Where can you buy a mattress?

Big Box Retailer Stores, like Costco, Walmart where you can buy a pack of chips, pair of socks along with a new mattress.

Department Stores – Specialized stores and usually with higher price tags. In some of them you’ll find nice mattress deals and you can even bargain, while others have quite firm prices and hold on to them.

Online. Online retailers like Amazon, Ebay, Wayfair, mattress startup websites like Leesa, Casper, Tuft and Needle and others. They mostly do offer better prices and much bigger selection, but of course, buying a mattress online also has the same obvious downside – you can’t try it before you pay.

Lets Start …

Ask yourself what you and your partner love in bed ? If you like bouncy mattresses with strong edge support let us focus on innerspring mattresses, if you like sleeping warm and would love to release the pressure from you than memory foams can be the first thing to look for, and if you love a little hug by foam but still want some responsiveness than latex mattresses should be your best bet.

The topmost important step is to define your budget. It will narrow down the huge selection and will save your precious time. Nowadays even with a very tough budget, you can get a decent mattress which can serve for years to come.

Important things while setting a correct budget.

1.  Be realistic, do not expect that mattress which is worth 200$ may have similar quality and durability like it’s $2000 counterpart. During our mattress “fun” research journey, we’ve realized that each 100$ spent on mattress should bring one year of satisfaction. So if you’re getting a mattress for 200$ and it lasted 2+ years, then consider it as a good investment.
2. What is the purpose of the mattress? Is it going to be placed in the guest room and will occasionally be used ? or maybe you need it for your toddler. The idea is that the requirements to the main bed and to beds which are not being used consistently are quite different.
3.  Know your weight or your weight plus the weight of your sleeping partner if you’re sharing a bed with a beloved one. It’s crucial factor which might compromise the durability and lifespan of your mattress if chosen wrong. The general rule of thumb – overweight person needs to spend 20-50% more to get a mattress which will not leave them disappointed. You can check first this and for second this if you’re overweight.
4.  The size of your bed:  The size of your bed: this might sound obvious, but still we’d like to include in this list, because there are a lot of options which you need to consider. Twin size or Twin XL, Full size or Queen size, King size or maybe California King? It all depends on what space you have in the room and your size as a human being. The golden rule is that mattress should have 15cm space left counting from your feet and 30cm from both of sides.
5.  In each section of this website you can find median prices for different mattress sizes, we’ve analyzed lots of them, so they are quite accurate. We believe it may serve a good starting point to set your budget.
6. You need to know the type of mattresses which exist, below are three most popular ones which cover over 90% of mattress market

If you already know which type will work best for you and you’ve already set a proper budget, then it’s time to have a look at our buying recommendations for different price ranges.

Budget up to $1000 – We recommend to stick to online shopping. Why is online shopping the best within this budget? Price tags for mattresses offered by online retailers usually are much lower, because the big portion of the market is occupied by mattresses startups who prefer to sell directly to customers and keeping the price low. Yes, you can’t try them, but there are lots of reviews, research websites (like ours), authoritative reviews.

Budget $1000-$3000 – 55% mattresses are within this price range, so the selection is still huge. Here is the best approach. Visit specialized department store (in big box retailers you’ll not have the luxury to test the mattress) and try several ones. Take notes on models which seems comfortable for you (especially pay attention to firmness, how the mattress is responding to pressure and how comfortable you feel while lying). Do not buy it yet, go home and make further research. Try to find that same mattress online for a better deal, read some reviews especially be keen to seek reviews from owners who’ve own this mattress for several years.

Usually, online stores have better pricing, and if you’ll found a better deal print it and go back to store at will serve a good negotiation point, and the salesperson will not have freedom to push on you as they would like.   Many times you’ll not be able to find the same mattress which you’ve seen in the store. Stores like to make things complicated because they do not want you to make a comparison shopping. They are getting private label mattresses with a custom name on it, so it’ll be much harder to compare prices. Sometimes the model ABC in one store might be identical to model XYZ in another store.
But I would also like to mention that within this price range you can get exceptional quality mattress online. The Eco Terra is the best mattress on our list, and we recommend it if you’ve decided that latex mattress is your next investment.

Budget over $3000 – Those are mattresses with a price tag well over from median prices, and they are not that much available online. To our opinion, those mattresses are better to get in stores. Stick to reputable sellers if you’re going to spend that much. Mattress dealers realize that those customers expect special treatment and attention and they’ll do their best to satisfy all yours requirements to make you a loyal client. Just be careful and examine warranty and return policy in greater details. Our practice shows that giving a warranty and honoring it are two different things.

Do you want to test the mattress you liked?

Now about testing mattress – if buying from a local store was your selection we recommend you to test it for comfort. I know most of us might ignore this advice, as lying on the mattress for 5 min on each side (4 sides and 20 min in total) especially in the company of other fellow shoppers does not sound appealing at all. But let me ask you a question: why you’ve decided to shop offline if you’re not going to test it properly? Also to my opinion, your move might help other people to feel comfortable to do so. Yes, salesmen might not be happy, but who cares that? The mattress is not a handkerchief neither is a bed sheet which simply touch our bodies, it’s a tool of paramount importance which serve us to craft restful nights, sometimes for decades.

Materials and Certifications. Are those really important?

Your health and your mattress’s durability, here are the answers. In the modern market, you’ll see many mattresses that are labeled as “Memory Foam” or another example “Organic latex” without any proof. I’d suggest always to check mattresses that have a Centripur-US certificate for foam mattresses, and for latex, you may check Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) GreenGuard, Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS), Cradle to Cradle.