I’ve been reading all I can on this site, as well as SLTD, trying to understand this whole convoluted process. I think mattress shopping may be worse than car shopping…
Anyway, I’m looking to buy a king size, I’ve been sharing a full mattress with my fiance and our 40lb dog for 2 years, and we want to go big. However, I’m unsure how much money I should be budgeting.
What is a reasonable price for a king mattress? Also, we’ll need a new frame and foundation since we’re moving up in bed size. Should I ever buy the foundation from the same place as the mattress, or is it better to buy a cheaper one somewhere else? Thanks for any input, this site has been awesome for wrapping my head around all the different materials in a bed.
I’m not sure what you’ve read since you found the site but just in case you haven’t read it yet … the first place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes 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.
Two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well he will sleep), durability (how long he will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).
There are some very general guidelines about what to expect in different budget ranges in this article.
As far as what you “should” be spending there’s really no definitive answer to this but I would suggest as much as you can comfortably afford … within reason and within limits of course. You will find better quality and higher performance materials and components and more sophisticated and complex designs in higher budget ranges but once you reach about $3000 or so (in US dollars and in queen size mattress only or the equivalent in a king size which are generally about 15% to 25% more) then any realistic or meaningful performance benefits that go with higher prices than this may be minimal and there would need to be a compelling reason and obvious benefits that you can identify in “real life” to spend more than that. Even then I would make some very careful value comparisons with other similar mattresses that are available to you based on the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you because it’s quite likely that you will be able to find a high quality mattress in a lower budget range than this that will work very well for you.
Again it’s not really possible to generalize because it depends on the specifics that are available at the store you are purchasing from but if you are dealing with a good manufacturer or retailer that sells suitable bedframes and foundations then I would tend to purchase them where I purchased the mattress unless there is an obvious or compelling reason not to.
Thanks for the tips! I’ve been reading over the tutorial here, and researching local manufacturers in my area. I’m planning to test out some mattresses in person from this local company soon:http://capitolbedding.com/mattresses/
They seem to be very upfront with the materials they’re using and their construction. I’ll keep researching here, hopefully I can make a good purchase soon.
Capitol Bedding certainly makes some good quality/value mattresses that would be well worth considering and they have a list of dealers on their site as well (although not all of them carry the same mattresses on their floor).
If you let me know your city or zip code I’d also be happy to let you know about the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area as well.
Subject to first confirming that any retailer or manufacturer on the list you wish to deal with is completely transparent (see this article) and to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets your specific criteria and the quality/value guidelines here … the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Lansing, MI area are listed in post #2 here.
The list for the Grand Rapids/Holland area is in post #273 here.