Hi MLSly,
The weak link of a mattress is almost always in the comfort layers … not in the base layers. With conventional polyfoam … once you are past about 2.2 lb density there would be little practical difference in durability in the foam itself and in a base layer which doesn’t compress as much in nightly use even lower density may be equally durable in practical terms. At higher densities above this then the performance characteristics of the foam (such as like resilience, elasticity, compression modulus) and how it contributes to the feel and performance of the mattress would be the biggest factor in its cost.
You can see in my comments about BedinaBox in post #2 here. They use 3 lb memory foam in their comfort layers which is the weak link of their mattresses and is lower density than I would consider.
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Brooklyn Bedding’s Bamboo Bella looks to be comparable to the BIAB and seems to be an upgraded Dreamfoam Ultimate, correct? BB offers the 120 day swap-out policy on the comfort layer. Both BIAB and DF have 8" HD cores, while BB only has 6" – again, will that be noticeable or no?
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I’m not so sure I would make the same comparisons as you have. The Bella uses 4 lb gel memory foam an has polyfoam/wool quiting while the BIB uses lower quality memory foam which for me would exclude it from consideration.
The Bamboo Bella is also “different” from the Dreamfoam Ultimate Dreams 13" gel memory foam mattress (if that’s the one you meant). I don’t think I would call one an upgrade over the other as much as just a completely different mattress with a different design and different options. The thickness of a core is only one of many factors (IFD, resilience, compression modulus and others) that determines how well the core performs in a specific mattress. By itself it means little.
You can see the Dreamfoam warranty here.
There are no returns if the Amazon mattress is fulfilled by Dreamfoam and if the mattress is fulfilled by Amazon (which has a slightly higher cost and doesn’t include the Mattress Underground pillow bonus) then it can be returned subject to the Amazon large items return policy (see post #11 here).
Final choices between “good and good” options can certainly be difficult. The “value” of all the mattresses made by the same manufacturer is usually roughly equivalent across their line so your own personal value equation and the differences between them in terms of design and options that are most important to you is really the best way to choose.
I think that the most important part of making a choice between their different mattresses would be a more detailed conversation on the phone.
Phoenix