Latexusa - eBay vendor Talalay Natural 8" Latex Mattress $1,050 Cal King

Found this listing today. It appears to be a real value:

Talalay Natural 8" Cal King

The mattress comes with 3 different Talalay Latex Layers in different Density and ILDs which they indicate you can change the layering to meet your needs. Sells for $1,050.

Specifications:

3" TALALAY LATEX Solid FIRM 33-36 ILD 5.30pcf

3" TALALAY LATEX Perf MEDIUM 23-26 ILD 4.67pcf

2" TALALAY LATEX Perf SOFT 17-20 ILD 4.05pcf

This matches up favorably to the:

PLB - Beautiful
LatexBLISS uses 450-480 Gram Weight fabric
LatexBLISS Milliken?s Paladin Fire Resistant Barrier
3" Natural Talalay Latex 19 ILD
2" Natural Talalay Latex 24 ILD
6" Natural Talalay Latex 36 ILD

It comes in at half the cost of the PLB.
Negatives that I see are the velour cover that is included, they also sell separately for $52. If you upgraded to a St. Dormeir cover for $200 you would have a pretty decent setup for $1,250.

Phoenix is not a fan of eBay sellers although this one appears to have stellar feedback ratings. The return policy is only 14 days with the buyer paying the return shipping.

I also considered purchasing 2 -3" Talalay toppers for the bottom(34-36 ild) and middle layers(23-26ild) and purchasing a 3"rejuvinite (19 ild) topper for $427 from AZ Mattress Rejuvinite topper This option would cost around $987 before the cover or $63 less.

Compelling value or Buyer beware?

Hi Kopavi,

There are a couple of discrepancies in this listing which would give me reason to pause.

The first of these is that the foam densities given don’t match Talalay latex but they do match Dunlop latex.

Their soft translates to 65 kg/m3 which is soft Dunlop (talalay is lighter than this)

Their medium translates to 75 kg/m3 which is medium Dunlop.

Their firm translates to 85 kg/m3 which is firm Dunlop.

So either their description of the material being talalay is wrong or the densities are wrong (and since they have the specific densities that were probably provided to them … I would guess that it’s Dunlop.

This isn’t bad or good … some people may prefer dunlop. It just indicates that the description isn’t accurate in at least one major way and that customers would probably never know because very few people would even know what to check.

In addition to this, if the latex is zoned … it’s almost always (not always) dunlop

If it’s Dunlop and if in one way or another it’s been mis-described in ways that 99.9% of customers would never know or realize, then is there any way to know if it’s blended or synthetic Dunlop (lower price, quality, and performance)?

Regardless of this though … even if it is Talalay it would not match the PLB Beautiful in terms of feel and performance. The most critical comfort layer has a different thickness in the PLB (3" vs 2") and thickness is just as important as ILD in the feel and performance of a mattress. The PLB has what may be a similar middle layer (although the eBay listing says medium which is not 23 - 26 ILD) and the PLB has a 6" firm support layer while the eBay mattress is only 3". Again layer thickness plays just as important a role as layer ILD.

In addition to this the eBay picture does not match the description which says it has a velour cover (likely fairly cheap) and not the quilted cover shown in the picture (which was probably taken from another mattress) and the PLB has a very high quality more expensive and thick stretch knit cover.

All of these differences would change the comparative feel and performance of the mattresses. This is not to say that the eBay mattress wouldn’t work for a particular person in terms of PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Personal preferences) … only that it wouldn’t be the same as the PLB.

Of course this is just the obvious part. Without knowing the people behind the site … there is really no way to know who they really are and/or how accountable they may be or what other discrepancies there are. Again … when prices are cheap and people believe that what they are getting is good … then the feedback is also good regardless of what they actually receive. In other words there is no way to know them through “real world” reputation because there is no physical address.

If you are comfortable with all of this and it is still inside your “value equation” … then it may be good value for you. This would be a good price even for 100% natural Dunlop but for blended or synthetic Dunlop I would have my doubts. If it is mis-described in several ways already … then who is to know what the rest of the truth is.

This is part of the risk of dealing on outlets like eBay unless you really know who the seller is and whether they have a reputation outside of the eBay community (which would be more important to me).

So while I can’t answer the ultimate question of whether any particular person should go in this direction (which would depend on their risk tolerance and on whether they were OK with unknowingly buying a different mattress or materials than is described) … I hope at least that I have given you some food for thought :slight_smile:

Phoenix

Thought I would update additional information I have obtained regarding the Latexusa vendor on eBay.

The eBay seller indicated they obtain the Talalay latex from Latexco.

However, A representative from Latexco while confirming that this vendor, who also has this website: Happy2EZ
“is in fact a customer of Latexco; He does not purchase American Made Talalay.
All American made Talalay has fillers which we refuse to add to our products.”

The Latexco representative also added:
“Be careful.
Our Talalay is not American made.
He may be using the cheap stuff with filler made in CT.”

So my thanks go out to Phoenix for pointing out issues with a vendor who was offering something that was in fact to good to be true! Also thanks go to the Latexco representative for taking the time to answer my questions about this vendor.

Yes, thank you to the Latexco representative for taking the time to badmouth Latex International.

Has there been any new information on the seller as its a WOW price point if it turns out to be legit?

Hi jege41,

Yes. I’ve confirmed that they are supplying products that come from Latexco but as you know there is also some misinformation on their site and they don’t appear to be particularly knowledgeable about what they are selling.

For someone that knows exactly what they want they could be good value.

Phoenix

Hi Phoenix,

How do you feel about Latexo versus Latex International?

Thank you,

Cari

Hi dreamthedayaway,

That would depend on the type of latex you were comparing. Latexco makes Dunlop latex and in the US also carries Dunlop from other manufacturers and Talalay made by Radium in Europe that they don’t manufacture themselves.

So if you were comparing the same type of latex from one company with the same type of latex from another … I would call them close equivalents in terms of quality. It’s always the type of latex and the blend percentages that I use to determine the quality or “value” of latex and to make comparisons. Both have some good quality choices available.

Phoenix

PHOENIX…this is an old thread, but the Ebay seller in question is Mattress24/7 (Valerie) and you updated her product (after this thread’s origin) to note that they DO NOT use mattress seconds anymore, since early 2013.

Do you still offer the opinion that this latex is Dunlop in origin? Or do you think the “all Talalay” claim is now current and real?

Thanks for any thoughts!

Hi Erion929,

Mattress 24/7 (Valerie) has only ever sold Talalay and their products have always been described correctly both when she was selling seconds and when she switched to selling new toppers. As you mentioned they no longer sell seconds.

You may be thinking of Latexusa / Happy2EZ / memoryfoamlatex which is the subject of this thread and is a completely different vendor. They had (and still have) some incorrect information on their site.

For example their listing here says it is for a 3" Talalux topper (Talalux is Talalay made by Radium) but then it also says that it’s made in the USA (and Talalux is made in Holland). It also says …

… and if it was imported from Sri Lanka then it would be Dunlop.

Their “W” firmness ratings are rounded off versions of the “target” firmness ratings for Radium blended Talalay (seehere).

I’ve never ordered from them so I don’t know which part of their description is correct although it seems to indicate that it’s probably blended Vita Talalay (Talalux) made by Radium and supplied by Latexco.

Phoenix

Ok, thanks for the quick reply! Yes, I thought the original link was the same as Mattress 24/7’s current Ebay item, but it is another seller .

I would assume that Valerie’s Mattress 24/7 Ebay product is a Talalay BLEND, even though the auction says “All-Talalay”…hence the lower pricing? Sure seems like a value deal compared to high end offerings…

Hi Erion929,

I would check with Valerie (or any vendor) to confirm what they are selling and she will give you accurate information but I believe that it would be blended Talalay yes (and blended Talalay is 100% Talalay and a mattress that uses all Talalay latex layers would also be 100% Talalay because the material uses the Talalay method of production … it’s just not 100% natural Talalay).

Phoenix