Hi Jendnice,
I would agree with some of the other thoughts expressed in the thread and in your budget range (depending to some degree on the size you are looking for) you will be looking at lower quality materials in a mattress. There aren’t many good quality mattresses in the $300 range and it’s doubtful that you would find a mattress that used any significant layers of good quality latex in this price range.
As Jeff also mentioned (and he is one of the most knowledgeable people in the industry) … a mattress is only as good as its construction and the quality of the materials inside it and it’s always much more important to know the specifics of what is inside a mattress and how it’s made than to know the manufacturer that makes it.
It’s also important to make sure you have a more detailed conversation with a knowledgeable retailer or manufacturer with any online purchase because no matter what the quality or value of a mattress … if it isn’t suitable for your specific and unique needs and preferences in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and personal preferences) and you can’t sleep on it comfortably then it would have little value to you.
Most people would be comfortable with memory foam that has been made in North America or that is CertiPur certified for harmful substances and VOC’s (you can see the guidelines I suggest for memory foam in post #10 here) but there are a few people who are more sensitive to some of the chemicals used in making memory foam or who just aren’t comfortable with having memory foam in their mattress and this smaller group would tend to avoid it for their own personal or unique reasons. For those who are interested in going down the rabbit hole of researching all the conflicting and confusing information that can be involved in answering the question “how safe is safe enough for me?” then post #2 here would be a good starting point.
As dn mentioned … the first place to start your mattress research is post #1 here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines you will need to make the best possible choices … and avoid the worst ones.
A forum search on Classic Brands (you can just click this) will also bring up more information and feedback about them. As Jeff also mentioned … I would be very cautious about using reviews to make a mattress choice. You can also read more about mattress reviews in post #13 here (which also links to the same video that Jeff linked).
Phoenix