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What happens to a mail-order mattress after you return it

fivethirtyeight.com

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Re: What happens to a mail-order mattress after you return it

#211

Post by DoreenMichele »

scarface74 wrote: post #209
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you get an infestation, it’s best to just burn everything in the room and then fumigate.

There’s no way to get rid of an infestation? I’ve never had one so I seriously don’t know.

They're tiny. Even the adults are quite small. The babies are specks. The younger ones are clear unless they've recently fed, so nearly invisible when they aren't bright red from ingesting blood.

They have a real talent for going unnoticed, even when there are dozens or hundreds of them. People often discover an infestation due to bites or poop smears, not from seeing a live bug at any time.

They mostly come out at night and I think they can hibernate for long periods, like weeks or months. They are quite hard to get rid of once they get into something like a mattress.

Re: What happens to a mail-order mattress after you return it

#212

Post by werber »

jbarciauskas wrote: post #153
135792468 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn’t read the article but I’ve worked for one of these companies that was a startup and have a local mattress company as a client. So a little perspective. These companies are all marketing companies. There is no “science” they literally get rolls of foam from foam makers, throw them on in layers and try to find the right combo. I was there, I’ve done it myself. The companies that end up winning have fantastic ma…

COGS for Casper is ~50%, which doesn't quite line up with your $50. I suppose if you mean $50 in raw materials, plus construction costs, then fine, but that doesn't get you to 20x markup. The margin isn't that crazy. Typical retail markup is 30%.

Is there any documentation on any of the costs? These figures are so different

Re: What happens to a mail-order mattress after you return it

#213

Post by JMTQp8lwXL »

Polylactic_acid wrote: post #196
egdod wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any thoughts on why markup stays so high if the industry is actually cutthroat? Competition should be driving margin way down.

Because its really hard to objectively rate a mattress. IKEA sells them at a fair price and they are great, but people in their minds see them as shit because they are cheap so they can't possibly be as good as the $2000 one.

If they were truly as good, word would spread (word-of-mouth) and the market would re-align. Blog posts would be written about how we're all naive for spending $2,000 instead of $150.

Re: What happens to a mail-order mattress after you return it

#214

Post by tartoran »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #207
scarface74 wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds like a business opportunity for “certified mattress cleaners”....

When you get an infestation, it’s best to just burn everything in the room and then fumigate.

Food grade diatomaceous earth is a natural non-toxic method to kill bed bugs and prevent them from invading your home

Re: What happens to a mail-order mattress after you return it

#215

Post by tartoran »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #168
sjg007 wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd have to bulk order from China most likely or build your own mattress... or just order something cheap on Amazon where it is a race to the bottom. IKEA is also ok. I prefer Costco b/c of the return policy itself. Maybe you might find a hotel liquidator. The fact that we all sleep in hotels though shows you that the mattress resale laws are kind of weird or antiquated .. e.g. maybe last century. It seems like the…

The reason is surely bedbug infestations. It is just too risky to buy a mattress second hand, even from legitimate sources.

Mattresses could be frozen for 72 hours and kept in a very hot environment for a while too, that’s kill both fungus and bedbugs. If laws allowed it there would be such a business. I wonder if the mattress business lobbies to keep these laws in place. Or whether they’re at the source of some bedbugs infestations. I wouldnt be surprised, in the mattress business it’s a cut throat in all directions type of world

Re: What happens to a mail-order mattress after you return it

#216

Post by Polylactic_acid »

JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #213
Polylactic_acid wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because its really hard to objectively rate a mattress. IKEA sells them at a fair price and they are great, but people in their minds see them as shit because they are cheap so they can't possibly be as good as the $2000 one.

If they were truly as good, word would spread (word-of-mouth) and the market would re-align. Blog posts would be written about how we're all naive for spending $2,000 instead of $150.

They are. I'm pretty sure the "$2000 mattresses are a scam" story pops up every few months here. I have even tried to tell people that my $300 mattress is great but people don't listen. The marketing is too strong and its a product they want to spend a lot on since it lasts ages and gets constant use.

Re: What happens to a mail-order mattress after you return it

#217

Post by noman-land »

135792468 wrote: post #82
bsanr wrote: post #30

I'd thought I'd get around the madness of mattress shopping by using just the technique mentioned in the article here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22377160 At least, until I found something I liked. I purchased a Purple 3, thinking that if I loved it, I'd just stick with it. I did love it, but I couldn't justify spending $2k on a twin(!). I returned it, and purchased from another company for ~$700. I didn't…

I didn’t read the article but I’ve worked for one of these companies that was a startup and have a local mattress company as a client. So a little perspective. These companies are all marketing companies. There is no “science” they literally get rolls of foam from foam makers, throw them on in layers and try to find the right combo. I was there, I’ve done it myself. The companies that end up winning have fantastic ma…

Where can I get the bulk foam that mattress companies use? I'd happily cut my own mattress.

Re: What happens to a mail-order mattress after you return it

#218

Post by art0rz »

bsanr wrote: post #30

I'd thought I'd get around the madness of mattress shopping by using just the technique mentioned in the article here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22377160 At least, until I found something I liked. I purchased a Purple 3, thinking that if I loved it, I'd just stick with it. I did love it, but I couldn't justify spending $2k on a twin(!). I returned it, and purchased from another company for ~$700. I didn't…

The same is true for brands like West Elm (and it's sister brands). If you find something you like on West Elm, and you have the time to dig long enough online, you can sometimes find the exact same product for a price much closer to the cost of materials.

Even more so on Wayfair, where you can find identical products on the same site that come from the same factory sold by different sellers for different prices, although the quality of Wayfair is more hit or miss than West Elm.

Re: What happens to a mail-order mattress after you return it

#219

Post by vonseel »

organsnyder wrote: post #201
sjg007 wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Furniture is the worst. You have to buy something high end to get any sort of quality, especially couches. This will sound crazy but I have a very expensive couch that was made in the 1970s and it is perfect. I also have a 1k sectional couch from Ashley's and it is absolutely terrible. Now I could probably fix the sectional with some diy hacks to firm it up but I don't have the skill. But that super expensive he…

We go to a smallish local furniture store. Nothing there is really cheap (almost everything is over $1000) and you most likely have to order something (they only have display models). But every piece we've purchased from there has held up perfectly. I'm sitting on a Flexsteel couch right now that is ten years old and takes a regular beating from four young kids, as well as a lot of use by adults. It's still as good a…

I feel like kids are (probably) hard on fabrics and textile coverings, teenagers are hard on everything, and adults are hard on foam supports (if only because weight and body size). Just some assumptions!

Re: What happens to a mail-order mattress after you return it

#220

Post by durkie »

noman-land wrote: post #217
135792468 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn’t read the article but I’ve worked for one of these companies that was a startup and have a local mattress company as a client. So a little perspective. These companies are all marketing companies. There is no “science” they literally get rolls of foam from foam makers, throw them on in layers and try to find the right combo. I was there, I’ve done it myself. The companies that end up winning have fantastic ma…

Where can I get the bulk foam that mattress companies use? I'd happily cut my own mattress.

We've made custom cushions from foam we got from https://www.thefoamfactory.com/ (no affiliation). They apparently do have "mattresses", but also just stock a bunch of foam that they can ship to you and you can cut to dimension.
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