Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Casper Sleep S-1

sec.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 162 posts

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#51

Post by wayoutthere »

throwlaplace wrote: post #40
samcampbell wrote: post #8

Disaggregated Revenue Data (Nine months ended September 30) Direct to Consumer: 2018- $239M; 2019- $259M [13% YoY growth] Wholesale: 2018- $31M; 2019- $54M [75% YoY growth] "20.3% year-over-year net revenue growth for the nine months ended September 30, 2019" "We have also expanded our gross margin from 42.8% in 2016 to 44.1% in 2018 and to 50.7% for the three months ended September 30, 2019"

those are great (fantastic?) margins but i don't understand why they're not higher? there are so many memory foam mattresses on amazon that are exactly the same thing (maybe slightly shallower "soft foam" that run for e.g. ~300 for a queen that are themselves probably making great margins.

I have a Casper and I tend to sweat a lot at night so I was looking for a more premium mattress with better ventilation. When I've spent the night with "friends" who have cheaper foam mattresses, I often wake up drenched in sweat.

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#52

Post by rconti »

blackearl wrote: post #11
tempsy wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so even people who are cash strapped are willing to overpay for a commodity item if they perceive it to be the best in a certain price range...? i guess purchasing behavior is very different for things you buy very infrequently like a mattress? looking at Costco and a highly rated foam comparable to Casper is $500...

It's really hard to know what's a good price for a mattress. You might buy 1 per decade, people forget what the experience or price was like. I spent a lot of time researching then gave up and went to a "mattress outlet" laid on a few, then got one for around $400. I sleep fine, probably better than I ever have. There's also so much info on springs, foam, latex, rubber, on and on. It's overwhelming. Casper has good m…

Shopped for a mattress with my wife. Tried pretty much everything in the store. her favorite was a firm no-frills no topper low end "brand" name mattress (one of the big 3). Was nice to get something delivered for $600ish in a california king. I was more-or-less prepared to spend whatever it took to get something we both liked. That was easy.

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#53

Post by cmdshiftf4 »

opportune wrote: post #10

Interesting that they want to explore medical devices, “sleep services”, and sleep supplements. Guess they are marketing themselves as the Amazon of sleep? Because right now all I know about them is that they sell overpriced mattresses

Though my initial response to the title was to laugh, upon further thought I think they're actually making a smart play here.

They're essentially betting on "optimizing wellness" being a huge fad this decade, which I believe many others are predicting, and are using their current position to get more cash to get ahead of that.

I don't associate Casper with "a quality night of sleep", probably because I'm happy with my current mattress and have no need of their product, but at the same time I couldn't name a single one of the current applications that exist to track + "optimize" sleep / circadian cycles, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that, so who knows? Maybe in 2030 we'll all be moaning about Casper putting up their Nighty Night subscription another $7 for "HD dreams" and reluctantly acquiescing to it.

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#54

Post by 0zymandias »

Many engineers would benefit from spending a year in sales and a year in marketing.

There is a whole other way to look at products like this that is often missed if you haven’t done the time.

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#55

Post by cycrutchfield »

mundo wrote: post #35

I bought a latex mattress several years ago, and will never buy another mattress. (Literally, they last 50+ years) Feels great, available in a range of firmness, no weird smells, never deforms, doesn't get hot, and naturally insect/mold resistant. I think I paid 1300 USD for a king size. I know that's only tangentially relevant to the topic at hand, I'm just mentioning this since I had trouble finding much info on th…

+1 for latex mattresses. Better than memory foam in every way.

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#57

Post by jcampbell1 »

tyingq wrote: post #31
tempsy wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$1100+tax is more than double what you'd pay at Ikea, Amazon, Costco, etc. I thought the promise of all these direct-to-consumer products was to pass savings onto the consumer because they are vertically integrated and cut out scammy middle men. Seems like all that's happened is they just keep fat margins for themselves.

There are plenty of 12 inch memory foam mattresses on Amazon that are in the $300-$400 range for a Queen size, including shipping. I'm happy with the "Zinus" brand.

In the past 5 years I have owned a Casper at $850, a tuft and needle for $750, and something by Ashley for $350. I think I like the Ashley slightly better but they are virtually indistinguishable. I second the recommendation to go cheap.

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#58

Post by newnewpdro »

sfblah wrote: post #41

When I was 23 and doing startups full time, I slept on a hardwood floor with just a blanket and a pillow. Helped me to get up in the morning and do work, did nothing bad for my body as far as I can tell.

I've slept on a carpeted floor for decades, zero back issues.

Just one night sleeping on a conventional mattress leaves me with weird back pains and a stiff neck.

Not only are they costly and a PITA to move, mattresses waste a lot of space too.

Traditional Japanese tatami mats are basically the same thing in terms of flatness and hardness, they're not known for having sleep/back troubles.

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#59

Post by gilbetron »

mundo wrote: post #35

I bought a latex mattress several years ago, and will never buy another mattress. (Literally, they last 50+ years) Feels great, available in a range of firmness, no weird smells, never deforms, doesn't get hot, and naturally insect/mold resistant. I think I paid 1300 USD for a king size. I know that's only tangentially relevant to the topic at hand, I'm just mentioning this since I had trouble finding much info on th…

While we love our natural latex (from flobeds.com, no affiliation!) bed, it doesn't last forever. We had to replace ours at 15 years - while it was still better off than a spring mattress, it still had become worn. It had valleys and clumps - basically the latex was somewhat broken down. Compared to the new mattress, the old was more brittle and would tear easy, while the new one was resilient and springy.

The difference between it and normal spring mattresses is amazing though. I highly recommend them!

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#60

Post by ivalm »

tempsy wrote: post #2

I haven't been in the market for a mattress for awhile now but went on Casper's website and was shocked to see the price for a Queen is now $1095. I didn't remember it being that high, and checked Wayback and sure enough it was $850 in 2015, and $950 in 2017. Given how many copycats are out there, many selling for much less, can someone help me understand how Casper gets away with selling a $1095 mattress + tax to a…

Maybe they don't buy Casper? I am not cash strapped but shopped around a little bit and got a (very satisfying) queen size mattress for $600 last year @ Living Spaces.
Post reply on HN