Bed/mattress-buying advice

[MaxTheVool]

I'm considering buying a new bed/mattress. (Upgrading from a full to a queen.)

I've heard some stuff which makes me think that buying a mattress is a bit like buying a car... you're a fool to pay sticker price, etc.


Anyone have any recommendations for good ways to proceed? Or stores that you've had good experiences with, particularly in the SF bay area?

(Two of the bigger ones seem to be Sleep Train and Mattress Discounters.)


thanks

[KneadToKnow]

All of the last 3 mattress/box-spring sets I've bought came from "we build what we sell" places: one local to Charlotte that now no longer services the consumer market and one a chain, Original Mattress Factory, but they're only east of the Mississippi.

Very happy with their products, probably won't ever buy a mattress/box-spring from a "retail" outlet again.

[LVgeogeek]

Whatever you do, don't just buy a mattress because it's cheap.

A friend of mine bought a mattress because she needed one - Gah! it was awful. She paid about $500 for the set at one of those mattress stores you see in every strip mall.

We currently have a higher end Serta, it's about 5 years old. Our next mattress purchase is going to be the Westin Heavenly Bed mattress set. Best. Bed. Ever. They sell it at Macy's or Bloomingdales.

[Lizard]

Originally Posted by LVgeogeek

Whatever you do, don't just buy a mattress because it's cheap.

Ditto! I learned this the hard way by paying $350 for a cheapo foam mattress and box spring. MAN did I live to regret it!

I think the car analogy is apt in one sense, which is that you may get something good without paying real money, but don't count on it. What surprised me is how many mattress places have salesmen (I'm in PA). My antennae go up anytime I have to deal with salespeople, because they thrive on buyer ignorance. Do some research beforehand, subscribe to Consumer Reports or something like that. A good bed is not cheap, so do some work researching the subject before you buy.

[lobotomyboy63]

Originally Posted by MaxTheVool

I've heard some stuff which makes me think that buying a mattress is a bit like buying a car... you're a fool to pay sticker price, etc.

I bought one last summer. The usual used car buying strategies helped: "Well, they've got one over at Mattress World that's $100 cheaper...and they'll deliver free!" The backpedal pretty quickly, hating to lose a sale because they know you won't be buying again for a long time.

Watch for sales around holidays as well. That way there's already a discount before you even start haggling.

[exclamation!]

I don't have any tips on what to look for in a good mattress (other than don't buy cheap!), but I used to work in manchester and one important thing to look out for is the depth of the mattress. Buy one too deep and you'll have to get the sheets specially made.

Here in Australia the standard depth of a fitted sheet is 35cm. Many are commonly up to 42cm, but any deeper than that and you're paying a lot more in the store (only high end companies make 50cm deep sheets) or having to get them custom made.

I've had at least 10 customers who have gone out and bought a beautiful, plush new mattress, only to find they now have to spend at least double the ordinary price on their sheets.

For this reason, I'd also reccomend you try and avoid mattresses with a built in pillow top. Same problems!

[commasense]

DO NOT pay the listed price! Shopping for a new mattress last summer, I went into Mattress Discounters and tried out a bunch of different models. After deciding that I like a firm mattress with a pillow top, I expressed interest in a Simmons Beautyrest with a list price of about $2,200. When I said I liked it, but couldn't pay that much, the saleswoman said it had been on sale a week or so earlier. She got on the phone to see if she could still offer the sale price, and came back and said I could have it for $1,100. So obviously, prices are highly negotiable.

I ended up buying a similar Simmons Beautyrest at another store for under $800.

BTW, the whole business of mattress stores saying they won't be undersold, or will match other stores' prices seems to be a complete scam. From what I could tell in my shopping research, different stores don't carry the same model of mattress: they have the same brands, but similar mattresses have different model names in different stores. Presumably they do this so they can make these falsely reassuring claime and discourage comparison shopping.

So go and try out as many mattresses as you can, and pick the features and general style you like. Tell the sales person you're willing to pay half of the list price. When he/she says, no, walk out. (Not too quickly: they may offer a lower price before you get to the door.) Go to the next store, repeat.

If my experience is any guide, you should be able to get a mattress you really like for half the list price or less.

[Sue Duhnym]

I've bought three mattresses/box springs in the past two years from Sleep Train so you could say I'm a happy customer. The last set, they made a mistake in the order (Cal King vs regular King) and we discovered it at delivery. They took is away and got me the correct one about four hours later, which was nice. I went to the store at Blossom Hill and Santa Teresa in Almaden but I'm sure they're all equally good.

My advice on actually buying a set is to buy the most expensive set you can afford. I replaced my old set with an ungodly expensive Beautyrest with the individual coils and I have not regretted it for one second. My husband outweighs me by about 120 lbs and I no longer wake up every time he rolls over. I LOVE my mattress.

Oh, and the different chains will carry the same mattresses but with different fabric covers and different names so it's purposely difficult to compare.

[lobotomyboy63]

Originally Posted by commasense

BTW, the whole business of mattress stores saying they won't be undersold, or will match other stores' prices seems to be a complete scam. From what I could tell in my shopping research, different stores don't carry the same model of mattress: they have the same brands, but similar mattresses have different model names in different stores. Presumably they do this so they can make these falsely reassuring claime and discourage comparison shopping.

Yes, IME, this seems to be true. I wonder if the mfrs make a mattress but then change the pattern on the fabric or make some other esoteric change, call it by a different model name, and ship it to a different retailer.

When shopping for stereo equipment in the 80s and 90s I think they accomplished it by not letting anyone and everyone retail it. Go to one place and find the price on something; shop on and find the next place doesn't even carries a similar level of stuff but nothing in that brand. Now that people can buy so much on line, I'm not sure if they've continued that practice.

[bathsheba]

You can buy a memory foam topper for a fraction of the price of a memory foam mattress and it's just the same.

[gfloyd]

You might want to hit one of the mis match sales. Stores that are trying to grid rid of stuff that doesn't match will sell it for cheap. We got a 1200 dollar mattress that we really wanted for 400 dollars. The box spring doesn't match, but really, who cares. They are both white and no one will ever see them not covered in sheets.

[Anne Neville]

Sleep Train advertises on KCBS (or they used to)- if you listen to their traffic reports, you have a fairly good chance of finding out when they're having a sale. I got my queen bed from Sleep Train in 2001, and I've always been happy with it.

Sleep Train will (or at least they used to) deliver and take away your old mattress and box spring for you. That may be important if you have a small car and limited storage space (both common in the Bay Area). I would certainly much rather overpay by a few hundred dollars than have to deal with storing or getting rid of the old mattress and box spring myself.

Originally Posted by gfloyd

The box spring doesn't match, but really, who cares. They are both white and no one will ever see them not covered in sheets.

Anyone who comments on a mismatched mattress and box springs really, desperately, needs to get a life.

[commasense]

Originally Posted by Anne Neville

Sleep Train will (or at least they used to) deliver and take away your old mattress and box spring for you. That may be important if you have a small car and limited storage space (both common in the Bay Area). I would certainly much rather overpay by a few hundred dollars than have to deal with storing or getting rid of the old mattress and box spring myself.

IME, nearly all mattress retailers do this, either including it in the price or charging an extra $100 or so. It shouldn't cost a couple of hundred.

[micro-dust]

My advice is to "downgrade" from a full to a twin. The bigger the bed, the more sag there is. This is just physics. And the more sag, the worse your rest.

[araminty]

Originally Posted by micro-dust

My advice is to "downgrade" from a full to a twin.

Uh, nope... not gonna happen.

[Captain_C]

How cheap is too cheap though? My girlfriend and I have been debating upgrading from our current 20 year old twin-sized bed (it's cozy!) to a queen-sized pillow top. We've resorted to flippng the current mattress every month or so, but now the springs are poking out one side so that isn't going to be an option much longer.

There is a store down the road that sells factory defect mattresses for about $350 (really, who cares if one of the edges is frayed? The sheets cover it). Seems better than my current setup, but from what I'm hearing in this thread I'd be worse off. Does anyone have any comments on mattresses in this price range?