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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

#281

Post by bsanr2 »

Johnny555 wrote: post #91
bsanr wrote: post #30

I'd thought I'd get around the madness of mattress shopping by using just the technique mentioned in the article here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22377160 At least, until I found something I liked. I purchased a Purple 3, thinking that if I loved it, I'd just stick with it. I did love it, but I couldn't justify spending $2k on a twin(!). I returned it, and purchased from another company for ~$700. I didn't…

I purchased a Purple 3, thinking that if I loved it, I'd just stick with it. I did love it, but I couldn't justify spending $2k on a twin I don't understand this -- you loved the mattress and you knew the price when you ordered, so what other outcome did you expect if you couldn't justify the price to yourself even if you loved it? It seems that you'd have been better off going with a more affordably priced mattress…

It was bought on credit, so I had no oop costs for the trial. I was having sleeping problems and wanted something that would unreservedly improve my rest. It did improve it, which, as anyone who's gone an extended period sleep-deprived will tell you, skews your feelings a bit. However, it didn't solve all of my problems, which meant I couldn't justify going into debt for it. Put another way: if I'm going to spend $2k on a mattress, the enhanced sleep quality should at least net me $1k+ in productivity gains. I wasn't seeing that, so it had to go back.

Worst-case scenario was that I didn't like any of the replacements and just purchased a new unit later, preferably at a discount. So it just made sense.

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

#282

Post by bsanr2 »

endorphone wrote: post #275
Johnny555 wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I purchased a Purple 3, thinking that if I loved it, I'd just stick with it. I did love it, but I couldn't justify spending $2k on a twin I don't understand this -- you loved the mattress and you knew the price when you ordered, so what other outcome did you expect if you couldn't justify the price to yourself even if you loved it? It seems that you'd have been better off going with a more affordably priced mattress…

I hesitate to judge GP, but I had exactly the same internal monologue to their post. On the flip side, the high price of the Purple stuff is because they're pricing in dealing with people who have such uncertainty, so the customer-base are all playing each other, while we sit on the sidelines and just buy a cheaper one at the outset. "It's kind of like test driving an $80K Acura" It's much worse than that. When you d…

Purple stuff is high-priced because they're one of two companies you can buy their signature feature from. It's the Wacom Principle. They could honestly sell it for far cheaper, or sell a gel grid mattress topper, and get far fewer returns, but I suppose the higher margin is more profitable.

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

#283

Post by Bluecobra »

OJFord wrote: post #179
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason is surely bedbug infestations. It is just too risky to buy a mattress second hand, even from legitimate sources.

That's enough for many of us to avoid it, it hardly needs regulation. GP's point is that we gladly share hotel mattresses. Bed bugs are consequently occasionally an inconvenience.

We also gladly steal hotel mattresses too!

https://www.wellness-heaven.de/wellness/study-theft-in-hotel...

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

#284

Post by bsanr2 »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #249
bsanr wrote: post #30

I'd thought I'd get around the madness of mattress shopping by using just the technique mentioned in the article here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22377160 At least, until I found something I liked. I purchased a Purple 3, thinking that if I loved it, I'd just stick with it. I did love it, but I couldn't justify spending $2k on a twin(!). I returned it, and purchased from another company for ~$700. I didn't…

I mean, you're complaining about high margins on mattresses, yet you were able to return two mattresses. Hell, you didn't even return the $2000 mattress because you disliked it, you just decided "nvm lol". Is it not obvious that part of the high margin that you scoff at goes towards covering your (and everyone else's) ability to return one of the most unwieldy household items on a whim? Your post makes me wish I coul…

If you'd like to start a company along those lines, be my guest. Purple et al. are the ones who come up with and advertise their trials; you don't really have any basis to blame customers for using it as it was presented to them.

Perhaps these are a sort of the perverse capitalist incentives the hippies keep warning you about. ;)

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

#285

Post by bsanr2 »

giarc wrote: post #104
wycy wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of the crazy markup in the mattress industry might be in the non-returnability of them. Manufacturers need to price in the fact that some % of them will be returned (read: given away for free) because no one wants a used mattress that might have bed bugs or other unknown substances.

But I wonder how many people buy a mattress, never open it, "return it for refund" then just resell a "unused, unopened mattress"?

The amount of effort and time required would just barely be covered by the profit. You also have to store it until sale. That's probably what keeps this from becoming a widespread scam.

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

#286

Post by sumedh »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #211
scarface74 wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s no way to get rid of an infestation? I’ve never had one so I seriously don’t know.

They're tiny. Even the adults are quite small. The babies are specks. The younger ones are clear unless they've recently fed, so nearly invisible when they aren't bright red from ingesting blood. They have a real talent for going unnoticed, even when there are dozens or hundreds of them. People often discover an infestation due to bites or poop smears, not from seeing a live bug at any time. They mostly come out at n…

> People often discover an infestation due to bites

Oh man that brings back some memories, I used to have bites all over my hands and I just assumed its because of mosquitoes although I had not seen or heard a mosquito in the room. 2 weeks after first bite was discovered I saw a bed bug running away slowly because it was full with my blood. I followed it under the bed where I saw a huge colony of bed bugs, I was literally speechless, just could not believe, there were so many of them all living on my blood.

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

#287

Post by bsanr2 »

tinus_hn wrote: post #232
bsanr wrote: post #30

I'd thought I'd get around the madness of mattress shopping by using just the technique mentioned in the article here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22377160 At least, until I found something I liked. I purchased a Purple 3, thinking that if I loved it, I'd just stick with it. I did love it, but I couldn't justify spending $2k on a twin(!). I returned it, and purchased from another company for ~$700. I didn't…

Why are you buying a mattress for $2000 if you can’t justify spending $2000 on a mattress? This kind of process is how you end up with the Sonos story where they remotely disable your electronics and you trash it, just so they know they aren’t giving it to you for free. The environment pays the price.

You're blaming customers for bad company policies.

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

#288

Post by sumedh »

ramraj07 wrote: post #278
Retric wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IKEA for example sells a lot of mattresses under 150$. Under that you can just by foam pads, but the biggest savings is simply avoiding mattress stores or companies. If you like pillow tops or those egg shell foam pads you can also just buy them separately.

I've slept on a 150 dollar Ikea for years and I've slept on a leesa. Maybe these conspiracy theories are true, but the Leesa is much more comfortable than the cheap Ikea. Ikea also has more expensive substantial mattress options, but it looks like they approach the same price range anyway. So what's your real suggestion then? Sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag?

Have you done a blind test, can you figure out which one is Ikea and which one is not just by sleeping on them?

The test should be done when both the mattress are new.

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

#289

Post by FriendlyNormie »

heloocity wrote: post #239
OpieCunningham wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I might suspect your source is financially wealthy, and morally bankrupt - if I could follow 1/2 of what you said. But I was definitely entertained. Upvote.

Your average poor person will get in a fist fight over $100, and potentially shoot someone over $1000. They shoot people for nothing anyway. Give your average middle-class citizen $10M to cheat on their wife, and they will. Sometimes they pay $100 to do it anyway. Maybe you won't, but I'll show you how it scales up. And, I'm not saying that in any way these businessmen are immoral, I'll touch on morality at the end,…

You’re making me hate my CPA. When I became wealthy, they barely reduced my taxes at all but they were very good at pressuring me into setting up convoluted schemes that turned out to be mostly useless and are a nightmare to unravel.

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

#290

Post by petard »

bsanr wrote: post #30

I'd thought I'd get around the madness of mattress shopping by using just the technique mentioned in the article here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22377160 At least, until I found something I liked. I purchased a Purple 3, thinking that if I loved it, I'd just stick with it. I did love it, but I couldn't justify spending $2k on a twin(!). I returned it, and purchased from another company for ~$700. I didn't…

How do you get such cheap foam price, bulk orders?

I once tried to purchase foam myself for a old sofa and the foam price was almost as high as purchasing a new sofa.

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