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Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

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Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#151

Post by 3pt14159 »

wonder_bread wrote: post #16

Seems like part of what this article is discussing is the emerging 'Shopify effect'. The barriers to entry for starting an online brand-based business have plummetted to the point where even people with little means financially and no means technically can still set up a business for a fraction of what it cost in the 20th century. I wouldn't be surprised if we're in the middle of a Cambrian explosion-esque period for…

It will turn into what eBay turned into: Cheap, misrepresented crap. Web design used to be a reliable way of judging a stores product quality, but less and less every day.

Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#152

Post by pbhjpbhj »

gregsadetsky wrote: post #13

In addition to the article's points, it seems to me that the experience of dealing with aggressive/manipulative salespeople in a "classic" retail mattress store cannot be compared to the feeling that I get from most online stores. Questions on my budget, spending time to show me the mattresses (and then making me feel guilty that they spent all of this time on me), etc. Offering me a "last minute" deal once they saw…

When we bought our IKEA mattress they offered a 12 month 'satisfaction' return period.

Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#153

Post by pbhjpbhj »

Johnny555 wrote: post #115
lsc wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://purple.com/refund-policy "Purple will cover the shipping or pickup charges for returns and exchanges, except when there are extenuating circumstances. You will be informed beforehand if extra charges will apply." which is consistent with what I was saying, which is that you don't have to pay return shipping. But I think you are right that shipping costs dominate; from what I hear, the reputable brands will gi…

That's only during their initial 100 day refund period ("comfort trial", etc) -- if a year later you find that the mattress has developed a human sized permanent depression, then you pay for return shipping yourself as well as the costs of shipping a replacement (or repaired) mattress back to you. From their warranty page: Any to-or-from transportation handling and costs and inspection costs associated with repairs o…

> if a year later you find that the mattress has developed a human sized permanent depression //

Minimum warranty period in EU is 2 years.

Under the UK Sale of Goods Act products have to be free from defect, there's no official time limit, it's based on expectations in part. A mattress should last much longer, so that would be a defect in manufacturing and the _seller_ has to make good (repair or replace at their cost).

Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#154

Post by astura »

st26 wrote: post #64
dboreham wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this is interesting look at how often Americans think they have to change the oil in their vehicles. Even if said oil is synthetic.

"think"? The manufacturer specifies the interval, and you best follow it if you'd like your warranty honored.

My manufacturer specifies 1 year or 10,000 miles. However, growing up I was told that you shouldn't go more than 3 months or 3,000 miles between oil changes.

Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#155

Post by mavhc »

dgreensp wrote: post #114

Remember how the movies Armageddon and Deep Impact both came out in the same year? (Apparently it was 1998.) It was so weird to have a choice of two bad asteroid movies, which wasn’t exactly a common trope at the time. I got a similar feeling when a company advertised in my Facebook feed that it had “reinvented belts,” and then a different company advertised more or less the same thing a few weeks later! Same with pi…

I assume for cgi based films it's partly due to the technology available that year.

Got a link for the belt?

Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#156

Post by thaumasiotes »

alister wrote: post #90

The journalist spoke to all these founders and to marketing people, but didn't ask a fairly obvious question: What makes the mattress market so much weirder than for other products? Let's compare mattresses to big-screen TVs, which are also $1000+, infrequently purchased, bulky items: - The article says, "If consumers recognize a brand, it creates a situation where mattress stores are slashing prices to compete with…

> Why do mattress manufacturers obfuscate the model numbers so that "every one of the stores gets a slightly different mattress" making it impossible for consumers to compare? TVs aren't like that.

TVs can be like that. Costco is known for using different SKUs for what would otherwise be the same product.

Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#157

Post by fabianhoward »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #149
chime wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - The article says, "If consumers recognize a brand, it creates a situation where mattress stores are slashing prices to compete with each other." But how is that different for Samsung or LG TVs? I can speak for this because I've actually experienced this. When I went to a local mattress store and found a mattress I liked, I was unable to find it online by name/model. Only references I found were to the same mattre…

Tech does get different model numbers when sold in different places sometimes too (in the UK). Usually there's small changes to the spec as well.

I think that's fair enough though. If the product ships with a different plug attached then it makes sense to have a slightly different number. With most tech brands (Dell monitors spring to mind) that variation is consistent across their lineup and across the slightly different models they put out each year.

Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#158

Post by dalbasal »

The margins in this industry and its structure are almost an economic paradox. The dynamic is basically (1) markups are very high (2) manufacturing is a solved problem and (3) there is lots of competition.

This should resolve to a very competitive market with costs trending to marginal manufacturing cost. Instead, you have high prices for consumers and competition for the tremendous sales margins driving a marketing bidding war. IE consumers pay 400%. 100% is used to make mattresses. 300% is used to market mattresses.

IMO, this is something like the wine industry. People want a premium product, but a premium product doesn't exist. So, the market spoofs it with marketing.

Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#159

Post by sokoloff »

3pt14159 wrote: post #151
wonder_bread wrote: post #16

Seems like part of what this article is discussing is the emerging 'Shopify effect'. The barriers to entry for starting an online brand-based business have plummetted to the point where even people with little means financially and no means technically can still set up a business for a fraction of what it cost in the 20th century. I wouldn't be surprised if we're in the middle of a Cambrian explosion-esque period for…

It will turn into what eBay turned into: Cheap, misrepresented crap. Web design used to be a reliable way of judging a stores product quality, but less and less every day.

A fine example of Goodhart’s Law

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law

Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#160

Post by barrkel »

katzgrau wrote: post #83
gregsadetsky wrote: post #13

In addition to the article's points, it seems to me that the experience of dealing with aggressive/manipulative salespeople in a "classic" retail mattress store cannot be compared to the feeling that I get from most online stores. Questions on my budget, spending time to show me the mattresses (and then making me feel guilty that they spent all of this time on me), etc. Offering me a "last minute" deal once they saw…

I second that. I recently bought a king size tempur, upgrading from my queen size (which got moved to my spare room). It's not just comfortable - it's next level. I slept on a Casper at an airbnb for a full month this past summer - it's not bad but it isn't tempurpedic. Ps, check my past comments - I am not a shill, just someone who digs tempurpedic.

I sleep on a Tempur-pedic and I don't like it. I turn around at night and the mattress resists that, giving me neck pain since I have to arch even more in the turn to compensate. And it's not so great for sleeping face down, because of the way I sink in. I rarely wake up without some kind of neck or shoulder pain.

I should replace it with something else, but I'm far from sure I can find something.

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