Hi NYC_sleepy,
[quote]So the mattress [Charles P Rogers Estate Firm 5000] is, from the bottom:
1 inch of 1.5 lb/cu ft polyurethane
8 inch springs
1 inch of 1.5 lb/cu ft polyurethane
2 inch of natural Talalay latex
1 inch of 1.5 lb/cu ft polyurethane[/quote]
Thank you for providing those specifications. The base foam at 1.5 lb density, wouldn’t be as worrisome, but the total of 2" of 1.5 lb density would put this model “on the cusp” of what I’d advise considering. The 1" in the quilt will have some pre-compression with the quilt stitching, and the other 1" is beneath the latex layer, but overall it would be nicer to see some 1.8 lb polyfoam.
As I mentioned in one of my previous replies, there ae many things that go into your personal value equation, and your dealings with any particular retailer certainly can be part of that.
[quote]It also seems like the latter marks up their mattresses quite a bit compared to other Berkeley resellers. For example, isn’t this the same mattress ADMIN NOTE:Removed 404 page link | Archived Footprint: flybynight.com/Alpine-Natural-Mattress_p_1286.html
And this ADMIN NOTE:Removed 404 page link | Archived Footprint: urbannatural.com/collections/all-nat…?variant=16556466883 )?
[/quote]
They look to be the same products, but I’m not sure if BE does anything particular for the models to differentiate between these three retailers. Regarding pricing, I would expect in NYC you’d tend to pay a premium, as the cost of doing business there is quite expensive. You’d also want to compare anything else that may or not be included, such as delivery and any potential return/exchange policies that a business may have. Of course, if you are considering purchasing from one retailer, you can always ask about the pricing you’ve seen elsewhere and ask how their compares.
While you may have already read through this list, and subject to first confirming that any retailer or manufacturer on the list that you wish to visit is completely transparent (see this article ) and to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets the quality/value guidelines here … some options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the the New York City area are listed in post #2 here.
The pillow in the Brooklyn Bedding Best Pillow Ever is a Talalay core, but their mattresses use a polyfoam core with 4" total of a “latex-like” very high density polyfoam on top of that core that has some of the resilience of latex, but it is not a latex foam. The KISS mattress uses 1.5" of blended Talalay latex in the uppermost layer, but the other layers are polyfoam. The specifications of each model can be found in post #2 here.
Most online mattress manufacturers will offer some sort of a return/exchange policy, and you’d always want to confirm what that might be before placing an order with any online company.
The Q3 is available in three different firmnesses. Was the mattress set up in the “firm” configuration for you when you tested it?
You can’t really cross-compare “firmness” across models using such different componentry. The Brooklyn Bedding is available in a “Firm” version, as is the KISS mattress. There really are also no “standard” definitions or consensus of opinions for firmness ratings and different manufacturers can rate their mattresses very differently than others so a mattress that one manufacturer rates as being a specific firmness could be rated very differently by another manufacturer. Different people can also have very different perceptions of firmness and softness compared to others as well and a mattress that feels firm for one person can feel like “medium” for someone else or even “soft” for someone else (or vice versa) depending on their body type, sleeping style, physiology, their frame of reference based on what they are used to, and their individual sensitivity and perceptions. There are also different types of firmness and softness that different people may be sensitive to that can affect how they “rate” a mattress as well (see post #15 here) so different people can also have very different opinions on how two mattresses compare in terms of firmness and some people may rate one mattress as being firmer than another and someone else may rate them the other way around, so even if one person stated that mattress X felt to be similar in firmness to mattress Y, that would only apply to that person and not necessarily be a reliable indicator of how the product might feel to you, which can only be determined through your own careful personal testing.
One place to start online shopping would be to use the experience and expertise of the members listed in post #21 here who are all very experienced and knowledgeable and specialize in providing the type of help and guidance on the phone that can help you make good choices. There are a wide range of latex options included in the choices there (many with generous return policies) and I believe that all of them compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, and transparency.
Phoenix