Mattresses, not stereos is where the money is

"If I find it is too firm or too soft they will send me different coils to put in.

Who would have guessed there is a DIY mattress market, too?

valinar you win!

I took this literally and as far as you guys know I don't have $10 Grand stashed inside my mattress. I swear.

One man’s mattress is another man’s bass trap.

These stores are fronts. Its easy to hide and transport drugs in a mattress. That's why you see 4 mattress stores at an intersection, none with any customers.

Funny, just a month or two ago we drove around to test Purple, Tempurpedic, Sleep Number, and whatever other new bed technology is out there... Conclusion: We went with a traditional Sterns & Foster. Super happy with it. All the others felt too gimicky and not as comfortable as old school mattresses.

I know the average retail markup for stereo gear is around 45%. What must the mark up be for mattress stores to stay open with this much competition? 90%?

Ha! Not even close! High end stereo gear is an easy double. Which I know from years of buying from a friend in the business. Never paid more than about 60% of retail. Even at that he was making a profit. In other words usually he would double it, but for me only marked it up 10%. Very common.

Please note the difference between markup and margin. Markup is cost to sale price. Margin includes all other costs. Margin in high end might only be around 5%.

Same applies to mattresses. Only more so. Something I researched extensively because back when I was poor and needy I was not about to pay for what looked like frills. Which in the case of matteress it literally is frills.

So here’s the deal, as shown to me by the owner of Everrest Mattress in Seattle, WA. Mattresses are such a commodity with such thin margins that all the springs in all the mattresses all across the whole western US are made by the same one or two manufacturers. Same goes for all the foam and fabric. These three things- springs, foam, fabric- that’s a mattress.

Basically this guy wanted to sell a mattress, saw a guy (me) ready to pay a lot more for a Sealey (or whatever) and so took the time to walk me around his warehouse which made it excruciatingly clear to me that all these high end mattresses no matter how expensive are all the same damn thing. The fabric on the outside changes. The places they put foam changes. But really what changes the most is the advertising.

This is how they add $1k or more to what is really a $350 mattress. The markup is not 90%. Its more like 200%. Spendy mattress, full price, maybe 300%. That’s the markup. Which might even be low. Margin on the other hand includes all costs- massive advertising, killer sales commissions, retail floor space, warehousing, transportation and delivery- these all add up resulting in a bottom line margin that’s actually pretty thin.

Forget double-blind.  The only way to test mattresses properly is when fully asleep.

A well rested audiophile is a happy audiophile

How is this thread audio related?

Nectar was a brand I didn't end up trying.  I did try the Tempur-pedic. The only model that worked for me temperature and support wise was, of course, the $4,500 queen.
Ended up with a Bedgear for $1,700. If I find it is too firm or too soft they will send me different coils to put in.

I also want to point out this :
Both stereos and memory-foam mattresses have a warm up period.

The bed sleeps very differently after it's warm, the major reason I'm having to replace mine.

This actually could turn out to be a huge godsend for audiophiles. Now they will be able to sleep with their HiFi system.

If two mattresses measure the same, will they also sleep the same?

You can never state so until extensive, double blind tests are conducted. And since you can’t rely on long term sleep memory, quick sleep testing has to be done without the knowledge of the participants, who must be moved from bed to bed as quickly as possible ( or just raise, jostled and replaced on the same mattress).

Only then, after all the data is compiled, can one state which mattress is better than the other, or, just the same as any other, well made mattress.

All the best,
Nonoise

The real money is in Legos.

Actually, it's in bandages and foot care.

If two mattresses measure the same, will they also sleep the same?

"The mattress people make it almost impossible to comparison shop.

They change the name of the models depending upon the store that's selling them. The manufacturer's name stays the same, but the name of the model changes.

What you see at the mattress store is the same mattress you see at Macy's ... just different labels. "
That is the most frustrating part of mattress shopping. Also,testing a mattress out in the store is kind of like trying audio equipment in a room other than your own, it's too hard to tell how you're going to like it long term. 
We ended up buying a latex foam mattress from a local manufacturer with a great reputation. 

Wow a mattress rap how great.

The mattress people make it almost impossible to comparison shop.

They change the name of the models depending upon the store that's selling them.  The manufacturer's name stays the same, but the name of the model changes.

What you see at the mattress store is the same mattress you see at Macy's ...  just different labels. 

Frank

This thread has turned out to be a real sleeper.

Here ya go big spender!!
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=duxiana&view=detail&mid=7F35C419E1010162E8797F35C419E10...

Unfortunately, a friend on a very limited income has a 400lb. twenty-something mentally-disabled son who wandered into one of these mattress stores and purchased an $8000 mattress on a five-year installment plan.

I’m pretty sure mattresses would make excellent vibration isolation platforms, big enough for the whole system! If you have a LITTLE SYSTEM use a child’s mattress. 🤗 Air mattress or spring mattress. Take your pick! A memory foam topper for damping, perhaps? 

I always sleep standing up and often wear a tuxedo while doing so.

Mattress stores are being put to bed as fast as they rise where I live.

Beds can be like audio in that there’s that markup to deal with but what goes for an audio deal can be done with beds.

Like my Kinki Studio EX-M1 integrated, my Nectar foam mattress is made in China. I researched the hell out of both of them and like the savings one gets with the Kinki, the Nectar set me back a mere $700 for a queen mattress.

Online reviews say it’s the closest thing to a Tempurpedic and I can attest to that since my sister got one a month before I got my Nectar. The best thing is, the Nectar comes with a lifetime warranty. Should I ever grow to hate it, they’ll come pick it up with a full refund, no questions asked.

I’ve never slept better and all it took was some good old fashioned gumshoe work, like I do with my audio purchases. And like with audio, some of the reviewers knocked the Nectar since it was made in China, so there’s that other aspect one can attribute to both: the xenophobia.

All the best,
Nonoise

The real money is in Legos.

My niece married a guy that sells Hastens mattresses in LA. I think they go for around 50 or 60k.

You can bet that there's good margin in it if Macy's (those whores) are in on it, even in the face of multiple hi profile competitors.
Full disclosure: I'm a bitter former employee.