Hi TandL,
There are many factors involved in the price of a mattress but with two mattresses that are made by the same manufacturer the biggest difference would be the difference in the cost of the raw materials and the manufacturing of the mattress although mattresses in higher budget ranges also tend to have slightly higher margins as well. While higher density more durable materials are more costly than lower density less durable materials … there are also other factors involved in the cost of materials that may have less to do with durability and more to do with the properties of a material that make it more attractive to some people (see post #6 here).
When you are comparing mattresses made by two different manufacturers or sold by different retailers then just like any two businesses that offer similar (but not the same) products … differences in their raw material or component costs based on the quality or amount of materials, different production costs to make the mattress, different business and infrastructure costs, different business models and margins, different business volumes which can affect the cost of raw materials, the number of “steps” between the suppliers of the raw materials and the sale of the mattress, and the the cost of different options they provide before or after a purchase (such as return or exchange options), different pricing policies, different shipping costs, different product or service “bonuses” that are included in a purchase, and any of the other normal differences between any two businesses will all lead to differences in how each business prices its products.
Some products may be more or less costly at one business while others may be more or less costly at the other but since nobody except the business itself has access to all this type of information … there is really no way to compare two mattresses based on the detailed specifics of “raw material cost” alone except in very general terms so your own testing and/or more detailed conversations with each manufacturer about the relative benefits of each mattress or the materials they use based on the information they provide you (and why each material has the benefits it does) becomes more important than the specific details of the actual cost of the all materials themselves or relatively small differences in prices.
When you are down to final choices between “good and good” then there isn’t a formula that you can use and “best judgement” based on your testing, your conversations and questions with each retailer or manufacturer, and the specifics of your personal value equation is the most effective way to choose. For example … some people may place more “value” in some properties of a mattress (such as sleeping temperature) than others because they have a much greater tendency to sleep warm so for someone like this, smaller differences between different types of gel foam mattresses or constructions and materials that have higher odds of sleeping cooler may make a more significant difference or justify a higher price than it would for someone who was unlikely to sleep warm on any mattress that they purchased and any additional cooling from more costly gel foam materials or different mattress covers wouldn’t be nearly as important. Another example would be motion separation because this may be very important to some couples who are disturbed by the motion of their partner while for those who sleep alone or those that the motion of a partner doesn’t affect them it would be less important and components that isolate motion more effectively may not be worth an extra cost.
All of the options you listed are good quality/value choices but once you are down to “good vs good” then which one is “best” for you would depend on all the objective, subjective, and even intangible criteria of your personal value equation that were most important to you and “justify” the cost of a mattress purchase. Again … there is no “formula” that can determine “value” down to the last detail or replace “best judgement” because there will always be some unknowns remaining in any mattress purchase that can only be answered by your own longer term personal experience.
In the end … the “value” of a mattress purchase boils down to three main factors.
The first is how well you sleep on a mattress and how well it “matches” all the unique criteria that are most important to you. Quality of sleep based on PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) is difficult to quantify or “measure” but your own careful and objective testing with local mattresses or more detailed conversations with an online manufacturer in combination with testing local mattresses that they indicate are similar (if you can’t test a specific mattress before you buy it) along with any exchange or return options you have available if your choice turns out to be “less than ideal” are the best way to assess this.
The second is how long a mattress lasts and continues to provide you with the PPP and quality of sleep that was the reason you purchased it in the first place relative to the price you paid. Knowing the relative quality/durability of the materials and identifying any “weak link” in a mattress in terms of durability is the most effective way to assess this part of “value”. With your weight (over 200 lbs) … minimizing or reducing the use of 4 lb memory foam in favor of higher density memory foam may be well worth considering. While 4 lb memory foam can be a preference for some people because it is often softer or faster responding than higher density memory foam … this isn’t always the case and the tradeoff is it would be less durable than higher density memory foams. The closer to the sleeping surface it is the more this may be a factor in the relative durability of the mattress. You can read more about the different types of memory foam that are independent of density in post #9 here and there is more about the many factors that can contribute to the relative durability of a mattress in post #4 here and the other posts it links to.
After these then all the other parts of “value” that are part of each person’s personal value equation (including return or exchange policies and the price) are also important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase but are secondary to suitability and durability because a mattress that isn’t a good match in terms of PPP and you can’t sleep well on it or a mattress that is a good match in terms of PPP initially but uses lower quality materials which lose their comfort and support too quickly relative to the price you paid would both have little “value” for most people.
Phoenix