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

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

#131

Post by unlinked_dll »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #90
pathartl wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure this is good advice. I like a firm mattress, but IKEA mattresses are absolutely terrible. I also cannot sleep with a foam topper on any bed. They're hot and screw up my back beyond belief.

Ikea sells different types of mattress (spring, foam, latex), each with different thicknesses and price points. I've bought ~10 Ikea mattresses, avoided the cheapest ones of each type, and been pretty happy. I can understand why a foam topper would feel hot. It's main purpose is to provide a sleeping surface that's the same shape as your body, so of course this means it maximises the amount of contact between you and…

>I've bought ~10 Ikea mattresses, avoided the cheapest ones of each type, and been pretty happy.

You've bought ten mattresses from them?! In how many years, and for how many people?

I don't think my parents bought ten mattresses in the 20-odd years they had their four kids living at home - and I still sleep on one of them.

Personally I don't trust anything from Ikea anymore. Their quality is such garbage for all their products from furniture to glassware to lamps, I can't give them a dime of my money knowing whatever I buy won't be around next year. Multiply whatever you were going to spend by 1.5 and go to a decent home store, or just go to Target instead.

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

#132

Post by hnick »

Zimahl wrote: post #127
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.

I'm not OP, but I'd guess its because there is a really limited market for mattresses. People of course need and want them, but the turnover is (or can be) a very long time. I have a mattress in our guest bedroom that I used in college, over 20 years ago. It could probably be replaced, but will probably only get replaced with our main mattress when we replace it. It's fine for the minimal guests we have or when my wi…

Said another way, none of us need to buy mattresses often enough that we are mattress-buying-experts, so we're chumps easily taken advantage of.

This could apply to cars (and it does a bit) but the higher price and social factor makes people understand them more. Mattresses are just cheap enough (with just enough "bargains") that it's easier to just get it over with.

For your last point I'm from Australia so our brands are different but we have plenty of the online foam mattresses. I got one because mattress stores felt a lot like a car sales lot last time - clingy, pressure tactics from someone with a massive information advantage. The online companies all had full refund policies so there's limited risk apart from time.

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

#133

Post by mathewsanders »

mstade wrote: post #73
pathartl wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure this is good advice. I like a firm mattress, but IKEA mattresses are absolutely terrible. I also cannot sleep with a foam topper on any bed. They're hot and screw up my back beyond belief.

As a counterpoint I have done exactly this and am perfectly happy with my IKEA mattresses; your mileage may vary I guess.

I also got a firm IKEA foam mattress (MATRAND) a couple months ago and I was sleeping better from the first night, and a couple more nights and the knots in my shoulders were gone.

Also, at least in NYC it’s flat rate $50 for home delivery. I ordered on a Wednesday night and was delivered to me that Friday afternoon :) very happy with my cheap ikea mattress.

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

#134

Post by benibela »

egdod wrote: post #117
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…

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

Something is very wrong in the US

I think I paid around 30€ to buy a foam mattress in Germany

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

#135

Post by pkaye »

benibela wrote: post #134
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.

Something is very wrong in the US I think I paid around 30€ to buy a foam mattress in Germany

Can you link to a website of how that mattress looks like?

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

#136

Post by jakeinspace »

circa wrote: post #79

I know this is about mail-order mattress companies. I have always thought that one of these Mattress store chains are going to be busted for being involved in a drug ring or something like that. There are way more locations than there needs to be. Especially with all of these online mattress brands popping up. There always seems to be 1 guy working and no one in the stores, ever. At any of these locations. I don't un…

Do you live near a university? Or somewhere with a lot of job/population growth? People who move buy new mattresses.

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

#137

Post by Spivak »

megablast wrote: post #128
blackearl wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well according to some of the other comments you can shop around for a "free" mattress because it's not worth returning. Just make you destroy it by leaving it somewhere, maybe like a vacation home.

You can also get free stuff from the shop by putting it in your pocket and leaving.

There is I think a little bit of an ethical grey area in buying, trying, and returning a thing in the hope that it’s not worth their effort to ship it back.

I can’t really say that taking a company up on a free trial counts as wardrobing.

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

#138

Post by opportune »

jacob019 wrote: post #14

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: h…

I got the “Edow 10 inch firm foam mattress” and it’s perfect for me. It will probably last a long time too. It’s firm though so not everybody will like it. I would go to a mattress store and try out a firm foam mattress first

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

#139

Post by code_duck »

Animats wrote: post #130
acd wrote: post #125

Online shopping is not that sustainable. Current concerns are returns. First you have the carbon emissions of the first package delivery then the return package carbon emissions plus the waste. The waste comes that is more expensive to handle return products than to simply throw them. What I mean it’s more eco friendly to have big batch shipments to stores than individual small packages sent by post. A normal physica…

No, driving the SUV to the store usually uses more fuel than the entire supply chain to get to the store.

That's an additional problem, not something that cancels out the other expense.

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

#140

Post by prostheticvamp »

pathartl wrote: post #67
mech1234 wrote: post #53

Get a firm or very firm innerspring mattress from IKEA. You can do this for less than $300 and it will fit in the back of a sedan in it's roll-up-package. Sleep on it for a bit. If you don't like the feel, which you probably won't, add a memory foam mattress topper for ~$50. Use a thicker or thinner topper to suit your needs. Congrats! Because your mattress is firm, its foam will not break down for a long, long time.…

Not sure this is good advice. I like a firm mattress, but IKEA mattresses are absolutely terrible. I also cannot sleep with a foam topper on any bed. They're hot and screw up my back beyond belief.

I’ve gotten those blue gel-impregnated foam toppers. I cannot abide a hot bed, and these have been fine.

I otherwise agree with OP. Firm inner spring with medium firm gel foam topper is both cheap and by far the best sleeping experience I’ve ever had. I used a cheap inner spring from wayfair.

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