Hi equestride,
Lets see which of the steps in the tutorial you are “stuck” on because in most cases skipping some of the steps and suggestions can lead to information overwhelm and “paralysis by analysis”.
I’m assuming you have completed step 1 and 2 so you would have set your budget. What is the midrange of your budget?
I’m also assuming that you have decided on the types of materials or mattresses you prefer. Are you only looking at all latex mattresses?
Step 4 in the tutorial suggests narrowing down your options at each of the local stores you are considering down to 1. What are your local finalists.
Since you also appear to be considering online options … which of the online retailers/manufacturers that you mentioned have you talked with in detail and which of the mattresses that each of them sell are your finalists? This is where you should be asking all your questions so they can give you answers that are specific to the mattresses they sell. It’s not likely that you will “need” 12" of latex at your weight although you may still decide that you prefer it.
Once you are down to your local and online finalists (the one mattress you would choose at each of them if you had to buy a mattress there and there were no other options available to you) either based on your local testing or on more detailed conversations on the phone … then and only then is the time to to make a final choice between “good and good” based on the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
I think you may be missing the part about the more detailed online conversations with some of the online options you are considering and trying to decide based on your questions on the forum and on “theory” and this may be where you are “stuck”. I don’t think you will get “unstuck” until you talk with the online retailers and manufacturers you are considering.
Phoenix