Let me start with a thanks to Phoenix. I always knew that the mattress industry was shady (like the diamond industry) but never really knew how to deal with it. Thanks to all this info here, I’m able to now vocalize a lot of the things I’m looking for (and know what to avoid).
I’m in New York City (with no car) and it seems like the easy bed places to check out are:
I like some of the things I tried out at dixiefoam but am also tempted to try SleepEZ as I read more about it here. I’m a little afraid that my tinkerer’s brain will overthink the layers and end up spending a few months in swap-out hell with SleepEZ, but I like their selection, customizability and thickness compared to dixiefoam.
Does anyone have experience with dixiefoam and building custom builds (or dealing with swap-outs)? Also, I’m curious if people who buy from SleepEZ would have still gone there if they had a local option? I’m not sure how to consider the differences between dixie/SleepEZ.
When you are dealing with two options that are both in the “best value” range then choices become a matter of smaller objective, subjective, and intangible differences that may be more or less important to you. You can see some of the different factors I would take into account in your own “value equation” post #46 here.
As you mentioned there is always a “risk” in overthinking things (and a risk in underthinking them as well :)). Mark at Dixiefoam does do layer changeouts and as you know I think highly of the mattresses and the quality, value and service he offers. He would certainly be welcome as a member here.
I personally place a lot of value in being able to test a mattress locally for its suitability in terms of PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Personal preferences) and a rough guideline I tend to suggest is that if a local purchase that you have tested is in the range of 20% or so more than an “apples to apples” comparison available online then I would consider them to be “equivalent” value and probably go with the local purchase. When the local premium is more than this, then I would more seriously consider an online alternative. Of course each person can set their own “number” based on their risk tolerance and on what is most important to them so this is just a general guideline.
My goal is usually to help people get to the place where all their choices are good ones and then get out of the way of their final decisions which are more about personal preferences and intangibles but I would take some comfort in the fact that you have eliminated your worst choices and you are in a position that you really can’t make a bad choice in terms of quality and value. All of your choices are better than what I would guess 80% or more of mattress shoppers end up buying.
Thanks for the fast response Phoenix! You’re doing the world quite a service. If I do buy from Mark at DixieFoam I’ll push him to get a membership here.
We’ve already had a brief discussion about it but both of us have been so busy that we haven’t had the chance to connect further and talk about it. He knows he’s welcome though and when I’ve had a chance to complete some of the projects I’m working on (software upgrades that will lead to some other features on the site) and he has the time as well we’ll have a more in depth conversation about it.
Just as an update, I decided to go with SleepEZ (and talked with Shawn who was very helpful). We’re enjoying the latex bed and have definitely noticed a lot less tossing/turning at night.
I tried out a SavvyRest and while cost wasn’t as big a deal for us, I just didn’t really see benefits of buying from SavvyRest versus SleepEZ. I also considered local but I could never reach Mark at DixieFoam.
Thanks again for all the help, Phoenix, and for educating us about latex versus the other options. Here’s to sweet dreams for the next few years!
