Hi dmai,
While price is certainly important of course … the “value” of a mattress purchase is what is most important and price is just one of many factors that can affect the “value” of a mattress purchase. There isn’t a “formula” that can be used to assess or “calculate” the value of a mattress because there are so many different variables and criteria involved that can affect the price of a mattress that can each be more or less important to some people and not to others who may have completely different criteria or definitions of “value”. The “value” of a mattress purchase is also relative to how a mattress compares to the other finalists you are considering or to other mattresses that are available to you in your area (or online if you are also considering online options). There are many reasons that a mattress that may be “good value” for one person or in one area of the country may not be good value for someone else that has very different needs and preferences or that lives in a different area.
There is more about the 3 most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on suitability, durability, and all the other 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 is also more about the many variables that can be involved in how any manufacturer or retailer prices their mattresses in post #14 here but of course there is no real answer to this because the internal financials that show how a manufacturer calculates their prices are proprietary and this isn’t information that a manufacturer would share with the public so from a consumer perspective it’s really a matter of knowing how to make meaningful comparisons between mattresses based on the materials inside them and all the other criteria that are most important to you (one of which is price of course).
You mentioned some of the differences between them that can affect the price and as you mentioned one of the differences includes that the SleepEZ Organic Select give you a choice between 100% natural Talalay or 100% natural Dunlop in each of the layers and since 100% natural Talalay is more costly (as you mentioned) and because almost everyone that chooses this mattress would likely choose the Talalay this would be reflected in their price.
Just as an example of a more “apples to apples” comparison … this 7" 100% natural Dunlop latex mattress is made by LatexMattressFactory which is owned by the founder of SleepEZ and is made in the same factory and it is very similar to the 7" 100% natural Dunlop mattress here[/url] offered by SleepOnLatex and they are closely comparable in price.
Both of the mattresses you are considering would certainly make great quality/value choices and once you have narrowed down your options to a list of finalists that are all choices between “good and good” (which you have) and you have confirmed that none of them have any lower quality materials or “weak links” in their design (which they don’t) and if at this point there are no clear winners between them (which is usually a good indication that you have done some good research) then you are in the fortunate position that any of them would likely be a suitable choice and post #2 here can help you make a final choice based on your more detailed conversations with each of them, your confidence about PPP and the suitability of each one, their prices, the options you have after a purchase to fine tune the mattress or exchange or return the mattress or individual layers, any additional extras that are part of each purchase, and on “informed best judgement” based on all the other objective, subjective, and intangible parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
Phoenix