I need advice on buying a mattress. Is anything under $500 really going to be THAT bad?

I bought a used mattress on CraigsList for $40. It was very comfortable and lasted years!

Why would someone you are not married to have a say-so in the mattress you are buying?

MattyTheMattressSalesman wrote:

Facts:

-I am looking for a Queen for me and my girlfriend

-She prefers a pillow-top

-BJ's Wholesale Club and Big Lots have those for at or under $500

-Mattress guy down the road has them for $500 to as-much-as-you-want-to-spend

-Have visited mattress stores and am totally put off by the idea of buying one from a salesman

-Mattress stores are shady, shady places and mattresses are marketed in such a way that you never know if you're getting a good deal or not

Currently I'm erring toward buying a BJ's or Big Lots mad-deal mattress because I'm skeptical that it will even make much of a difference. Talk me into/out of it, please.

Im in the exact situation...anyone have good advice?

Buy one online and read the reviews.

I bought a King for $400 on Amazon and it is wonderful.

Check out the following:

Tuft and needle

Casper

Leetsa

We have a queen size tuft and needle and love it. Decided on it because it was firmest. Just bought a twin for our son, and I can't say enough about their customer service.

It's actually "Leesa"

Check this out from their website:

All 100% American made

"All Leesa mattresses include a 100 night in-home trial backed by a no-hassle, full refund policy.

What sets Leesa apart as a company is our industry leading social impact program. We measure our success as much by looking at our impact on the world as we do by our revenue and profit. The program has 3 separate initiatives. We donate mattresses, we plant trees and we support our local community. It’s a deep rooted program that is the heart and soul of our company."

If you've ever owned a really good King you'll appreciate the difference.

Keep in mind firmness. Firm beds are better for certain things while softer is great for sleeping.

Alan

Regular Poster wrote:

Why would someone you are not married to have a say-so in the mattress you are buying?

+1. You shouldn't be cohabiting with someone you're not married to. If you "love" her enough to live with her, then marry her. Otherwise, cut bait.

Depends.

I lived for years on a 500 dollar mattress and loved it. However, as I have gotten older (40 now) I really appreciate a firm mattress that won't sink in the middle or have soft spots.

I just bought a mattress last year and went high end. 100% latex. It is amazingly comfortable, quite firm, and should last for 15-20 years. I bought it at a small mattress factory in my region of NC. It was pricey (aprox. 1500) but not nearly as much as the high-end ones you find in the stores, and it was custom made to my specifications (i.e. no foam filler layers).

If you want reviews of good mattress and places, I recommend sleeplikethedead.com and check out the forum there.

Dave Ramsey listener wrote:

Regular Poster wrote:

Why would someone you are not married to have a say-so in the mattress you are buying?

+1. You shouldn't be cohabiting with someone you're not married to. If you "love" her enough to live with her, then marry her. Otherwise, cut bait.

What? And deprive me of my business?

Just be sure you try it out first.

Yes, mattress stores are scary places to visit.

Worse than car lots.

You should get a king bed, it will change your life... you'll never go back to a queen.

The first 2 months my wife and I were married we slept on a queen, it was awful, we now have a king and it's wonderful. It might sound like we are old (30) but now if we go to a hotel and there are two queen beds instead of a king, we sleep in separate queens; we're also both over 6' so that's probably a factor.

Aren't mattresses like all $399 around Columbus Day or any other non-religious holiday? We got ours from Macy's about 4 years ago, can't remember what we paid, probably not more than $1,000, but it's delightful.

Is Mattress Discounters still around?

I used to love their jingle. Everybody now...

Lay on it...

buyer of reviewed mattresses wrote:

Buy one online and read the reviews.

I bought a King for $400 on Amazon and it is wonderful.

THIS! I bought mine off Overstock.com based on (hundreds) of reviews. $500-$600 got me a tempurpedic that compares well to the $2,000+ mattresses in the stores.

You're right that mattress salesmen are slimy. I used to deliver for a mattress store, and the salesmen that they had working for the stores were worth then used car dealers. They'd sell the same mattress for $1000 to one person and then $700 to another. Go towards the end of the month when they're really desperate to hit their mark for the month. They'll give stuff away at that point.

Slimeballs.

My son bought one from Big Lots and got a real good deal. They had a memory foam, a Serta I believe, on sale but only had the demo/floor model left. He got it for $300 and really likes it so far.

Thanks for all the replies guys. Figure I'll address some things:

I'm allowing my girlfriend to dictate the firmness of the mattress because we are moving in together and her comfort means a little more than mine (I go with the flow)

I don't need a king. At least not at this point in my life.

It sounds like there are two camps in this thread: buyers of high-end beds that are happy with their purchase; and buyers of second-hand or cut-rate beds that are happy with their purchase.

I think I'll look on Overstock and keep monitoring your replies.

Mattress stores are terrible. It's all designed to confuse and make comparison shopping impossible. There's no relationship between price and quality there. There's also a lot of collusion between competitors.

Some of the new online startups are a bit better in terms of transparency and customer service, but they're only so-so when it comes to value.

Almost everyone loves Tempur-Pedic, but it's very expensive.

Sleep Number is mediocre, but is a decent solution for people with radically different firmness preferences.

My advice is to get a Zinus or a Signature Sleep. These are made in China foam mattresses that are far and away the best value you'll find. I have them for all the bedrooms in my house, and all of my guests remark that they love them. I consider that the real evidence, because mattress preference is idiosyncratic. If a lot of people like them, then they're good.

If your girlfriend wants a pillow top, don't get it as part of the mattress. Just buy something separate.