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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

#252

Post by johmas »

nigel182 wrote: post #232

Here's a little usability feedback on your site: I decided that I wanted to buy the bed but I couldn't immediately figure out how. I was looking for a link in the main menu like "Products" or "Beds" and didn't think to click the large "Buy Now" button. I thought it was just me and didn't think much more about it. Later, I told my wife about the bed and she wanted to check out the website. She had a similar experience…

That's really great feedback. Thank you.

We don't offer shipping to Alaska but we can make it happen for you if you'd like. Send me an email jt at tuftandneedle

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

#253

Post by timwut »

JT & Daehee, really love the concept and approach to this idea and we're actually trying to chase a very similar concept (transparent retail, cutting out the middleman and outrageous markups), but in the bridal space. http://somethingnewbridal.com

Would love to follow up with you guys specifically to chat sometime if you have the time. Thanks for the inspiration!

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

#254

Post by mpermar »

johmas wrote: post #250
mpermar wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So as per your reasoning I take low-end products with happy customers are immediately promoted by the magic of Amazon ratings to premium high-end products. Good to know as next time I plan to buy a car I can go for an Honda Fit ( btw, no offense intended to any owner, just took it from a list of decent affordable US cars ) as everyone knows it will the same as a Tesla S but without the 1000x margin on top. As heck, H…

To be fair, Amazon sends review request emails to every one of our customers who buy through that channel. These people don't get a test drive of our mattress before they get it so I'd expect we are a little more exposed than a car you wouldn't rate unless you test drove it and purchased it because you liked it. You seem to be a little critical of us, which is totally fine. We were really looking forward to show the…

Sure. As I said, there is many good points on your business.

However I would be way less critical if you marketed your product as a futon/mat instead of a mattress, i.e. as what it is. And although I really like how you've done your website, your positioning and the whole simplistic approach I really think there is quite a bit deceptive advertising on your website. Like for example comparing a 5" futon with a $3K mattress in the infography, or the whole treatment of the mattress industry as like all mattresses out there are comparable to yours because as explained already in several posts.

But heck, if your customers are happy.... I probably would not change it at all. But I cannot avoid being critical with it.

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

#255

Post by johmas »

ahuth wrote: post #223
johmas wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assure you we make them to order and that bed was crafted just for you. To give some more transparency, we do not have enough warehouse space to store product longer than a week anyway. The only thing i can think of is that we had pre-printed law labels and used those on your bed. If you email me your order number I'll personally check this for you and tell you the exact date and time when each component was made.…

I'll take your word for it. It really is a nice bed. As soon as I saw the date on the tag, though, I assumed you guys were trying to make it look JIT when it wasn't. Thanks for responding to the comment.

I'm glad it's been working out well for you.

Regarding JIT, I can see large corps trying to migrate to a process like that but for us it was the only option that was economically feasible, to be honest. We are very limited in space to even operate day to day. This may not have been the case if we were making something that was small but these beds take up quite a lot of space.

Thank you for the feedback.

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

#257

Post by johmas »

mpermar wrote: post #254
johmas wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, Amazon sends review request emails to every one of our customers who buy through that channel. These people don't get a test drive of our mattress before they get it so I'd expect we are a little more exposed than a car you wouldn't rate unless you test drove it and purchased it because you liked it. You seem to be a little critical of us, which is totally fine. We were really looking forward to show the…

Sure. As I said, there is many good points on your business. However I would be way less critical if you marketed your product as a futon/mat instead of a mattress, i.e. as what it is. And although I really like how you've done your website, your positioning and the whole simplistic approach I really think there is quite a bit deceptive advertising on your website. Like for example comparing a 5" futon with a $3K mat…

The infographic is based on actual numbers we have of leading mattress company's products so there is nothing false about those numbers.

We don't view thickness as a dependency of being called a mattress but that is certainly subjective.

Our 10" version is being released soon so maybe that may (or may not) earn some more credibility with people from the mattress industry, such as yourself and your wife. We were completely opposed to making a thicker bed but the reason we came to justify it was for people who have headboards and don't like the gap exposed above the mattress and the bottom of the board. Or for others who just want the look of something thicker. But comfort wise, it's completely identical to our current version and we'll be very clear about that.

We did thorough testing of mattress thickness and its correlation with comfort when we made our first prototypes. We've built mattresses from all natural cotton and wool, latex, memory foam to what we have now and just could not see any data pointing to it being directly related.

I'd also like to point out that we don't have much support from people who work or have friends in this industry for obvious reasons but that's the path we've chosen.

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

#258

Post by mpermar »

johmas wrote: post #257
mpermar wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure. As I said, there is many good points on your business. However I would be way less critical if you marketed your product as a futon/mat instead of a mattress, i.e. as what it is. And although I really like how you've done your website, your positioning and the whole simplistic approach I really think there is quite a bit deceptive advertising on your website. Like for example comparing a 5" futon with a $3K mat…

The infographic is based on actual numbers we have of leading mattress company's products so there is nothing false about those numbers. We don't view thickness as a dependency of being called a mattress but that is certainly subjective. Our 10" version is being released soon so maybe that may (or may not) earn some more credibility with people from the mattress industry, such as yourself and your wife. We were compl…

> The infographic is based on actual numbers we have of leading mattress company's products so there is nothing false about those numbers.

Well, those numbers are quite distant from what I know from working with several factories, not in the US but I cannot imagine the difference to be very high in production costs. There is quite a vast difference from the cost of making a cheap mattress and an expensive one. We buy mattresses from factories that might cost us $100 and others that cost us $800. Between them there is tons of other models. Put there the factory margin which these days is much much lower than it used to be and gives you a factory cost.

So your numbers, I don't doubt they are real, but they are quite a generalization. And well, I haven't searched online but can you point me to a similar product i.e. futon/mat for $3000 on any website? I'm curious about it.

As per the gimmick.... well, mattresses have been called mattresses for a long time and have been thicker than 5" for a very long time. And so have been futons. I am afraid I can't really buy your the marketing gimmick argument.

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