How to buy a Mattress? (Part 02/04)
This is the second part of "How to buy a mattress?" series from an experienced sales man and a manager of a mattress store. The first part can be found here.
In this part of the mattress buying guide, he talks about “comparative shopping”. Things to look for? Can it be done? How to do it?
Comparative shopping for beds is almost impossible. This is because manufacturers make slightly different beds for different retailers with in the same region. So the sales people are not lying when they say that the mattresses they have are exclusive (but so are all the mattresses with all the other stores in town). But often times its the same ice cream with different topping.
This said, then HOW can one compare the mattresses from different places?
If a mattress at Store A is for $999 and another mattress at Store B of the same brand is being sold at the same price tag, does it mean they are the same from the inside? The only way to know this is to have a little more knowledge of what is inside the mattress. So first advice of the day is to bring a note pad and a pen when you go mattress shopping. When a sales person sees a notepad, he knows he has got a serious buyer and a serious person who cannot be sold crap. This is how you use the notepad.
Write down the name of the mattress, store name, specifications (the type of foam in it and the number of coils, information which sometimes even the sales person doesn’t know or refuse to share but try to get it), the price tag, and even the sales person name/contact if you want.
Mattresses with in the same grade and the price range usually have the same specifications, that is, same number of coils and the type of foam in them.
Today’s second advice, DO NOT believe and base your decision on the adjectives given on the tags attached to the mattress. These adjectives are just tools of marketing the mattress. Remember the three categories of bed we mentioned in the first part of this mattress buying guide series (xxx), ie, firm, plush and pillow soft. There is NO such thing as an “Ultra pillow soft” or “Super firm mattress”. There is no difference in ultra pillow soft and a pillow soft mattress. Similarly super firm mattress is only as firm as a simple firm mattress.
Now, what is a “Box top mattress”? It is a regular mattress with a thin pad (as part of the mattress) on the top of it. So it looks like a “box top” mattress.
A Euro top mattress and a box top mattress are the same essentially. There is really no functional difference between the two; it's just a cosmetic difference.
A box top mattress and/or the euro top mattress are basically types of pillow soft mattresses. The only difference is that a pillow top has three layers and box/euro top has four layers of soft foam.
More mattress buying education will be continued in the next part of "How to buy a mattress?" series.
In this part of the mattress buying guide, he talks about “comparative shopping”. Things to look for? Can it be done? How to do it?
Comparative shopping for beds is almost impossible. This is because manufacturers make slightly different beds for different retailers with in the same region. So the sales people are not lying when they say that the mattresses they have are exclusive (but so are all the mattresses with all the other stores in town). But often times its the same ice cream with different topping.
This said, then HOW can one compare the mattresses from different places?
If a mattress at Store A is for $999 and another mattress at Store B of the same brand is being sold at the same price tag, does it mean they are the same from the inside? The only way to know this is to have a little more knowledge of what is inside the mattress. So first advice of the day is to bring a note pad and a pen when you go mattress shopping. When a sales person sees a notepad, he knows he has got a serious buyer and a serious person who cannot be sold crap. This is how you use the notepad.
Write down the name of the mattress, store name, specifications (the type of foam in it and the number of coils, information which sometimes even the sales person doesn’t know or refuse to share but try to get it), the price tag, and even the sales person name/contact if you want.
Mattresses with in the same grade and the price range usually have the same specifications, that is, same number of coils and the type of foam in them.
Today’s second advice, DO NOT believe and base your decision on the adjectives given on the tags attached to the mattress. These adjectives are just tools of marketing the mattress. Remember the three categories of bed we mentioned in the first part of this mattress buying guide series (xxx), ie, firm, plush and pillow soft. There is NO such thing as an “Ultra pillow soft” or “Super firm mattress”. There is no difference in ultra pillow soft and a pillow soft mattress. Similarly super firm mattress is only as firm as a simple firm mattress.
Now, what is a “Box top mattress”? It is a regular mattress with a thin pad (as part of the mattress) on the top of it. So it looks like a “box top” mattress.
A Euro top mattress and a box top mattress are the same essentially. There is really no functional difference between the two; it's just a cosmetic difference.
A box top mattress and/or the euro top mattress are basically types of pillow soft mattresses. The only difference is that a pillow top has three layers and box/euro top has four layers of soft foam.
More mattress buying education will be continued in the next part of "How to buy a mattress?" series.
Stumble Mattress Queen!