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Casper Sleep S-1

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Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#81

Post by Johnny555 »

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.

I bought a cheap Amazon matress (~200 or so) for a guest-room bed. That bed ended up becoming our primary bed and within a year it developed a noticable softspot + indentation where I sleep (my wife's side is fine, I'm a side sleeper, she's half my weight and sleeps on her back mostly). We rotated it and it was good for another 6 months before the same thing happened.

In contrast, our 4 year old Leesa mattress (which we're back on as a primary bed) is fine.

I'm sure that I overpaid with the $900 Leesa, but I don't know how to be sure I'll get a durable mattress if I get a cheap one.

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#82

Post by Apocryphon »

xivzgrev wrote: post #76

Great business story. They quickly capitalized on a trend (tuft and needle started 2 years before), pumped it up with great marketing and distribution, and now are making their exit before a recession. Would. Not. Buy.

Feels like in all of these booming startup segments there's always an Uber.

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#83

Post by master-litty »

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…

Casper caters to stress, ripoff anxiety, social anxiety, and budget.

1. We, the millennial crowd (tm), are insanely stressed on average. Whether it's objectively genuine or falsely perceived, brought on by ourselves or otherwise, it is something we enjoy having control over -- And choosing a "simple" mattress that is straightforward to research and buy caters to that desire perfectly. For awhile Casper only had one mattress, and it seemed like an irrefutably decent mattress. You simply chose the size!

2. If you don't like the mattress you can return it within a period of time. Mattress sellers often offer this, but Casper advertises it. It adds a sense of authenticity to the sale, and I think many people (not just millenials) feel more at peace about buying the mattress without trying it first.

3. It's shipped to you and comes in a box. Usually there's no talking involved. Nobody has to come into your home. Regardless, many of us don't even have a vehicle to pick up a mattress with anyway, nor the available friends to help bring it in through the front door. Maybe a delivery person would help but what if they don't? And what if you miss the delivery?

4. Monthly payments. I feel most millennials don't really care about the total cost of something, as long as there's a monthly payment option that is reasonable. Paycheck-to-paycheck is the format we're used to budgeting in, which easily puts a monthly payment into perspective. $35/month versus $350 upfront is way more manageable.

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#84

Post by et2o »

Spivak wrote: post #80
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mattress reviews are notoriously fake. I would take any mattress review with a grain of salt.

Not to get too meta but undermining reviews is also a tactic used by companies to manipulate sales because if you don’t trust any reviews but still have to make a decision you’re going to go with a “safe” “established” brand which usually means whoever has the most mindshare.

Can you recommend an unbiased site then

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#85

Post by matwood »

tempsy wrote: post #7
gooseus wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing market dominance from years of targeted advertising on podcasts as well as buying/bullying mattress reviewer websites to make sure they stay as the highest rated. HN from 2017: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15321807 "Casper went to war with popular mattress review site, then financed its takeover"

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...

I’ve gotten my last two king foam mattresses from Walmart.com. Comfortable and $500 or less.

I don’t know how places like Casper keep selling mattresses.

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#86

Post by awalton »

Spivak wrote: post #80
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mattress reviews are notoriously fake. I would take any mattress review with a grain of salt.

Not to get too meta but undermining reviews is also a tactic used by companies to manipulate sales because if you don’t trust any reviews but still have to make a decision you’re going to go with a “safe” “established” brand which usually means whoever has the most mindshare.

I see how that argument would work for Sealy, Simmons and Serta. I don't see how this would work for Casper or any of the other no-name mattress-in-a-box company.

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#87

Post by commoner »

et2o wrote: post #84
Spivak wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to get too meta but undermining reviews is also a tactic used by companies to manipulate sales because if you don’t trust any reviews but still have to make a decision you’re going to go with a “safe” “established” brand which usually means whoever has the most mindshare.

Can you recommend an unbiased site then

Consumer Reports is non-profit and purchases all of the products it tests. Its revenue comes from subscriptions and grants/donations, not advertising or commissions.

https://www.consumerreports.org

Some U.S. public libraries offer access to Consumer Reports for free with a library card.

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#88

Post by awalton »

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…

> It's really hard to know what's a good price for a mattress.

I don't understand this at all. You can Google and have all the prices right at hand, so comparison shopping by number isn't hard.

You can go to a mattress store and lay on a handful of mattresses and figure out pretty quickly what you like - is the pillow top or foam too soft? Do the coils poke too hard? Too firm? Too heavy for you to move when you need to do the sheets? - You admitted to doing this yourself.

I could never see myself buying a mattress from a company like Casper personally. Returning something like a mattress because you don't like it has got to be a level of hassle that I can't even begin to imagine being worth it, vs just making sure you bought one that you're comfortable with in the first place.

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#89

Post by lxmorj »

commoner wrote: post #74

Casper sued a mattress review site, Sleepopolis, for writing negative reviews of their products. Casper then settled the lawsuit by taking over Sleepopolis. The site now posts only positive reviews of Casper's mattresses. https://www.fastcompany.com/3065928/sleepopolis-casper-blogg... I would take any reviews of Casper's products with a grain of salt.

They’re thugs.

Re: Casper Sleep S-1

#90

Post by seesaw »

dirtyid wrote: post #20
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…

Brand appeal I suppose. I remember 1/2 the Casper price tag goes to marketing - I just bought a generic Amazon Zinus for 1/2 the price that research suggested came from the same foam factory. Seems like Zinus has gone down in cost in the last few years as one would expect with economy of scale while Casper has gone up one, $250 now from Amazon shipped, 1/4 of Casper. Simultaneously feels like Casper has cut back on m…

I got two Zinus mattresses from Amazon for about $400 total. It has been only two months, but I have been happy so far.
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