Hi jzfister,
I’m not sure what you were expecting in a reply to such a very generic question but I think that you may be rushing to judgement based on some preconceptions that may not be accurate. You also appear to have misunderstood what they mean by “price matching” or the specifics of how it works (see here) because the Flobeds mattress is very different from the other mattresses you are considering and they also sell their mattresses at their “best price” every day of the year and they don’t need “fake sale prices” or “negotiation” to be a great quality/value choice every day of the year.
I would keep in mind that the better manufacturers and retailers don’t generally “negotiate” (see post #6 here) or have “fake sales” with large discounts based on the time of year or holidays (see the guidelines here and post #5 here). While they may have sales with smaller discounts … I would treat retailers or manufacturers that negotiate their prices or have “major holiday sales” (that are often just rotating sales that only change their name at different times of the year) as a red flag because manufacturers or retailers that sell good quality/value mattresses don’t need to negotiate or have “fake sales” with misleading discounts to create a false sense of urgency and they sell good quality/value mattresses every day of the year at prices that are already very reasonable.
When you can’t test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc) and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done or mattresses you have slept on and liked or other mattresses you are considering that they are familiar with, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will also know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs and firmness levels to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences (or to other mattresses that they are familiar with such as Savvy Rest) than anyone else.
I would also avoid using email for the types of question you were asking since it’s not really possible to provide the guidance you seemed to be looking for with an email (see post #4 here).
There is also more about the 3 most important parts of “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).
There are some comments about Astrabeds and some of their sister companies in post #2 here and in post #3 here and a forum search on Astrabeds (you can just click this) will bring up more information about them as well. They have recently introduced a new latex lineup that uses organic Dunlop latex and you can see some comments about them in posts #6 and #7 here).
You can see some comments about Plushbeds in post #2 here and a forum search on Plushbeds (you can just click the link) will bring up much more information and comments/feedback about them as well. I would also keep in mind that their “sale” prices are always in effect so they would be their “regular” price not a “sale” price (see post #9 here). These are the type of “fake sale” prices that I was mentioning in the previous link that only create a false sense of urgency and are just part of marketing and don’t reflect any better “value” than they would normally have.
The same comments would apply to the Astrabeds so called “sale prices” as well.
There are certainly many other options available to you that for most of the members here would represent better quality/value choices than either of the companies you are considering.
If you really want to get a sense of the type of service and guidance that is available with any company then I would always call them on the phone and talk to them in person. Flobed is one of the members here which means that I think very highly of them and that I believe that they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, knowledge, and transparency.
Flobeds certainly makes some great quality/value mattresses and their vZone is a unique design that isn’t available from other companies. You can see some comments about their vZone mattress in post #4 here. Various zoning systems can be very useful and worth considering for people who have more challenging circumstances or sensitivities, body types that are more difficult to “match” to a mattress, or who have a history of having more difficulty in finding a mattress that works well for them. There is also more about zoning in this article and in post #11 here.
Phoenix