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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

#61

Post by Mountain_Skies »

werber wrote: post #23
jacob019 wrote: post #14

Forgive me if this is off-topic. I am currently in the market for a queen size mattress in a box. The last one that I bought on Amazon was perfect, it cost about $300. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F8NNL8X It is no longer available. Now it seems that you can get a decent one for under $250. Here are some that I found: Ashley: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0777K9RGX Vibe: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074NDQ143 PrimaSleep: h…

https://www.amazon.com/Zinus-Memory-Green-Mattress-Queen/dp/... I've had several friends go out and buy it after a night on mine. I've had it for ~3 years and haven't noticed any degradation. After trying much more expensive (and heavily advertised) ones other people own, I can't really tell the difference.

I have the same mattress. Almost never give it a second thought, which is what I really want in a mattress. Some reviews complain of a fishy smell but I didn't encounter it with mine but there are enough reviews with that complain that I wonder if there are multiple manufacturing pipelines, one of which leads to a fishy smelling mattress.

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

#62

Post by hombre_fatal »

sauwan wrote: post #50
fwip wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's risky for the charity. For instance, if the mattress has bedbugs, it stands a good chance of contaminating everything they've got in storage, requiring them to purge their entire inventory, sanitize, and build up from scratch again.

Can't they set up an offsite hotbox to get rid of the bedbugs before it gets onsite? Surely someone could set up a mobile truck that can come, park, and heat up 15 mattresses for the few hours it takes to kill or drive off the bedbugs, no?

One simple option is to immediately insert the mattress into a bed bug cover upon pickup.

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

#63

Post by blackearl »

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…

It's also impossible to comparison shop because most people buy them once a decade, you don't really break them in for weeks, and sleeping is so subjective it's impossible to take anyone's word for it.

I bought a queen for around $600. It's fine. Improving sleep has been more about exercising more often, decreasing screen time, and reading/meditating before bed.

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

#64

Post by sergers »

I bought a foam mattress off amazon canada.

Decided to return it.

Surprisingly amazon.ca doesnt offer large item pickup like USA, and expected to return a king size expanded 10" thick foam mattress to the local post office.

I called them asking wtf, how am I supposed to return it.

They gave a me refund, and told me donate destroy it myself or even just keep it.

I decided to keep it

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

#65

Post by morelisp »

fwip wrote: post #26
Reedx wrote: post #25

“In California, a lot of charities can’t accept a used mattress,” So those in need of mattresses don't get them and more likely to go to landfill... regardless of condition. Are used mattresses really that risky? Are charities themselves not able to make a reasonable judgement call on what they accept?

It's risky for the charity. For instance, if the mattress has bedbugs, it stands a good chance of contaminating everything they've got in storage, requiring them to purge their entire inventory, sanitize, and build up from scratch again.

Wouldn't this apply to any bedding, or even clothing?

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

#66

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

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

#67

Post by pathartl »

mech1234 wrote: post #53

Get a firm or very firm innerspring mattress from IKEA. You can do this for less than $300 and it will fit in the back of a sedan in it's roll-up-package. Sleep on it for a bit. If you don't like the feel, which you probably won't, add a memory foam mattress topper for ~$50. Use a thicker or thinner topper to suit your needs. Congrats! Because your mattress is firm, its foam will not break down for a long, long time.…

Not sure this is good advice. I like a firm mattress, but IKEA mattresses are absolutely terrible. I also cannot sleep with a foam topper on any bed. They're hot and screw up my back beyond belief.

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

#68

Post by telchar »

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.

I paid a little extra (~$600) for a foam mattress manufactured in California. I figured there is a lower chance of harmful offgassing than the cheaper Chinese mattresses like Zinus. I don't have any way to test that though.

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

#69

Post by ghaff »

blackearl wrote: post #63
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…

It's also impossible to comparison shop because most people buy them once a decade, you don't really break them in for weeks, and sleeping is so subjective it's impossible to take anyone's word for it. I bought a queen for around $600. It's fine. Improving sleep has been more about exercising more often, decreasing screen time, and reading/meditating before bed.

I was doing some research because I'm going to have to buy one for a vacation house later this year. On the one hand, I don't want to just randomly choose an expensive purchase. On the other hand, truth be told, I spend a quarter to a third of nights in various hotel rooms and they're mostly "fine."

And I've personally had everything from a waterbed to a (high-end) futon in my own house.

So I know I don't want something really crappy but so long as I don't go off in some weird direction or really cheap out, I'm sure I'll be just fine.

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