Hi Brownie19,
That’s very true in general but bear in mind that some of the better gel infused foams can also be very durable and are slightly cooler than typical memory foam. Therapedic tends to use the better versions of gel (but again this should always be confirmed by the retailer you are working with because it may vary from area to area). It’s also important to know the type of latex you are looking at. Latex can either be Talalay or Dunlop (two different manufacturing methods) and either one can use either natural rubber, synthetic rubber, or a blend of the two. There is more about the different types of latex in this article. It appears from the ILD numbers on the Therapedic site that they are using blended Talalay.
These are what is called a “latex/polyfoam hybrid (with latex on top and polyfoam in the support core). None of these appear to have the soft polyfoam quilting layers above the latex and the 1” layer you are referring to is a very firm polyfoam layer on the very bottom which is usually called a stabilization layer and provides a stiff and very firm support layer on the very bottom of the mattress. This would not be a durability issue. The layers I was “warning” you about would be any polyfoam used in the upper layers of the mattress. Your retailer should be able to give you a layer by layer description of the mattresses they carry with specific details about each layer. These may not always be the same as the Therapedic site.
As you mentioned … the $3699 listed on the Therapedic website is greatly inflated and is really only a reference point that retailers can use to make their own prices look better. $2200 would be much more reasonable but I prefer to compare prices on a “mattress only” to “mattress only” basis because the different cost and quality of different foundations included in the price can distort comparisons between mattresses.
“Value” is also much more than just price because a mattress also needs to match your needs and preferences and there is also “value” in all the other parts of a mattress purchase which are part of your personal “value equation” (see post #46 here) which are just as important as the “commodity value” of the materials in the mattress and can’t really be separated out from the cost of the mattress itself. Trying to decide on value without taking into account how well each mattress matches your needs and preferences is only looking at part of the picture because no matter how good the price … the quality of your sleep over the years will be what you remember most.
Each of the different objective, subjective, and intangible benefits of the mattress itself and the retailer or manufacturer you are buying from may be more important to some and less important to others. For example one retailer may offer free delivery and removal of an old mattress and the other doesn’t, one may offer some kind of service that a mattress can be exchanged or adjusted if needed while another doesn’t, or one may have more experience and knowledge about “fitting” their customers to a mattress that is “best for them” than another.
My general approach to “value” is to first narrow down the two or three different local retailers or manufacturers you prefer to deal with that carry the types of mattresses you want to test and have the knowledge quality, value, and service that is important to help you make good choices. This would be based on my initial phone research and conversations with them along with initial visits to test mattresses at each of the ones that were most promising on the phone.
I would then narrow down my choices at each retailer or manufacturer to one or at most two models. You can then compare these “final choices” to each other and also if you wish to similar mattresses that are available online. If the local “premium” is in the range of 20% - 25% or less compared to online options you have then I would lean towards buying locally although the actual difference would be up to each person to decide for themselves (each person may feel more or less strongly about the risk involved in an online purchase that they can’t test first). If the “local premium” for a similar mattress is more than this, then it may also be worth considering an online purchase depending on your own personal “value equation” and your risk tolerance with a particular online purchase.
So overall … depending on all the other factors involved and what else is included in the price … the price seems “reasonable” but probably not “best in country” type of value and it would depend on how the mattress itself compared to other local mattresses along with how the benefits of dealing with any other retailers you are working with compare to each other and which would represent the best “local value” based on all the factors that were most important to you.
Phoenix