Five ways to always get a good deal on a bedAre we buying a mattress or fixing Matthew McConaughey's space ship in Interstellar? These layers of confusing jargon do little to comfort stressed-out consumers looking for a new mattress. To help cut through the clutter, we contacted a retired industry insider known as "The Old Bed Guy." The 85-year old former bed maker and seller now runs a popular mattress consumer information site where he gives out his (somewhat cranky) advice. “Mattresses have no real value,” said 'Marshall Coyle,' a pseudonym he uses to avoid blowback from the tight-knit mattress community to which he used to belong. That statement is a rude awakening to anyone who's peeped at the price tags after taking a stroll through a mattress showroom lately. With prices running into the thousands, dreams of better "zzz's" are quickly zapped by sticker shock. Tanya Constantine/Blend Images / Today The Old Bed Guy is talking about the markup versus the actual value of the steel, foam, and wool that goes inside a bed.
For example, he said, it might cost a factory $600 to make a mattress that they sell to a big department store for $1,300. That store might then slap a price of $2,999 on it, then give it a big discount during one of the never-ending sales, he said. "The money goes for something other than what you're sleeping on," said Coyle. While every business is entitled to try to make a profit, every maker also has its own special lingo. That makes true comparison shopping difficult. Some of the differences are real. Some are just marketing vapor. Rather than try to explain it all and risk being as bewildering as the confusion we're supposed to be relieving, here are 5 tips from the perspective of The Old Bed Guy that always get you a better deal on a mattress, no matter what store or manufacturer you're dealing with. Look for stores that have their own factoriesA few smaller regional stores make their own mattresses in their own factories. That cuts out the middleman. "I don't know of a better way as far as value," said Coyle.
Stores in this category include Charles P. Rogers, McRoskey, Original Mattress Factory, and Verlo. Their stores aren't everywhere, but the savings and quality difference is enough that this reporter nearly considered a 10-hour road trip just to get a bed. Buy based on weightIf you're a fan of strong, long-lasting steel coils, a heavier mattresses usually mean there's more quality materials inside. "They have 12-15 inches to fill," said The Old Bed Guy. "You can stretch your coils and make them tall and thin." Typical mass-produced beds weigh about 90 lbs while higher grade beds can weigh around 120 lbs, he said. But you won't find this info online, you'll have to buttonhole the sales agent or bed maker to get the details. Buy at the end of the year"If anything is for real," said Coyle of the mattress business, "the periods when people don't buy mattresses see the best deals." Few buy before Christmas, saving room on the credit card for the holiday shopping spree.
The last 2 weeks of December are a prime time as stores try to unload inventory before the new year. Good savings can also be had the first two weeks of January. Be careful with Internet-only storesSome online outfits say they pass on the savings of not having any retail outlets. But it's not that hard to set up a shop and outsource manufacturing and shipping to China. That can create an accountability gap that leaves consumers in a lurch if their bed starts giving them lumps. "If they won't give you their street address, don't give them your credit card," said Coyle.Latex costs more and is worth more, period," said Coyle.The biggest pain about buying a new mattress is … well, just about everything. You spend an hour in the store, awkwardly flopping on and off beds trying to find the one that meets the Goldilocks standard of “just right.” Then you have to lug the winning mattress across the parking lot, onto your car roof, up stairs, and into your home. I recently transplanted from New York City to San Francisco, and the first major purchase I made — hesitantly — was a new mattress.
But I did things a little differently this time. Casper, called “the Warby Parker of mattresses,” sells mattresses on its website and delivers them to your door in a box not much bigger than a nightstand. The Manhattan-based sleep startup raised $13 million in Series A funding last August, and famously generated $1 million in its first 28 days after launch. My shopping experience began online, and was over and done with in fewer than 10 minutes. Casper sells just one type of mattress, dubbed “The Casper Mattress,” because the company prefers to “put all our energy into building the ideal bed … rather than confuse you with tens (or hundreds) of models that all start to feel the same after a while.” It combines latex foam for cooling and bounce, and memory foam for support. A hand-sewn, custom-designed cover seals the layers. I ordered a full-sized mattress for $750, comforted by the knowledge that I could return my Casper mattress for any reason within 100 days.
Plus, it was free to ship! Less than one week later, it arrived! My roommates wheeled the box on a cart into my room. We turned it upright and cut open the box. Inside, a cloth bag held instructions and … … the most adorable little letter opener. I held the box at a 45-degree angle as my boyfriend wiggled the mattress out. It weighed about 60 pounds. We cut the mattress free from its felt binding using the letter opener. Then came time for the “unfurling.” The 10-inch-thick mattress expanded and flattened as it filled with air. My boyfriend cut through the plastic and the mattress sprung to life. In seconds, it was ready for sleeping. Here it is, all done up. I’ve slept in the bed for a few nights now, and here are my takeaways. The Casper Mattress is surprisingly springy, even for an experienced Tempur-Pedic-sleeper like myself. Its latex-and-memory-foam combination absorbs and contours to my body like a sponge. That said, the sinkage is minimal.