According to ShopSmart (the shopping magazine from the publisher of Consumer Reports), paying a higher price for a mattress doesn’t mean that it’s better. Sometimes it pays to pay less.

It’s possible to spend upwards to $3,000 (or more!).
What you should spend instead: upwards to about $1,000 (ideally, not much more than this.
The reason for this is because Shopmart’s labs simulated eight years of mattress use by conducting a series of endurance tests on dozens of mattresses ( pushing and pulling a 308-pound roller across them at least 30,000 times, then cutting each one open to check for internal damage. Sensors were also put on 36 points of testers’ spines to determine how well that line is maintained when lying on their backs.

And a test was conducted on how level the mattresses kept their spines when lying on their sides. A 38-pound weight-with sensors inside-was also dropped on the mattresses to check on how much “vibration” was picked up amidst a sudden shift of weight).
In a recent study, a $1,075 Serta mattress rated higher in durability than a deluxe $4, 800 Duxiana.

Did You Know That…..

There are three main types of mattresses.
Foam provides surface level comfort (and there are two kinds of foam; one is body-activated, while the other kind is weight-activated).
A Spring mattress is for firm support.
A Hybrid contains both springs and foam.

Sleep mainly on your stomach? Try medium firmness.
Back sleeper? Soft-to-medium firmness is for you.
For side sleepers, go for soft support.

Self Service Mattress Shopping

The owners of a small, Milwaukee, Wisconsin furniture chain are considering the unique idea of a self-service mattress shop in three towns.
These establishments would open and close remotely, be fitted with security cameras and have no staff on the premises.

The brother duo of Arvid and Ben Huth (started P.M. Bedroom Gallery, now Penny Mustard, in 1993; there are also four stores in suburban Chicago) confirmed that they are experimenting with what they have dubbed HASSLEss Mattress: “It’s a work in progress.”

But officials in the three targeted suburbs say that plans submitted to them sound consistent and appear to be well on their way to being put into play. The basics of the business operation would be: An electronically opened shop with test mattresses, an on-site computer for further information and online ordering, a contact phone number and intensive monitoring by video cameras.

HASSLEss also has a website and leased space in a shopping mall for two months as a preview experiment during late spring/early summer of this year.
The Huths’ approach takes the notion that many shoppers (if not most) would rather not have a salesman hovering nearby as they’re checking out and testing the mattresses. “People are not particularly comfortable just flopping down,” said retail consultant Anne Brouwer.

“This is a big-ticket purchase,” she continued. “So how many customers will feel they have enough information and confidence in their choice, in the retailer, in how the process will work, in giving out their credit information?”
“They’ve done a great job of building their distinctive personality in their business,” Brouwer said. “They offer a quality product. I applaud them for being courageous and trying things.”

Sources: “When cheaping out really pays off”-From Consumer Reports-The (Sunday) Vindicator, August 17, 2014, ¨how to buy a new mattress¨ by Christina Yeotsas-Real Simple, September 2014 and “Mattress chain’s policy: Let the buyer be”-by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel-The (Sunday) Vindicator, July 13, 2014