping those volumes up is essential. Naturally, this means charging the funeral directors who pass the cost on to their customers (as they would for other media), is the logical way forward.
What I find most amusing about the people who are up in arms about this news, is that no one takes issue with the fact most funerals will include contributions towards the priest and other services from the church if having a religious funeral. You could argue this is usually a “voluntary contribution”, but I’ve never seen it not offered or rejected.
If you see the value in a florist getting some money from providing a service to a funeral, I’m afraid you can’t give out about RIP.ie setting a price tag on their services. Anyone who’s planning a funeral can request access to this service, or reject it. This all happens in a conversation with your funeral director who will outline the services you can avail of and how much they cost. Then it’s over to you if you want to avail of these service or not.
This new charge is simply bringing the cost of a digital platform in line with traditional print media and radio. A digital platform which arguably offers far more of a service and far greater reach.
