We bought a nice king size mattress last year and its great. It must be 2 feet thick. We got a deal on it but it must cost at least $1500 brand new. The thing is, my favourite and most comfortable place to sleep is not the spiffy new mattress but my in son’s bed. His mattress is about 3 inches thick but it lays on wood slatting for support. The mattress is probably worth less than $100.
Have we been duped by the mattress companies into buying something we don’t need? Is there a reason we need such expensive beds?
I’m afraid that when it comes to mattresses, (or shoes) there’s no such thing as “quality”. A mattress either fits you or it fits not. The advantage of buying cheap matresses is that it allows you to try out more matresses untill you find a good match.
What we really need is a Doper Headpillow Swap.
Pillows can be easily sent by mail, and everyone could try every pillow untill he found a perfect match. The only problem is the ick-factor, but OTOH: who here hasn’t slept on a hotel pillow?
There’s more to beds than sleeping.
There’s more to just about anything than its intended purpose if you’re playing your cards right.
As for the OP though – I’m sure there is such a thing as “quality” as least as far as materials and workmanship is concerned, but the best bed in the world isn’t worth a squirt of dingo piddle against your personal sleeping preferences. Some people swear by waterbeds. I can’t bloody stand them – even the motionless sort. Makes me feel like I’m lying on a gigantic tit[sup]*[/sup]. Others love pillowtop mattresses. For me – meh. The sensation of sinking into a bed is slightly disturbing, especially when I’m rolling over. I prefer a bed that’s moderately firm and preferably diffuses motion – like those pocket coil mattresses. Those are nice, and I’d like to eventually pick one up. But that’s just be. I’m sure there are those out there who feel like they’re sleeping on the bowling pins used to advertise the bed’s stability.
Basically, if a $100 mattress gives you a good night’s sleep then by all means, take a pass on that $1,200 pillow-topped, pocket-coiled, liquid-filled, Kama-Sutra-positionable, shiatsu-massaging model, buy the $100 flophouse bunk and use difference towards a nice big plasma TV. 
[sup]* Note: I have absolutely nothing against tits, alone or in pairs, but as bedding material, only my cats seem to consider them comfortable.[/sup]
The most comfortable bed I ever had was a thick foam mattress laid directly on a hardwood floor.
Springs, OTOH, even the best ones give me backaches. Once, in a hotel, it was so bad that I just spread a blanket on the floor and had a good night’s sleep.
I would agree with everyone else. The value in a mattress is how well you sleep on it. Those space-foam mattresses are outrageously expensive (one place quoted me $5,000) but I can’t feel comfortable in them.
Ended up settling on the two foot thick monster pillowtop for about $1,500. But it feels great. Hoping that long-term it gets rid of the backaches I suffered in the old $800 job.
I don’t know how well the $100 bed will hold up over a couple of years. But if it does, then that’s the bed for you.
I have an inflatable, twin-sized air matrress I used for camping that is more comfortable than any bed other than my own.
It cost me about $35 – inflator included. WalMart.
I swear to god, the best sleep I ever get is when I lay my back on the floor. As long as I have a pillow, I don’t need any support. Kinda wierd but it does the back good. Something fierce!
Sadly, the platform bed went out of style a few years ago. I’m slow to change, so I still have the one I bought in 1986. It has a Stearns and Foster mattress that cost as much as the 300 lb bed. The mattress is still very comfortable, even with two, fat, old farts sleeping on it for all those years.
Let me guess.
It’s too soft?
Some people like soft mattresses, others prefer firm.
My wife and I? We prefer firm, but I also was able to purchase a firm kingsized two-foot-thick Seally Posturepedic less than one year old through Cheapcycle (google it), for $100 cash. This was also easily $1500 new, complete with box springs etc… No stains, no smells, no nothing. I’d always thought “used mattress”? EWww. But no, after a few nights it’s “your dirt”.
To answer the question, no, there is no reason we “need” them other than comfort and a good night’s sleep.
Good luck.
Sorry I forgot to mention, this new bed is perfect in every way.
It’s by far the most comfortable I’ve ever slept in. But I knew exactly what I was getting before I bought it, as we had been mattress shopping for a while ahead of time.
I think mattresses are, in general, the biggest scam around. My wife and I are temporarily (just for a few months) in Hong Kong, and got a semi-furnished apartment. Since our stay is short, we didn’t want to spend lots of money on beds, mattresses, etc., so we just bought a couple of super cheap, thin (ca. 6-7 inches thick) mattresses and laid them straight on the floor. We both sleep just as well as when we were sleeping on regular (and vastly more expensive) mattresses. This has made me suspect that very few people actually need an expensive mattress (much less a box spring). Hell, we don’t even need a bed.
Again, for the second time tonight, I had an epic post composed.
My laptop said, “See ya!”… and that was that.
Quickly, I’ll say that mattresses on boxsprings CAN be good.
Those who grew up on a 3" pad on a piece of wood: more power to you. Enjoy a night in a fancy Vegas hotel some night. In fact, try growing up on one, then going back to that.
p.s. I prefer FIRM.
edit: expensive: NO. Comfortable: YES.
There is a difference, but in the US the mattress nazis tend to overblow it for the rich. Fine. Who cares how much they want to spend? They’ll sell it in 6 months to me for 10% the purchase price.