Negotiating room on a "high end" mattress?

[VanTheMan]

I bought a $400 queen pillowtop mattress/box set from Denver Mattress and I get better sleep now than I ever have before.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

Everytime I see this thread I keep thinking the title is "Negotiating room on a high-end mistress"

 

[silverpig]

A friend of mine worked in a mattress factory for a few weeks. He said the only real difference between the mid and high range mattresses was that there were more springs in the expensive ones. What's the added cost of say, 50 extra springs?

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Naustica
I don't know. That's why I try to buy things at Costco because they only have max markup of 14% on any item with the average being around 9%. With Costco buying power, they get about the absolute lowest price possible from their supplier.

3k sounds lot for a mattress but I'm cheap and happy with my $600 mattress.

Some people need to spend a lot of money to feel like they're getting something that's good.

See: $1500 vacuums.

You're the grouchiest grouch on these forums

Has anyone ever done ANYTHING you've approved of?

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

$3,000 =

 

[Scarpozzi]

In my experience, the hookers don't care if it's a $3000 bed or not.

Mattress store guys like to throw lines like, "You spend more time in the bed room than any other room of the house. Shouldn't you invest in a quality mattress?" What you want is a quality feather bed. The mattress is just a utilitarian portion of the bed as a whole. When it comes to making a bed feel like $3000, I've done it for a lot less by buying quality pieces and will be able to swap out my mattress in 8 years without even regretting it.

Honestly,
There are two basic matress types: firm vs pillowtopper models. Aside from the top layer, they're internally the same. Expensive mattresses tend to cost around $1800 and up but you don't really get much for the money except for straps on the side of the coils or sealed coil packs, thicker, smaller coils that are packed close together for stability, or whatever other patented technology the company happens to claim. What saves you is that you don't really feel the coils. You can see how they work in demos, but they all sort of feel similar. What you probably will like is a bed that gives you support, but the case I'm trying to make here is that the average vs expensive mattresses aren't about the coils.

The coils will usually last 10-15 years based on their thickness. Though some may boast 20 years in their warranties, I wouldn't buy that. A mattress that's slept on starts breaking down within a few years of use. What is most noticable on the expensive models are how they vary when it comes to the pillow-topper materials. The top layer in an expensive mattress is usally thicker and the pillow-topper is made of denser foam so it has a more plush feel that tends not to wear out as quickly.

My advice:

Buy a quality mattress under $1000. Be aware that mattress stores expect to make the most money and you might be better off going through Sears or even Sams Club/Costco, etc... Before you say, "I wanted a good quality mattress", remember the mattress isn't what you sleep on....it's just the support system under what you sleep on:"

Purchase a mattress cover($30-50), a featherbed ($100-200) (be careful not to get one that ends up poking you with feathers), and some high quality sheets ($100-300).
Then buy a 42" LCD TV with the money you just saved to hang on the wall in front of your new bed.

 

[eLiu]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
My advice:

Buy a quality mattress under $1000. Be aware that mattress stores expect to make the most money and you might be better off going through Sears or even Sams Club/Costco, etc... Before you say, "I wanted a good quality mattress", remember the mattress isn't what you sleep on....it's just the support system under what you sleep on:"

Purchase a mattress cover($30-50), a featherbed ($100-200) (be careful not to get one that ends up poking you with feathers), and some high quality sheets ($100-300).
Then buy a 42" LCD TV with the money you just saved to hang on the wall in front of your new bed.

The featherbed is no joke. It can make a sh1tty mattress feel decent. Before I left for college (dorm life), my mom dropped ~$100 on a featherbed. I was pretty skeptical and even tempted to not use it until I tried my room mattress with/without. It's a "night and day" kind of difference. Everyone comments on how (relatively) comfortable my bed is. And it's even better once I "borrowed" a newer/firmer mattress from the freshman rooms

Keep in mind that my mattress is undoubtedly a piece of crap. I'm sure you could spend $200 and get something way better than what I have. But $3000? Can you really feel the difference? Give the featherbed a try. The only better solution I've seen is a girl who had that tempurpedic form-fitting foam. That stuff is REALLY comfortable (though pretty damn squishy)

 

[Pliablemoose]

Rossman's got it right, find something at a warehouse store, mattress stores are a perfect example of how to get screwed quickly.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: LoKe
That's a lot of money for a freakin' mattress...

Seeing as how it will last him 10+ years, and that most of us spend at least 1/3rd of our life in our bed, i think spending a few grand is worth it.

As for the markup... there is a huge markup, but you also have to take into account the size of mattresses and furniture. Inventory space is not cheap, and that's a huge overhead that they need to take into account. Inventory also doesn't have a quick turnaround like apples or bananas... since mattresses do last decades or longer (most people keep their mattress longer than their car), they're not getting repeat customers, and a lot of these items stay in storage for a longer period of time than other merchandise.

If you want cheap, go with a Japanese-style roll-up futon.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
In my experience, the hookers don't care if it's a $3000 bed or not.

Mattress store guys like to throw lines like, "You spend more time in the bed room than any other room of the house. Shouldn't you invest in a quality mattress?" What you want is a quality feather bed. The mattress is just a utilitarian portion of the bed as a whole. When it comes to making a bed feel like $3000, I've done it for a lot less by buying quality pieces and will be able to swap out my mattress in 8 years without even regretting it.

Honestly,
There are two basic matress types: firm vs pillowtopper models. Aside from the top layer, they're internally the same. Expensive mattresses tend to cost around $1800 and up but you don't really get much for the money except for straps on the side of the coils or sealed coil packs, thicker, smaller coils that are packed close together for stability, or whatever other patented technology the company happens to claim. What saves you is that you don't really feel the coils. You can see how they work in demos, but they all sort of feel similar. What you probably will like is a bed that gives you support, but the case I'm trying to make here is that the average vs expensive mattresses aren't about the coils.

The coils will usually last 10-15 years based on their thickness. Though some may boast 20 years in their warranties, I wouldn't buy that. A mattress that's slept on starts breaking down within a few years of use. What is most noticable on the expensive models are how they vary when it comes to the pillow-topper materials. The top layer in an expensive mattress is usally thicker and the pillow-topper is made of denser foam so it has a more plush feel that tends not to wear out as quickly.

My advice:

Buy a quality mattress under $1000. Be aware that mattress stores expect to make the most money and you might be better off going through Sears or even Sams Club/Costco, etc... Before you say, "I wanted a good quality mattress", remember the mattress isn't what you sleep on....it's just the support system under what you sleep on:"

Purchase a mattress cover($30-50), a featherbed ($100-200) (be careful not to get one that ends up poking you with feathers), and some high quality sheets ($100-300).
Then buy a 42" LCD TV with the money you just saved to hang on the wall in front of your new bed.

That seems pretty right on.

Problem is I cheaped out on my last mattress and it shows. 6 years old and it's done. I think a lot of my back trouble is because of it.

This mattress was PERFECT, but I can't see spending that much money on a freaking mattress. I like your approach of spending more on a featherbed and good sheets.

The most comfortable seem to be a firm with a nice pillowtop.