so I'm looking to buy a new mattress...

[AceTKK]

Wife and I decided it's time to replace our 15 year old king size mattress.  Anybody have tips or suggestions to avoid getting ripped off?  What are some good places to look?  I found this one at the Sam's Club web-site:

Link

it looks nice and the price is right but I'm wary of buying something without ever lying down on it.  What do you think?

[Q*Bert_OP]

DONT BUY SEALY!

It's a loooooooooong story, PM me if you want to hear about it...

[quarterback]

One word: Costco

- Best price
- Best return policy
- They'll deliver it right into your freakin' bedroom.


Go to Fatwallet and search the "Deal Discussion" forums and you'll find one recurring theme: "Buy from Costco"

[Clonedsheep]

Sit and sleep will beat any advertised price for a mattress or your matress is FREE!!!!!

[ChadTower]

Tell your wife to have a couple of her girlfriends over to test them out. 

[shmokes]

I'm wary of buying something without ever lying down on it.  What do you think?

Yeah...I think you should run with that.  Are you going to have this one for another fifteen years?  What are you saving by buying it at Sam's Club?  $200 bucks?  $300?  Spread that out over 15 years and then consider the cost saving versus spending a lot of money to sleep uncomfortably for the forseeable future.  Don't buy a matress without laying on it first.  Go into the store and find the matress you like and lay on it for half an hour. 

[paigeoliver]

Sit and sleep will beat any advertised price for a mattress or your matress is FREE!!!!!

Yes, they can do that because no two stores sell the exact same model of mattress, making it impossible to comparison shop. I saw a whole big TV show about it once a few years back. The mattress companies provide different models/model numbers to every chain, no place has "the same mattress".

[quarterback]

Sit and sleep will beat any advertised price for a mattress or your matress is FREE!!!!!

Yes, they can do that because no two stores sell the exact same model of mattress, making it impossible to comparison shop. I saw a whole big TV show about it once a few years back. The mattress companies provide different models/model numbers to every chain, no place has "the same mattress".

Exactly.  All of those "guarantees" are complete scams. 

[AceTKK]

Sit and sleep will beat any advertised price for a mattress or your matress is FREE!!!!!

Yes, they can do that because no two stores sell the exact same model of mattress, making it impossible to comparison shop. I saw a whole big TV show about it once a few years back. The mattress companies provide different models/model numbers to every chain, no place has "the same mattress".

Yea!  What the hell is up with that?  Anyway, we went over to the local bed / mattress store (The Mattress Firm or something like it).  They had some nice models but the salesman was unbelievably pushy.  They couldn't offer anything for < $1000, even though we only need the mattress w/out the boxspring or frame.  I finally got fed up with the high-pressure tactics and walked out.  I've bought 3 used cars in my lifetime and I've never seen such an aggressive sales pitch...   

Costco is a good idea, I don't think there is one in my area but it might be worth a road trip.  It looks like Sears has a big sale going on right now too so we're going to head over there tomorrow.  This one looks nice: http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=HSWR&pid=08294181000&subcat=Mattresses

[quarterback]

[paigeoliver]

Remember: Once you're asleep, every mattress feels the same.

[quarterback]

Remember: Once you're asleep, every mattress woman feels the same.

Fixed

But seriously, there was some point in my life that I didn't see the point of spending so much money on a mattress.  I got a hand-me-down Queen mattress from a roommate that I used for a number of years.  Then, one night, I slept on a new decent mattress and was stunned at how good my back felt in the morning.

[paigeoliver]

I have never owned a mattress that wasn't a pre-1980 el-cheapo special that came with the bed. My current mattress is from around 1965. 

[DrewKaree]

This is gonna sound like some gay radio commercial, but I don't care.

I ALWAYS was the guy walking into the store telling them to give me the one for $100 bucks, and firm, if it comes in any range of firmness.  I bought from Sam's for the wife and I, and Costco had the ones for the kids (since Sam's was about $40 more, and with 3 kids, an extra $40 means I coulda bought FOUR mattresses for the same price!).

My wife has nerve problems that are causing us to save to buy a REALLY good mattress.  Select Comfort is what we'll be getting.  I know (and DON'T care) that they are so expensive.  If she's having a "bad back night", she can dial it up, and when she's feeling better, drop back down to something more comfortable for her. 

If there's a place in the mall by you, go and test one out.  You'll see it ISN'T the "that's just a stupid air mattress, it'll POP in a year!" concept my father-in-law seems to think it is, and as shmokes points out, factoring the cost out over the time you'll own it, it'll end up as chump change.

There's NOTHING wrong with going with a cheap mattress, but after testing this thing out EXTENSIVELY (to the point that the people in the store know us now and just say "hi, back to test it out again?" and then LEAVE US ALONE), we're convinced.  If you knew just HOW cheap I am, that alone would be testament to how confident I am about that bed, but you're the one that has to convince yourself.  Give 'em a try if they've got a store near you.  You'll see what I mean.

[JB]

I've slept on a water bed my whole life. Nothing fancy either, just a standard plastic bag mattress.

[shmokes]

I have a $3,400 matress.   

When I got married a few years ago my Mom worked as a sales person in a huge furniture store called RC Willey.  I don't know if it's a national store, but there are qute a few in Utah.  Anyway, there happened to be a deal going on where any employee that sold a certain number of matresses over a period of time could get a free matress of their choice.  She sold enough and gave it to my wife and me as a wedding gift.  The thing is like lying down in a little piece of heaven.  Hopefully it lasts until I'm a rich lawyer because I can't imagine going back to "normal" matresses.  At the same time, I can't imagine paying $3,400 for a matress.

[Bones]

I levitate.

[Stingray]

I bought a new matress last year. I went in the store, bought the first one I saw that fit the bed, threw it in the back of the truck and went home for a beer, cuz shoppin' makes ya thirsty.

-S

[missioncontrol]

[radio person]

I've got a select comfort and I've been very happy with it. I used to have back pains but very rarely I do anymore (unless the wife decides to change my settings  )

[/radio person]

for real those matresses rock.......

Mine is an older one, it came out of my grandma's guest bedroom. and I highly recomend them now..........

I'm serious once I did get it I don't have near the back aches........

[AceTKK]

Select Comfort are those air mattresses right?  I'm not really interested in those because 1) they're way out of my price range 2) I don't trust their pneumatic systems to hold up for the 10 year stretch I'm looking at.  I'm heading out to look some more after work today, I'll update the thread then.

-Ace-

[missioncontrol]

yes it's air......

but you would never know it sleeping on it..........

and as roudy as the wife and I get at times it hasn't busted yet......