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Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

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Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#211

This made me think of the article a while back about the mattress blogger who got sued. https://www.fastcompany.com/3065928/sleepopolis-casper-blogg...

Thank you, that was such a good read. So Casper won, does it make you hate them? I tend to dislike the winner when I read stories like this.

The guy kind of got bullied to sell his website but is a millionaire and in the end it seems nobody is very ethical in the field.

What's funny is that people get rich reviewing mattress online and we developers still debate inheritance vs composition like it will make or break a business ;)

Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#212

One of the great things about online mattresses is having reviews. The traditional store all had unique names/codes for their mattresses so you can't compare price or get any reasonable volume of reviews for a mattress. I love how the internet levels the playing field on things like this.

"Reviews" are useless, in fact, they are worse than useless, they are just another form of spam. Those reviewers and bloggers make their living on commission, thus the incentives are not aligned. You can find positive reviews of pyramid schemes and malware.

Mattresses are in a way kinda interchangeable. Sure there's different quality and a well worn mattress will be different from a new one, but, in general, you probably aren't going to sleep differently on a different brand of a similar quality mattress.

About 6 years ago I read that people who bought their mattress from the internet we're just as satisfied with their purchase as people who tried them out in the store beforehand.

Plus most people's opinions suck anyway.

Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#213
Shameless self promotion:

If you are doing or are interested in a _personalized_ mattress business/start-up, please drop me a line: matress.20.j4848@spamgourmet.com

We are looking for collaboration partners. (We are a technology start-up, not a mattress company.)

Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#215
post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every couple of days on HN, I learn of something else you can't do in California. That, plus absurd rent, makes me really glad I don't live there.

Yeah, California is a terrible place to live, what with its concerns about peoples' "health" and "safety".

Oh yeah, so concerned, especially with all that urban sprawl and complete lack of care or concern to reduce traffic or increase public transit so it takes less cars off the road, reduce pollution and increase air quality and reduce traffic deaths. Or how about affordable housing? Housing is so expensive, that most migrant workers (the backbone of California's economy) have to eat Fast Food every day because it's cheaper. Concerned about their health and safety? Didn't think so.

Concerned with paying lip service to health and safety (and maybe create an extra regulator job or two)? Sure. But at some point, labeling everything as cancer causing takes away any meaning what so ever. I think California labels something every week as cancer causing. It's just become noise at this point. Here's the latest now for ya: Coffee https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/03/29/coffee-cance...

Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#216
post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every couple of days on HN, I learn of something else you can't do in California. That, plus absurd rent, makes me really glad I don't live there.

Yeah, California is a terrible place to live, what with its concerns about peoples' "health" and "safety".

I think that if I were to become homeless tomorrow I would prefer to sleep on an almost new mattress than on a new cot. This is my problem with California- let people decide for themselves what they want. I don’t need a government telling me what to do.

Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, California is a terrible place to live, what with its concerns about peoples' "health" and "safety".

I think that if I were to become homeless tomorrow I would prefer to sleep on an almost new mattress than on a new cot. This is my problem with California- let people decide for themselves what they want. I don’t need a government telling me what to do.

[deleted]

Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel a similar way about micro-brews. It's good because people think it's good. They think it is good because of cultural/narrative reasons. It's not good for any underlying or objective reason. If Budweiser made a beer that tasted like micro-brew, the connoisseurs would be drinking a micro-brew that tastes like budweiser. Don't feel bad for me though :) Being a philistine is not life-threatening. Wine is a good ex…

>It's good because people think it's good. They think it is good because of cultural/narrative reasons. It's not good for any underlying or objective reason. I just want to point out that this is true of basically all food, drink, and art. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinction_(book)

At some level, value is a matter of taste. I agree.

Is this $900 phone better than this $200 phone, or two $200 phones? IDK, but at least they are different. The question is not (IMO) about absolute rationality, but having enough rationality to drive a market. Wine & mattress markets don't have it. You can't offer a near identical wine or mattress cheaper than market price and expect it to disrupt the market, forcing competitive price-cutting.

Re: Why there are so many online mattress-in-a-box companies

#219
post #154
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"think"? The manufacturer specifies the interval, and you best follow it if you'd like your warranty honored.

My manufacturer specifies 1 year or 10,000 miles. However, growing up I was told that you shouldn't go more than 3 months or 3,000 miles between oil changes.

well back in the day, say before 1990, many cars needed that because the engines were so bad. a combination of plain old poor quality and immature technology for reducing emissions . So it became a meme.
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