Yes. But I think I got more emotionally swindled than anything. I paid $2000 for a King Simmons Beautyrest World Class Firm, a queen Serta Formosa Eurotop, box springs, metal frames, and a 43” Insignia LED TV.
The list price for all of these things together was somewhere around $5199. What an amazing deal!!!! OR WAS IT? On the positive side, I don’t think I overpaid. Could I have gotten the price knocked down another couple hundred dollars? Probably. But the part that bothers me the most is that I left the store feeling like I had robbed it. Like I had gotten a STEAL. Well it turns out that this was the board that they set and I played perfectly into their little game.
Game
Here’s how it happened. Tommy and I wandered into a Mattress 1. They had a very confusing promotion going on that was called “Any Size for Twin Price”. The confusing part about this was that it was EXACTLY what it said it was. Come again? “Any Size for Twin Price”. Seriously? This went on for some time with the sales associate. When I really think about it, mattresses are probably made of extremely cheap materials. The $3699 king size mattress that was marked down to $1599 probably cost $20 to make, so either way their margins are ridiculous.
Set
The mattress that Tommy and I decided that we wanted was a Simmons Beautyrest World Class Firm King Sized Mattress. This was based on comfort alone, not price. It turned out to be the perfect mix for us to have a traditional coiled mattress but also get the benefits of memory foam which include temperature normalizing technology – basically keeps you cool while you sleep and better back support. As mentioned earlier, the list price of the mattress was $3699 and the promotion had it at $1599. Trap Number One. We already felt like we were winning. What are the odds that we walked into this mattress store on this day??!?! And I bet this promotion is ending tomorrow! WHAT ARE THE CHANCES.
Trap Number Two. The sales associate casually mentioned that we could get a deal on buying multiple mattresses. With a new house to fill, this sounded very appealing. Especially since we had originally budgeted for $2500 for a new mattress thinking that was the going rate for a quality king sized mattress. We took a look at some cheaper mattresses for a guest room. We settled on a Sealy Formosa Medium Soft Queen Size Mattress that was listed at $1599 and on promotion for $799. We decided we were going to play HARDBALL and offered $2000 for the pair.
Match
Trap Number Three. If you spend $2000 you get a free 43” LED TV! Checkmate. Shockingly the big boss on the phone gave our sales associate clearance to make “such an amazing deal”. We signed the papers and walked out of the store with big goofy grins on our faces.
Are we fools? Probably. But at the end of the day, we got the exact mattress we wanted and probably paid about the right price for it. Was it a deal? No. It was not.
Lessons Learned
Now I’ve made my choice. It’s too late for me this time around. What advice would I give to others? I guess just be aware of the aggressive markup of prices. I still think you should shop based on comfort. You can listen to the technobabble about gel foam and memory foam and coils blah blah, but honestly just lay down on the mattress and feel what you like. OR you could buy what I call a “New Age Internet Mattress”.
If you haven’t heard the news, the internet is making it simpler to buy mattresses just like it has done everything else. According to science and things, the majority of people like and need a relatively firm mattress. Therefore companies like Casper and Leesa are taking a one-mattress-fits-all approach. Flat reasonable price at around $1000 for a king mattress, delivered to your door in a box, with a 100 day free trial.
Despite, how great this sounds, I am a traditionalist when it comes to some things. There are very few purchases that I will make without getting to touch and see the product first. I still like to shop at Barnes & Noble. And let’s be clear. I like to shop at Barnes & Noble and then purchase from Amazon because Barnes & Noble is more expensive and I have Amazon Prime so 2 day shipping is free, I mean I still have to make rational choices. Anyway, I don’t buy clothes online, I don’t buy shoes online, why on earth would I buy a mattress online? So as wonderful as the Casper way sounds, I could not pull the trigger. Would you?