Hello - I’ve recently joined The Mattress Underground, partly to research mattresses and partly to inquire about buying from a local manufacturer vs factor direct as listed on this site.
Thanks to the people who runs this site and those who contribute: it is as absolute wealth of information and recommendations that help guide what can be a relatively confusing mattress buying experience.
My primary question is about pricing from a local manufacturer vs some of the recommended manufactures on this website. We are considering two option, both in eastern king:
- Custom by local manufacturer mattress, full talalay blend latex:
- 2 inch talalay blend top and bottom at 32 ILD
- 4 inch talalay blend in the middle at 40 ILD
- wrapped in cotton or cotton/wool
- no explicit guarantee for comfort. it’s unclear what would happen if we ended up really hating this mattress
price = $3700
- SleepEz Organic Latex Mattress
- 2 inch soft 100% talalay top
- 3 inch medium 100% dunlop middle
- 3 inch firm 100% dunlop base
- all split in case we prefer different firmness levels
- wrapped in cotton/wool
- pretty standard return policy or exchange to adjust should we find this mattress uncomfortable
price = $1800 (with discounts, pillows, and protector)
a. what is driving this price differential? I am having a hard time justifying the local manufacturers price even though we would prefer to support a local business and the people that make testing good mattresses possible.
b. is price it acceptable to negotiate the price with a local manufacturer?
c. If so, any techniques to help find a middle ground that makes them money, but doesn’t feel like an incredible overpay?
We are leaning towards the SleepEz.
Thanks for any thoughts you have!
More information on our situation:
My wife and I started our new mattress search about 8 months ago. During that first search we ended up with an Avocado Green Mattress. This was based on,
- desire for “natural” or organic certified materials
- price: all in it was ~$2k with topper
- testing Avocado options for 30 min and various other brands at a local retailer for 30 min.
- she is a side sleeper at ~130lbs and I am roller at about 155lbs (but mostly stomach)
Well, it has really not worked for us. My wife has taken the topper and doubled it up just to be comfortable. I’m somewhat comfortable on the “raw” mattress side, but have found I wake with hip pain on some nights.
We started our 2nd search a month ago and ended up really liking a full latex mattress from a local manufacturer. We live in the California Central Coast area and are lucky to have a factory 30 min south of us. The owner is very nice, seems quite knowledgable, and will make us a custom mattress. If price wasn’t a concern, we’d buy from them immediately. He’s specified a mattress based on our initial testing, but it seems rather expensive compared to some alternatives recommended on this site.
I’ve created a detailed spreadsheet of different options, including our thoughts on the ones we’ve actually been able to test. (Haven’t been able to test many full latex models, but did experiment with different ILDs at the local manufacturer.) SleepEz, APM, SOL are all within our original target budget. The local manufacturer is not, but we can make it work.
Questions above, any and all thoughts appreciated.