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Mattress Industry Pricing Model and Recommendation for Best Value Mattress


BG2008

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It's interesting that there are two large ticket items that one needs to buy that requires negotiation for the everyday people, cars and mattress.  Both are rather unpleasant experiences because if you don't research and negotiate properly, you'll wind up a schmuck.  I just got done with the car.  Now I need a queen mattress.  What's interesting is that the Mattress industry is simply rife with low value for the product.  Rent, markups, and sales commission wind up taking up so much of what we pay for.  Frankly, having to deal with a salesperson is a pain in the ass itself.  This is probably why there are so many mattress startups such as Casper, Purple, Leesa, etc.  They want to take the pain point away from people.  At this point, I'm properly confused about what's the best value for a mattress.  Yes, Casper's mantra sounds great.  But it's still a $895 mattress for a queen size.  There are literally people on the internet who make a living testing, reviewing, and recommending mattresses.  Some of them act as an ad form for certain mattress manufacturers, some of them claim to be truly independent.  It's interesting to think about what this means for companies like Mattress Firm etc. 

 

But if someone has a recommendation for a great mattress at a reasonable price, it would be great to know.  I don't mind paying $800-900.  I want to get the vest value.  I wouldn't mind going to a Macy's or Raymour Flannagan. 

 

If you want to comment on the industry players and how that will evolve over time, I am all ears as well.  It's fun to mix a bit of investing with getting the best bargain.  At the end of the day, a mattress is about 4-5 shares of BRK.B!!

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i bought a cheap $200 queen-size mattress from amazon. i really can't tell the difference between a $4000 mattress, $1000 mattress, and $200 mattress. plus its much easier to replace (knowing it was so cheap) if for whatever reason i need to do that.

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i bought a cheap $200 queen-size mattress from amazon. i really can't tell the difference between a $4000 mattress, $1000 mattress, and $200 mattress. plus its much easier to replace (knowing it was so cheap) if for whatever reason i need to do that.

 

Do you have name, model etc?  Please do tell if it's available.  Thanks in advance.  That's what I've been consistently hearing that the confusion between $200, and $1000 and $4,000 mattress is so great that it makes buying one a pain in the butt. 

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i bought a cheap $200 queen-size mattress from amazon. i really can't tell the difference between a $4000 mattress, $1000 mattress, and $200 mattress. plus its much easier to replace (knowing it was so cheap) if for whatever reason i need to do that.

 

Do you have name, model etc?  Please do tell if it's available.  Thanks in advance.  That's what I've been consistently hearing that the confusion between $200, and $1000 and $4,000 mattress is so great that it makes buying one a pain in the butt.

 

Sure, I bought 2 of these:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GTCL3SQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

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Wife and I looked at beds this weekend - looking to upgrade to a king and take advantage of the holiday sales.  Mattress Firm will price match and give 10% off, which can be fairly lucrative.  Similarly, if there isn't a comparable bed at a competing place, they quoted us ~33% off the initial sticker price.

 

Some of my friends like Casper, but I'm concerned about the durability of the bed.  The mattress industry is certainly ripe for disruption.

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The world's best beds! - Right in front of you - Listed on NYSE.

 

They have a sub here on the Danish island called Funen, where I live. It's a totally outstanding sub - generating three figures DKK M profits pretax every year! It's on the top list every year of the best performing Danish companies.

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

As with everything else - also stocks - you have have to pay up for quality - here, for a bed, dearly!

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Wife and I looked at beds this weekend - looking to upgrade to a king and take advantage of the holiday sales.  Mattress Firm will price match and give 10% off, which can be fairly lucrative.  Similarly, if there isn't a comparable bed at a competing place, they quoted us ~33% off the initial sticker price.

 

Some of my friends like Casper, but I'm concerned about the durability of the bed.  The mattress industry is certainly ripe for disruption.

 

I've had a king Casper for over a year and can attest to the quality and comfort of it. I've read that a Cocoon is similar so I'd strongly recommend either product. Best mattress I've ever owned.

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The thing with mattresses is that stores collude with manufacturers to obfuscate and screw the consumer. One point the same mattress has different model names at different stores which makes price comparison very difficult and those price match policies are useless.

 

We have actually found a local independent store that also manufactures their own. We bought a few from there. They're very decently priced (about $700 for a top end model) and we can get them custom made. You want it a bit firmer than the standard model, no problem. Given all these things I haven't felt the need to haggle with them.

 

 

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FWIW I've had a Leesa for just over 2 years and would strongly recommend them.  In my view the company delivered what it promised -- a great mattress at a reasonable price -- and the experience is significantly better than a B&M store purchase.  Their generous return policies are worth noting.

 

My only caution with online mattresses is that the sheet industry has yet to catch up with their noticeably shorter heights.  Leesa, Casper etc. mattresses are generally around ~10" thick while the vast majority of sheets are made for mattresses 14" and taller.  You may have to buy straps to keep your fitted sheets taut.

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i bought a cheap $200 queen-size mattress from amazon. i really can't tell the difference between a $4000 mattress, $1000 mattress, and $200 mattress. plus its much easier to replace (knowing it was so cheap) if for whatever reason i need to do that.

 

Do you have name, model etc?  Please do tell if it's available.  Thanks in advance.  That's what I've been consistently hearing that the confusion between $200, and $1000 and $4,000 mattress is so great that it makes buying one a pain in the butt.

 

Sure, I bought 2 of these:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GTCL3SQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I wanted to buy one of these but my wife wouldn't budge.  So I am that shmuck that paid 4k for a tempurpedic at mattress firm.  Has anyone here actually tested with lots of sleep this mattress v. tempur?

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I haven't seen any comparative tests, and really I'm not sure how you would even do it. I could see comparing the materials, but in terms of which one "feels" better? That seems very subjective.

 

I would second themattressunderground.com for all things mattress related.

 

Also, apparently this company makes the mattresses for the royal family:

https://www.hypnosbeds.com/international

 

I can't comment on price or value, though.

 

 

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We have actually found a local independent store that also manufactures their own. We bought a few from there. They're very decently priced (about $700 for a top end model) and we can get them custom made. You want it a bit firmer than the standard model, no problem. Given all these things I haven't felt the need to haggle with them.

 

Same here ($800 for a king). Zero regrets. I tried a Casper mattress in a store and didn't love it. I know Casper (and their competitors) offer free returns, but that entire process is still a big annoyance. I'd rather go to a store, try a bunch out, pick one, and be done with it.

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I am in the market for a new mattress and am leaning towards buying one through Costco.com.

 

With mattresses, you really should try before you buy. At Costco, that's difficult, if not impossible. Hopefully, the model that you like is available at the warehouse. If it is, you have to drag one down onto the ground, lay down on it for a few minutes to see if it feels right for you, everyone is different. It can be pretty tough to do this while your fellow Costco shoppers are mindlessly driving their shopping carts (do Canadians say "carts" or "trolleys?") passed you and hopefully not crashing into you. When is the self-driving shopping cart going to be available...

 

It can certainly be tough trying to accurately assess whether the mattress you are trying out is right for you. Here's the good news. as with most items are Costco, you can return them. For most of us, returning a mattress to the warehouse would be tough. Costco.com allows you to return a mattress. They will pick it up from you and pay for the shipping. I'll likely order my next mattress from Costco this way...  maybe this week.

 

David

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Not much to add on a mattress but I have a few friends that I got to know that make their living as 3rd party sellers on Amazon.  They sell mostly Nikes, Apple, Lego's etc and do a good job of it.  2 of the 3 that I know are independently opening a mattress store that they bought as a franchise.  Low Overhead, like others mentioned high commissions, etc, limited inventory. 

 

While many of you want to buy a mattress online (disruption) the vast majority of people still want to go and check it out in person.  just like eyewear.  One guy has had his open for 6 months and they sell on average 2 mattresses/day in a month and he makes something like $150/mattress as his profit.

 

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i bought a cheap $200 queen-size mattress from amazon. i really can't tell the difference between a $4000 mattress, $1000 mattress, and $200 mattress. plus its much easier to replace (knowing it was so cheap) if for whatever reason i need to do that.

 

Do you have name, model etc?  Please do tell if it's available.  Thanks in advance.  That's what I've been consistently hearing that the confusion between $200, and $1000 and $4,000 mattress is so great that it makes buying one a pain in the butt.

 

Sure, I bought 2 of these:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GTCL3SQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

This mattress had fiberglass issues.  Apparently, the mattress is stuffed with fiberglass and it even gets into the ventilation system for one of the customers.  That's why I didn't buy it. 

 

"1.0 out of 5 starsEveryone look at this! Do not buy! health and home hazard!

ByJ. Swangoon July 23, 2015

Style Name: 8-Inch|Size: Full|Verified Purchase

I bought this mattress in 2012. Fine until I removed the cover. The shell inside around the foam is made of fiberglass. New it is probably fine to take off the removable cover and clean it. I've done it a few times. This time the fibers were broken in tiny tiny pieces. I didn't notice and continued on because they are invisible in the daylight. What happened was my whole house and havac system was contaminated. I mean glass fibers everywhere. It's costing me thousands in clean up. Not to mention I cant stay there while it's how it is. The photo is just one square inch of a black shirt. Hard to get a picture because you can only see them in the dark with a flashlight."

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Everyone has been extremely helpful with the process.  I had some personal reasons why I couldn't conduct full due diligence on mattresses (sleeping on a couch temporarily and desperately need a new mattress so that I can get my zzzs in order to function).  I winded up going with Tuft and Needle.  The reasoning is that I didn't want to and didn't have the time to go to Mattress Firm or Macy's to go bargain and haggle with the sales people.  Ordering online made it a lot easier.  Increasingly I'm buying into the Costco method of buying things, make the options simple.  I hate "options paralysis".  I narrowed it down to Leesa, Casper, and Tuft and Needle.  Frankly Tuft and Needle was the cheaper of those three.  Returning method was easier, just donate it to charity and show receipt. 

 

IMPORTANT - DO NOT ORDER CASPER, LEESA, OR TUFT AND NEEDLE THROUGH AMAZON. The return policy is much less user friendly.  Order through their website.  It's amazing how much research one needs to conduct simply to buy mattresses and I hate being a schmuck.  It made sense for buying a car where the return on investment was worth it.  Between running a fund, researching, and managing staff, saving $2-500 was not enough for me to spend days researching the topic. Also my aching back and reduced productivity was eating into the returns the more that I delay the process. 

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Everyone has been extremely helpful with the process.  I had some personal reasons why I couldn't conduct full due diligence on mattresses (sleeping on a couch temporarily and desperately need a new mattress so that I can get my zzzs in order to function).  I winded up going with Tuft and Needle.  The reasoning is that I didn't want to and didn't have the time to go to Mattress Firm or Macy's to go bargain and haggle with the sales people.  Ordering online made it a lot easier.  Increasingly I'm buying into the Costco method of buying things, make the options simple.  I hate "options paralysis".  I narrowed it down to Leesa, Casper, and Tuft and Needle.  Frankly Tuft and Needle was the cheaper of those three.  Returning method was easier, just donate it to charity and show receipt. 

 

IMPORTANT - DO NOT ORDER CASPER, LEESA, OR TUFT AND NEEDLE THROUGH AMAZON. The return policy is much less user friendly.  Order through their website.  It's amazing how much research one needs to conduct simply to buy mattresses and I hate being a schmuck.  It made sense for buying a car where the return on investment was worth it.  Between running a fund, researching, and managing staff, saving $2-500 was not enough for me to spend days researching the topic. Also my aching back and reduced productivity was eating into the returns the more that I delay the process.

 

I was going to comment but forgot, but I've bought all the mattresses for my house through Costco. Paid I think $1600 for a King and a Queen. Essentially, Costco is in the ballpark enough with pricing that I can sleep. On a $900 mattress, maybe I can spend lots of time trying to find it for $800, but I know what I'm getting more or less so its more convenient to just accept getting a good-average price thru them. Not like a $4,500 mattress that I'll find $1,500 cheaper somewhere else. Found the same thing with patio furniture, some furniture, and even some more expensive tools/home maintenance equipment. With Costco I know I'm getting a quality item, if not their return policy is excellent, and I'm getting a good price. Saves lots of time and energy

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