Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

201–210 of 277 posts

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

#202
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> Our foam should last 5-7 years before there is any deformity/compression 5-7 years doesn't seem like a particularly long time in the context of the life of a mattress. My (limited) understanding has always been that mattresses are the sort of thing many people hold onto for decades. In that context "it'll be good for five years" doesn't sound reassuring. If you're positioning your product on price, you could make t…

I am doing something wrong then.

We bought mattresses in the 'mid-range' ($500-600) and the springs went in the centre in 1-1.5 years. The best one we have had has been a refurbished mattress from the local charity store for $100.

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

#203
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…

You may not want to miss the larger point to take away from this.. ">> 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."..

"You get what you pay for" is an adage you will have to take into account when considering perceptions of your product by potential customers.

Whether correct or not, most people correlate price with quality such that a lower cost (to them) product is assumed to be of lower quality. Even those with an actual understanding of supply chains and intermediaries and their effect on pricing will do this, despite that knowledge.

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

#205
post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Our foam should last 5-7 years before there is any deformity/compression 5-7 years doesn't seem like a particularly long time in the context of the life of a mattress. My (limited) understanding has always been that mattresses are the sort of thing many people hold onto for decades. In that context "it'll be good for five years" doesn't sound reassuring. If you're positioning your product on price, you could make t…

$100 a year for a mattress at their price is downright cheap, assuming you don't even go the full 7. 5-7 years is MTTF for just about every mattress in existence. I pitch mine after 5 years as is; Those things are dirty after 5 years of sleeping on the same surface every night.

That's the point behind mattress covers/pads. For $50/$100, you get something to put on top of the mattress to absorb the dirt. After a few years, you can replace them for a fraction of the cost of a new mattress. They can also be removed and washed.

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

#207

While you guys are reinventing mattresses, can you do me a favor and invent the "square king" mattress that can be rotated and flipped in a bunch of different ways for even wear? If you make it, I promise I'll buy one.

Make it a cube to get use out of those other four sides!

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

#208
T&N - thanks for sharing your story. Really cool to see you going from a MVP + landing page to this in a year, that's fantastic! From a financial perspective did ya'll bootstrap or get an investor? Its neat to see non-SASS related ideas coming to fruition and shared about on HN. Wishing you guys the best in 2014 and I'll be spreading the word on your behalf.

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

#209

T&N - thanks for sharing your story. Really cool to see you going from a MVP + landing page to this in a year, that's fantastic! From a financial perspective did ya'll bootstrap or get an investor? Its neat to see non-SASS related ideas coming to fruition and shared about on HN. Wishing you guys the best in 2014 and I'll be spreading the word on your behalf.

We're bootstrapped and haven't taken any funding.

Thank you for the kind words. I'll share them with the team.

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

#210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Our foam should last 5-7 years before there is any deformity/compression 5-7 years doesn't seem like a particularly long time in the context of the life of a mattress. My (limited) understanding has always been that mattresses are the sort of thing many people hold onto for decades. In that context "it'll be good for five years" doesn't sound reassuring. If you're positioning your product on price, you could make t…

I am doing something wrong then. We bought mattresses in the 'mid-range' ($500-600) and the springs went in the centre in 1-1.5 years. The best one we have had has been a refurbished mattress from the local charity store for $100.

We've just resulted to stacking enough foam pads on ours until I get a nice enough place to live to buy a decent bed setup. Apartment life is nice and cheap, but the nice expensive stuff is hard to justify. I bought a 50" plasma and a new laptop this month; the first new computer purchase since 2007, first new TV purchase since 2009 or so (shitty 32" lcd).
Post reply on HN