Hi Missoula Nights,
The first place I would start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice … and perhaps more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
These are two of the most common challenges in the industry (lack of transparency and the same mattresses having many different names) and both are often indications that you are shopping at stores that I would tend to avoid in the first place.
Many larger retailers that carry mattresses made by major manufacturers insist that the mattresses they carry have a different name than the same mattress sold by other retailers (sometimes they just have a different cover or other more cosmetic differences) so that consumers can’t make meaningful price comparisons for the same mattress which of course means that they don’t have to match the prices of other retailers that are carrying what is basically the same mattress. Of course none of these are listed on the manufacturers website because that would defeat the purpose of their naming conventions in the first place. The only way to make meaningful comparisons with these mattresses are by comparing the materials and components inside the mattress and if they are the same then the mattress is the same as well. Of course the same retailers often don’t tell you the specifics of what is inside their mattresses either so even this may be impossible. The simplest way to avoid this type of frustration is to just avoid any manufacturer or retailer who either can’t or won’t provide you with the information that you need to make an informed choice (see the guidelines here).
There is more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here that can help you make more meaningful comparisons between mattresses.
When you get to step 3 in the mattress shopping tutorial if you let me know your city or zip code I’d be happy to let you know about any of the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area where your odds are higher of being able to find out the information that you need about a mattress you are considering (see this article).
Phoenix