Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

fivethirtyeight.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 320 posts

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

#31

Post by EvanAnderson »

jrockway wrote: post #6
madengr wrote: post #2

Mattress shopping is almost as bad as car shopping. I'll buy a used car to get around the sleazy car sales people, but the wife absolutely won't go for a used matresss. I'm sure the mattress markup is astronomical, and I'm sure most brands come from the same factories.

I was happy with the two IKEA mattresses I bought. I have one super-cheap foam one that I used for many years and keep around for guests; guests say they like it more than their mattress at home, and I think it only cost $30 and has lasted going on 15 years at this point. I also had one of their more expensive latex foam mattresses, and that kind of developed a sunken in spot in the middle where I slept on it after ~…

I'll add a positive comment for IKEA mattresses here, too. We purchased one a couple of years ago. It was significantly cheaper than a "name brand" mattress, even if I consider that I may need to replace it more frequently. So far it has held up very well, too.

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

#33

Post by PopeDotNinja »

Yhippa wrote: post #24

I bought one of these over a decade ago from Costco. It had a defect in it but I never really pursued returning it. I had no clue how I'd get it out of my house by myself. Use a chainsaw or machete to cut it into blocks and then toss it out the window and then take it to the dump? It was really heavy. Much heavier than normal mattresses. At least it seemed much more flexible to bend around corners.

I once had a loveseat that I couldn't get out of a studio apartment without moving almost everything. Since I was a bit bored at the time, I slowly carved up the entire thing with a Swiss Army knife w/ the saw & scissors extensions. Was actually kind of fun.

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

#34

Post by chrshawkes »

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…

You're the reason my Casper stocks seem to be a waste of money. :)

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

#35

Post by throwaway_tech »

mthoms wrote: post #10
madengr wrote: post #2

Mattress shopping is almost as bad as car shopping. I'll buy a used car to get around the sleazy car sales people, but the wife absolutely won't go for a used matresss. I'm sure the mattress markup is astronomical, and I'm sure most brands come from the same factories.

The sleaze of the mattress industry is a major reason the mattress in a box business has done so well. I just love when these kinds of markets get disrupted because the disdain these companies have for their own customers is infuriating (see also taxi industry). There's a great "Adam Ruins Everything" episode about this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tZOKfCial4 FWIW, I absolutely love my mattress in a box and the b…

>The sleaze of the mattress industry is a major reason the mattress in a box business has done so well.

Don't be fooled if you thought the traditional mattress buying experience was sleazy (similar to a car buying experience), the mattress in a box online dark patterns take sleaze to a whole other level.

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

#36

Post by wahern »

tenpies wrote: post #5
madengr wrote: post #2

Mattress shopping is almost as bad as car shopping. I'll buy a used car to get around the sleazy car sales people, but the wife absolutely won't go for a used matresss. I'm sure the mattress markup is astronomical, and I'm sure most brands come from the same factories.

I'm also somewhat suspicious that foam mattresses are quite bad for your health, not necessarily from a sleep mechanics perspective, but from an air quality one. I mean you are literally sleeping on a piece of plastic that is optimized for surface area. You then squish it constantly while using it and inhale those aerosolized plastic particles for about 8 hours per day.

There are latex foam mattresses. I've purchased two from Sleep on Latex (sleeponlatex.com, or Pure Green on Amazon).

That said, whether latex, polyurethane, or whatever, with foam mattresses you're supposed to use a mattress protector to prevent sweat and accidents from soiling the foam. Alternatively or in addition to that, Sleep on Latex uses a wool topper, as I'm sure many other brands do. And then on top of that most people use sheets. I would think all of that covering would trap any particles so they can conveniently be washed out to sea with all the other microplastics from the laundry.

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

#37

Post by Someone1234 »

tenpies wrote: post #5
madengr wrote: post #2

Mattress shopping is almost as bad as car shopping. I'll buy a used car to get around the sleazy car sales people, but the wife absolutely won't go for a used matresss. I'm sure the mattress markup is astronomical, and I'm sure most brands come from the same factories.

I'm also somewhat suspicious that foam mattresses are quite bad for your health, not necessarily from a sleep mechanics perspective, but from an air quality one. I mean you are literally sleeping on a piece of plastic that is optimized for surface area. You then squish it constantly while using it and inhale those aerosolized plastic particles for about 8 hours per day.

Unfortunately while off-gassing is a legitimate concern (particularly in poorly ventilated rooms) it is harder and harder to avoid, as spring mattresses now also often contain one or several layers of foam.

I'd like to see some high quality research on this using realistic test environments, or even monitoring in actual bedrooms. I don't know who is willing to fund that though.

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

#38

Post by wahern »

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…

> Was my mattress so cheaply-made that the manufacturer could afford to give them away?

Shipping is expensive, especially for something as heavy and bulky as an uncompressed foam mattress. Among other things, I have a free stroller (sans cup holder) and a life-time supply of Feather razor blades (they accidentally sent the bulk packaging) because Amazon didn't want to pay for return shipping.

Factor in the risks and headaches of trying to resell a used mattress, and I can easily see never wanting to take one back even if it means having to factor into the regular price the costs of finicky buyers. The mattress market is weird: http://freakonomics.com/podcast/mattress-store-bubble/

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

#39

Post by wycy »

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…

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.

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

#40

Post by mthoms »

throwaway_tech wrote: post #35
mthoms wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sleaze of the mattress industry is a major reason the mattress in a box business has done so well. I just love when these kinds of markets get disrupted because the disdain these companies have for their own customers is infuriating (see also taxi industry). There's a great "Adam Ruins Everything" episode about this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tZOKfCial4 FWIW, I absolutely love my mattress in a box and the b…

>The sleaze of the mattress industry is a major reason the mattress in a box business has done so well. Don't be fooled if you thought the traditional mattress buying experience was sleazy (similar to a car buying experience), the mattress in a box online dark patterns take sleaze to a whole other level.

I'm sure you're right.

I have to say my experience was very good in that regard, possibly because I went with the most respected brand in my country (Canada) and the industry is much less crowded/competitive here.

Having said that, I bought the mattress over 2 years ago now so maybe things have changed. I hate dark patterns with a fiery passion.

Post reply on HN