Hi GarfieldGirl,
I think Maia said it as well as I could and I thought I’d just re-inforce what she said. You are certainly in the price range for an all latex mattress and you do have several good options in the San Diego area on the list but if the premium for a local purchase is too high … then I would use your local testing as a guideline for an online purchase as Maia mentioned. You can use the online manufacturers listed in post #21 here as a price reference to make sure the local “value” in in a reasonable range. It’s always preferable to test and purchase a mattress locally so you know how it performs and feels but once the “premium” for a local purchase is more than about 20% or so (of course this is individual preference) compared to a similar “value” mattress … then I would look more seriously at an online purchase of a similar mattress.
Soy foam is just polyurethane foam (polyfoam) that has had a small percentage of the petrochemical polyols (one of the two main chemicals in memory foam and polyfoam) used to make it replaced with plant oil polyol alternatives. It isn’t “soy based” at all but it is often used as part of a “green” story. It would be directly comparable to polyfoam in similar densities.
As far as specific outlets or mattresses … you will find a range of prices for similar mattresses and this is part of your local research to reach a point where you can make “apples to apples” comparisons and know which are better value. If you talk with some of the outlets you will see that some of them have better value than others for similar mattresses but they all can be used for testing and finding out which materials and types of mattresses you prefer. Just never make a purchase until you have had a chance to make comparisons with other similar mattresses that are available to you. The “testing” stage in other words is not about comparing prices … but about comparing different types of mattresses and layers and finding out which best fits your needs and preferences. Once you have a sense of the type of mattress that you like … then is the time to start including pricing in your research and eliminating the ones that use the materials you want but where the prices are too high compared to others in the area … or online.
Each outlet has a different range of “services” or “benefits” they offer and all of these can be reflected in the prices of their mattresses. Comfort exchanges can be an expensive benefit for a retail outlet to offer if too many people use it to make poor choices and services like this have to be added to the prices of the mattresses so they become a “hidden cost”. Each person has a different idea of the importance of benefits like this and a different level of confidence about their ability to choose correctly the first time so for those where a comfort exchange is important (or some method of making changes after the purchase like the layer exchanges offered by many online manufacturers) … then this would be part of your individual “value equation” and may be worth paying more for a similar mattress or may be a factor in which outlet you purchase from just to have this benefit
Overall though there are some “better than average” value choices available locally and your budget is certainly enough to be looking at more than a latex/polyfoam hybrid. I would use all the mattresses available to you including the more expensive ones as “testing grounds” and then when you know what you prefer … use more specific comparisons between different outlets or online to find the better “value” in the type of mattresses you prefer.
Hope this helps.
Phoenix