Hi Natures Sleep Canada,
I’m not sure if you were replying to me or bcsteve but hopefully you will have the chance to reply to some of the questions and comments in my last reply.
I think that part of this is that so often in the industry what appears to be a “good deal” often isn’t and it’s important for a consumer to know the difference between a “good deal” and “cheap”. Value is always about much more than just price or the raw material cost of a mattress and there are many factors that may be important parts of each person’s personal value equation that have as much to do with the entire purchase experience both before and after a purchase and the service of the retailer or manufacturer they purchase from as the mattress itself.
Again … price is only one part of value and all the objective, subjective, and even intangible parts of a mattress purchase that are most important to each person and the ability to have the accurate information that makes meaningful comparisons possible are more important than just price alone … although of course price is always an important part of any “value equation”. Those that look at price alone often tend to make the biggest mistakes.
If you take a specific retailer or manufacturer out of the picture (in this case you as Nature’s Sleep) … then I think that you and most people would agree that knowing what you are paying for, what you will receive, and when you will receive it are just as important and due diligence about the mattress, the retailer or manufacturer you are purchasing from, and their reputation and history is always an important part of an informed decision. All of these are the basis of “trust” which is always an important part of any purchase.
If everything involved with the purchase went as expected then of course it has good value but it’s never safe to assume this in the broader market and there are many instances where similar “deals” with other companies (including with Nasafoam) have fallen apart and then the “value” of the purchase isn’t particularly good at all and a transaction that seemed to have great value certainly wasn’t.
None of this is of course about Nature’s Sleep specifically … only about the importance of due diligence and “risk management” in any mattress purchase in general … particularly when it is online.
I hope you have the chance to answer some of the questions from my earlier post or at least let us know which ones you aren’t comfortable answering so that each person can decide on the “value” of a purchase from Nature’s Sleep or any of the other related sites based on the criteria that are most important to them.
I also hope you don’t take any of this personally and understand that these are just legitimate questions that should be asked of any retailer or manufacturer as part of transparency, knowing who you are dealing with, and good research.
Phoenix