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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

#11

Post by timw4mail »

tenpies wrote: post #5
madengr wrote: post #2

Mattress shopping is almost as bad as car shopping. I'll buy a used car to get around the sleazy car sales people, but the wife absolutely won't go for a used matresss. I'm sure the mattress markup is astronomical, and I'm sure most brands come from the same factories.

I'm also somewhat suspicious that foam mattresses are quite bad for your health, not necessarily from a sleep mechanics perspective, but from an air quality one. I mean you are literally sleeping on a piece of plastic that is optimized for surface area. You then squish it constantly while using it and inhale those aerosolized plastic particles for about 8 hours per day.

Kind of makes a used one seem like a better idea...

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

#12

Post by leetcrew »

jrockway wrote: post #6
madengr wrote: post #2

Mattress shopping is almost as bad as car shopping. I'll buy a used car to get around the sleazy car sales people, but the wife absolutely won't go for a used matresss. I'm sure the mattress markup is astronomical, and I'm sure most brands come from the same factories.

I was happy with the two IKEA mattresses I bought. I have one super-cheap foam one that I used for many years and keep around for guests; guests say they like it more than their mattress at home, and I think it only cost $30 and has lasted going on 15 years at this point. I also had one of their more expensive latex foam mattresses, and that kind of developed a sunken in spot in the middle where I slept on it after ~…

> If you don't like it, at least it was cheap

it's actually better than that. you can return it any time in the first year of ownership, provided you kept the receipt.

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

#13

Post by leetcrew »

war1025 wrote: post #4
madengr wrote: post #2

Mattress shopping is almost as bad as car shopping. I'll buy a used car to get around the sleazy car sales people, but the wife absolutely won't go for a used matresss. I'm sure the mattress markup is astronomical, and I'm sure most brands come from the same factories.

Sort of interesting to think about the fact that used mattresses are a no-go for people, but they'll gladly sleep on hotel beds used by orders of magnitude more people. Don't think I'd buy a used mattress either though...

ultimately people prefer not to stop and think about the fact that hotel beds are kinda gross, since there's really no alternative if you want to travel to a place where you don't know anyone.

but even if you do acknowledge this, it's not nearly as bad to sleep in a "dirty" bed for a few nights as it would be to own one and use it every night.

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

#14

Post by jacob019 »

Forgive me if this is off-topic. I am currently in the market for a queen size mattress in a box. The last one that I bought on Amazon was perfect, it cost about $300. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F8NNL8X It is no longer available. Now it seems that you can get a decent one for under $250. Here are some that I found:

Ashley: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0777K9RGX

Vibe: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074NDQ143

PrimaSleep: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075T6BNC2

Anyone here have any suggestions?

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

#15

Post by 0xff00ffee »

I gotta admit, there's one tiny bit of this that I think is kinda cool: the secondary "Sharetown" ecosystem does sound like an "afterburner" of sorts for unused product, and I much rather see products be up-or-re-cycled than tossed in landfill. I think there is a much larger market for this, especially as TFA says about the huge increase in returns.

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

#18

Post by corporateslave5 »

mthoms wrote: post #10
madengr wrote: post #2

Mattress shopping is almost as bad as car shopping. I'll buy a used car to get around the sleazy car sales people, but the wife absolutely won't go for a used matresss. I'm sure the mattress markup is astronomical, and I'm sure most brands come from the same factories.

The sleaze of the mattress industry is a major reason the mattress in a box business has done so well. I just love when these kinds of markets get disrupted because the disdain these companies have for their own customers is infuriating (see also taxi industry). There's a great "Adam Ruins Everything" episode about this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tZOKfCial4 FWIW, I absolutely love my mattress in a box and the b…

Yeah I bought one for 175 bucks, just as a temporary thing. I love it. I’ll never pay 1000 dollars for a mattress again

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

#19

Post by allovernow »

tenpies wrote: post #5
madengr wrote: post #2

Mattress shopping is almost as bad as car shopping. I'll buy a used car to get around the sleazy car sales people, but the wife absolutely won't go for a used matresss. I'm sure the mattress markup is astronomical, and I'm sure most brands come from the same factories.

I'm also somewhat suspicious that foam mattresses are quite bad for your health, not necessarily from a sleep mechanics perspective, but from an air quality one. I mean you are literally sleeping on a piece of plastic that is optimized for surface area. You then squish it constantly while using it and inhale those aerosolized plastic particles for about 8 hours per day.

Ofgassing in the first few weeks or so may expose you to harmful chemicals, but I don't see any reason for foam the to degrade into fine particulate if it isn't exposed to UV, assuming it isn't made of total garbage.

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

#20

Post by dubcanada »

tenpies wrote: post #5
madengr wrote: post #2

Mattress shopping is almost as bad as car shopping. I'll buy a used car to get around the sleazy car sales people, but the wife absolutely won't go for a used matresss. I'm sure the mattress markup is astronomical, and I'm sure most brands come from the same factories.

I'm also somewhat suspicious that foam mattresses are quite bad for your health, not necessarily from a sleep mechanics perspective, but from an air quality one. I mean you are literally sleeping on a piece of plastic that is optimized for surface area. You then squish it constantly while using it and inhale those aerosolized plastic particles for about 8 hours per day.

Everything we touch/eat is plastic/comes in contact with plastic to some degree, your shoes, clothes, bread sits in plastic for days, vegetables for months, etc.

I really doubt a bed wrapped in some form of cloth is any worse.

Unless you live on mars you are most likely getting ten times more pollution/plastic from other areas then your foam mattress.

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