Hi bjlowell,
I’m not quite sure what you mean by “curious” since I hope my reply has made clear that I understand your disappointment and share your concerns. This was part of the reason that I switched your post to this topic so that others could see that your concerns are shared by others and are not unique to you.
As to any “biases” that exist on the site, this is a question that I encourage about any source of information on the internet and has been asked on many occasions by other members as well or by others that have “challenged” the neutrality of the information provided here. I think that questioning the credibility or accuracy of any information that is involved in any major purchase is always a good idea.
The two articles on the front page of the site talk about my “biases” and the reasons for them but in a nutshell my biases are towards manufacturers and retailers that are knowledgeable, experienced, and transparent and provide better quality, value, and service to their customers regardless of their membership here.
There are currently 37 business members of this site who have been invited and agreed to become members, paid a membership fee, have agreed to provide a discount or a bonus to consumers that are members of the forum that purchase a mattress from them, and who pay referral fees on mattresses that the members here purchase from them. You can see the membership list here and the page you linked shows what they agreed to and the referral fees they pay when they became members of the site. These are the members who share the goals, ideals, and values of the site and support the time and effort it takes (about 12 - 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, for over 3 years) to do the research, provide the information, answer questions, and run the site so that people can benefit from the information that is provided here. It goes without saying that any project of this size and scope wouldn’t be possible without a source of income (no matter how much of a “labor of love” it may be) and in some ways the source of income is very similar to the BBB which is also a private business which depends on subscriptions to support the site and the services it provides.
The difference is that membership here is by invitation only because there is no advertising allowed and to become a member they need to meet certain criteria. The business membership here also represents only a small percentage of the mattress purchases that the forum members here have made as a result of the information on this site because I “point to value” wherever I see it regardless of their membership here in the hundreds of local forum lists throughout the forum that identify the better options and possibilities I’m aware of in almost every area of the US and Canada. Over time some of the better manufacturers or retailers that are currently included in the local lists will hopefully be added to the membership as well. The site started with 8 members and has slowly grown over the years but I have turned away many more requests for membership that didn’t meet the criteria (including some of the largest retailers in the industry) than I have invited to become members.
The goal of the site has always been to provide information about “how” to choose a mattress that provides the tools and information that will make the quality and value of a purchase self evident so that each person has the knowledge and information to be able to assess the quality, value, and suitability of a mattress purchase for themselves based on their own unique criteria regardless of what anyone else may prefer or recommend. It’s the difference between helping the members here know “how” to choose vs telling them “what” to choose based on preferences or criteria that may not be relevant to them (or the difference between giving someone a fish or teaching them how to fish). There is more about how and why the members here are invited to become members in this article and in post #5 here and post #2 here and in post #2 here.
Post #4 here and post #404 here has more about the history of the site and how and why it came into existence.
This article has more about the values, goals, and ideals of the site.
As you can see … membership here is a form of recognition of what already exists and while the members here are “among” the best in the country there are certainly many other sources of great quality, value, and service throughout the industry that has always been included in the information that the site provides in the hundreds or even thousands of forum lists and replies throughout the forum (many of which may also be invited/choose to become members here over time as well).
In the end … I am happy for any of the members here to use the help and information that is provided here in any way they find helpful or beneficial and I encourage every consumer to decide for themselves on the accuracy, relevance, objectivity, or bias of any site they use to help them in their research and the purchase choices they make.
Phoenix