Cheap, quality mattresses

[caliskan]

I was shopping for mattresses and had to go through a lot of reviews, Internet surfing, comparison shopping, etc... and here is a good deal I came up with.

Good's furniture has a 4th of July sale (with 55% discount) and their Sealy Posturepedic "Caballo" Plush Pillowtop sets, with 640 coil count, are being sold for $692. Sleepy's has to beat any competitor's price by 20%, which brings the same bed'ss cost to $533! Their comparable mattress set is otherwise being sold for $925-$1000 (checked 3 Sealy's stores, and these are still sale prices).

They will tell you it is a telemarketing (promotional) bed but the coil count and all other features are basically the same. That's how things work in the mattress sale business: same features, but different names and huge price differences.

Some additional queen set prices from Good's (take 20% of for Sealy price):

Sealy Posturepedic "Oneida": $494
Sealy Posturepedic "Redmond" Cushion Firm: $791

Simmons Beautyrest "Carter" Firm: $593
Simmons Beautyrest "Tyler" Ultra Plush Pillowtop: $791
Simmons Beautyrest "Vivana" Plush Pillowtop: $890

http://www.us-mattress.com/sealy.html
http://www.us-mattress.com/simmons.html

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/house_and_home/mattresses/

http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-Home_Furnishings-Mattresses-All-Simmons_Beautyrest_Mattress

http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-Home_Furnishings-Mattresses-All-Sealy_Posturpedic_Mattress

Any questions are welcome!

 

[rochlin]

Good luck with the deal, but be a little wary. Mattress vendors have a whole panoply of dubious sales tactics. A couple of the most common:

1. There's almost always a sale. It's kinda hard to nail down when there's no sale.

2. Pricematching is typically a fraud. The vendors depend on minor, often cosmetic variations in the same product from the same mattress manufacturers to avoid actually being true to their price match offer. For the larger chains, the mattress manufacturers are in collusion on this scam -- making the small variations to order for the vendors. (You'll notice every vendor's ad uses a different name for what appears to be the same Sealy or whatever).

The WORST practice by far (which is rare, thank god) is taking people's used mattresses (they take them away for you when your new one is delivered), reupholstering, and then selling them as new. In some cases, when the new upholstery was removed the old matteresses were still stained! They hadn't even bothered to clean them! Totally illegal of course, and like I said -- (believed to be) rare.

In general, mattress vendors are slimeballs, barely a notch over street hustlers.

 

[Perplexer]

Agreed, mattress stores are sleazy, almost as bad as car dealerships. They'll charge you whatever they think they can get away with.

Pricematching will be difficult, because like you mentioned, the mattress manufacturer will often slap a label with a different name on the exact same mattress, depending on which reseller it's being shipped to.

I lucked out a couple years ago; found exactly the mattress I wanted at Mattress Giant (a $700 Sealy Posturepedic), then happened to see the same mattress set (Sealy, same features and specifications) for around $350 at Costco. Rented a U-Haul truck and somehow managed to get the queen mattress and boxspring home by myself. Costco now seems to sell cheapo no-name mattresses, but then again, I haven't had to look for a while.

 

[RadioactiveMagpies]

Has anyone slepted on 3-4 inch($150+) memory foam pads? I keep reading about how good it is, but any anandtech member experiences?

 

[MrNutz]

i agree that most mattress vendors are always having some "holiday" sale...Easter, 4th of July, Yom Kipper, etc.....but after their unbeliveable coupons and discounts the price still ends up being right around MFRP....i bought my king-size Serta Perfect Sleeper w/ box springs for around $500 @ Sam's a year ago and still haven't seen a mattress discount day flyer that has beat that price

 

[Slugbait]

Agreed, mattress stores are sleazy, almost as bad as car dealerships.

That's a good reason why you go with a classy store like The Bon. Thru July 7, you can pick up a 2-pc Queen Simmons World Class Beautyrest Pillow Top for $888 (normally anywhere from $1300 to $2200...tho' I doubt they ever sold one of these beds for $2200). They'll also haul your old bed away for free, and free delivery on sets over $699. Also, the World Class has 850 coils (as opposed to 640 with Sealy's Caballo)

You can be relatively certain The Bon doesn't do those refurbished-as-new scams...and if you find out five years from now that they DID sell you a reburbished bed, they'll replace it with no questions asked. Classy joint.

Yup, been looking at beds lately, too. Got a ten-year-old cheapo that needs to relocate to the spare bedroom, get me some decent sleep...

 

[Slugbait]

Bought one. Must have spent two hours laying on and bouncing on 15 or 20 different beds. Only one bed was better, but on sale it would have cost $2100 (normally $2800). The Nielsen Beautyrest was easily second-best for firmness-to-plushness comparison, and easily the best price-point bargain. They threw in the frame for $0.01 (almost didn't get the frame at all...it was the "deal-maker"). It will be delivered on the 10th.

Just layed down on the bed I have to sleep in tonight. Boy, does it suck.

 

[psianime]

I wonder what they do with your soiled matress =)

 

[DeafeningSilence]

Caliskan,

Perhaps the title should be changed to something less misleading, like "Inexpensive, high-quality mattresses."

 

[RossMAN]

I'm so glad I got rid of our POS Englander mattress.

Back in late January 2002 CostCo mailed out one of their coupon books which included a nice $60 off a Queen Sealy Posturpedit Mira Loma, for $339 out the door you couldn't beat that price.

Awesome bed and worth every penny.

 

[Zontor]

Originally posted by: psianime
I wonder what they do with your soiled matress =)

Our local thrift store 'refurbishes' them. I think they gas 'em to kill the noseeums and tiny live stock then slap a new cover over the matress. <shudder>I don't think I'd want to sleep on a retreaded matress</shudder> but I guess you could try to find a good refurbished brand......

 

[macsrule]

<<Has anyone slepted on 3-4 inch...>>

Yes, I have a memory-foam bed from Abed.com. They sell the Temperpedic equivelant. It was $800 for the Queen matress, and I think another $800 for the ajustable bed with vibration.... mmmmmm.....

I like the bed, but it has gotten a bit soft over the last 8 months. It really forms to your body. The only problem I have is I sleep on my side and my shoulders get sore by early morning. I also had a matress that developed a slight ridge in the middle of the foam. I called and they replaced it, no cost.

Go to a Brookstone at a mall near you and see if you like the Temperpedic. If you do, check out abed.com. Their prices are about 1/3rd to half as much.

good luck

 

[mithrandir2001]

I bought my mattress at a clearance sale by a reputable local furniture retailer. I bought a Simmons World Class Elite Firm (forget the exact name) queen mattress with boxspring for $295. Why so inexpensive? The mattress was scraped in two of the corners (could have been dropped) and the boxspring was not a matching one. However, I've slept on the set and there's nothing really wrong with it. The mattress cover hides the scrape marks completely, so to the outsider it's a flawless set. A brand new $295 mattress/boxspring will be much crappier in quality and comfort. Couldn't pass on such a high-quality mattress (probably $800-$1200 unscathed new).

 

[Noirish]

"cheap quality" mattress?

or

cheap "quality mattress"?