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Tell HN: How we bootstrapped to the #1 rated mattress on Amazon.com

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Re: Tell HN: How we bootstrapped to the #1 rated mattress on Amazon.com

#91

What type of foam do you use? My concern has always been that not enough testing has been done on the foam, and the chemicals used could leech into the both, especially if you like to sleep naked on the bed. I used to sleep on a memory foam mattress, but after a couple of years, I noticed a distinct discoloration of where I slept, and it suggested to me there was some sort of interaction between my body and the foam,…

You threw away a memory foam mattress because of that? Did you consider using sheets or a mattress protector? Did you know that sweat and oils from your skin will do that on any mattress, regardless of the foam or lack of? Do you normally make extreme decisions like this when it comes to your health?

I thought I understood consumers, but now you have me doubting myself. Human behavior is fascinating.

Re: Tell HN: How we bootstrapped to the #1 rated mattress on Amazon.com

#93
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"well you guys also have margins too." of course. How can a business succeed without any margins ? The point they are making is that the margins are ridiculously high that these stores charge. They are claiming to reduce those margins. "Here is how a cheap mattress is marked up" I browsed through their website. They don't claim to be a luxury mattress and their point is more about a reasonable mattress for a reasonab…

You're right, I also thought after having posted it that I was too harsh. I think it was due to the fact that I partially live this business on a daily basis and found some of the facts not trustful. Specially bearing in mind the product being sold is closer to a mat than to a reasonable mattress. I think that harshness prevented me from making clear the two points I was trying to make: 1. A warn that everything has…

And on 2. I forgot customer support. I am a truly believer that customer support makes the biggest difference when running a business no matter if is online or offline.

Re: Tell HN: How we bootstrapped to the #1 rated mattress on Amazon.com

#95
post #88
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are available in the US only at the moment, but Canada would be the next logical expansion for distribution. That being said, we don't have a specific date on this yet as we don't want to overextend ourselves and risk the quality of our service.

Sent you a message - I like a mattress in Canada but don't want to have to order it to the US and bring it home myself :)

There are re-shipping companies that can send you orders from the US to Canada.

Re: Tell HN: How we bootstrapped to the #1 rated mattress on Amazon.com

#97
I'm very interested in this mattress and we're in the market. However, I'm concerned about the 5-year warranty, as I thought it would be acceptable to expect a little more. Is that standard for foam beds, how do you differ from competitors in this regard, and can you explain why/how you chose a 5-year warranty model?

Re: Tell HN: How we bootstrapped to the #1 rated mattress on Amazon.com

#98

>> Technical: We take a pragmatic approach with everything Genuinely curious why pragmatism didn't include a SAAS for the website (like Shopify) or the use of something like Wordpress with eCommerce plugin?

Well we started with a landing page with a simple form. We thought this would be even simpler than using a Shopify. Once we saw some traction I built the v1 shopping cart in about a day. One of the challenges we had was the software interfacing with our suppliers. We weren't sure if a 3rd party service would do that for us so we just built it quickly ourselves.

Daehee and I are both developers.

Re: Tell HN: How we bootstrapped to the #1 rated mattress on Amazon.com

#99
post #79
post #53

Being someone that considers himself literate in the mattress industry, as my wife runs a humble mattress storage and distribution firm I totally agree that the prices I could see visiting on the US are way over the top. If I lived there, well, making/selling mattresses must be a profitable business from the retail pricing I could see. Mind you I was on Silicon Valley which I imagine must be very pricy. The website i…

Thanks for the feedback, and I understand your concerns. I'll address them below. >> Even if mattress retailers are making a fortune on margins, well you guys also have margins too. And a retail price of $299..to..$499-king tells me that your mattresses are very low end. We of course have built-in margins on our products, and we try to keep it as fair as possible while supporting our operational overhead. But to writ…

Hooray for manufacturing in California! May your business prosper and remain stateside.

We've got a European Sleepworks mattress that is likely to last a long time -- for the price, it should :-). When the time comes to replace it, I'll be buying from you.

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