the more the search, the more I get confused.....what should I get?

The problem I don’t even know what to ask when purchasing a mattress. I’ve read the difference between Latex, Memory foam, etc. but I don’t know which is right for me.

I live in a small town so I don’t have many options, I am looking strictly for one of these bed in a box companies that offers free trials.

I had a good $800 mattress in high school, then a piece of plywood in a dorm (lol), then a cheap $300 bed till graduation. So at this point, I shouldn’t be hard to please.

About the only thing I can answer is firmness, and I can’t even really answer that. I used a really soft mattress topper and I’m a side sleeper which would indicate soft. But, I use to be a back sleeper and want to get back into that (heard it’s better for you), so I am guessing a medium firmness. 5’10’’ 175 lbs athletic/muscular built.

I’m not even sure what other factors I should consider.

Seems like all brands I’ve looked at are very comparable (4-4.5 stars): tuft needle, amerisleep, nest, ghostbed, purple, helix sleep, zotto, layla sleep.

Hi jasonfodor,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum! :slight_smile:

Your situation is a common one, so I’ll do my best to lead you through the steps to help you make an educated choice.

First, start by reading 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. Don’t try to memorize things, but instead read this like a good book and reference back to it with specific questions you might have.

Two of the most important links in the tutorial 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, and can also help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for, and then 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 you will sleep), durability (how long you 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.

Outside of PPP (which is the most important part of “value”), the next most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can’t see or “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the specifics of its construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it. I would always make sure that you find out the information listed here so you can compare the quality of the materials and components to the durability guidelines here to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.

As you’re interested in one of the “one-size-fits-all” products, take a look at the simplified choice mattress thread here, which lists quite a bit of information about some of the more popular mattresses in this category, and it also has some good information about how to select something in this category.

When you can’t test a mattress in person, then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc.) and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done or mattresses you have slept on and liked or other mattresses you are considering that they are familiar with, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs and firmness levels to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences or to other mattresses that they are familiar with than anyone else.

A good online retailer or manufacturer will generally make suggestions that they honestly believe have the best chance of success based on the information you provide them when you talk to them on the phone because this is in both your own and their best interests, but again at the end of the day the only way to know for certain whether any specific mattress is a good match for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP will be based on your own careful testing and/or your own personal experience so if you can’t test a specific mattress in person then the options you have available after a purchase to either exchange the mattress or individual layers or components or return the mattress for a refund (and any costs involved) would generally become a more important part of your personal value equation just in case a mattress you purchase doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for.

Of course if an online retailer or manufacturer only sells one mattress then that’s the only one they can suggest (although some may have different firmness levels that they can help you choose between) so they will generally suggest trying it and then sending it back if it’s not “good enough” for you to keep (assuming that they have a good trial period and return policy).

While I can’t speak to whether any of them would be a good “match” for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP … Nest Bedding (A site member here, which means that I think highly of them), Tuft & Needle, Ghostbed, Purple, Helix Sleep, Zotto all sell mattresses that use good quality and durable materials that would generally be suitable for your weight/BMI range.

I would be more cautious with Layla Sleep and Amerisleep because they both tend to use some lower quality materials than I would normally suggest in the durability guidelines, and are not sing materials as durable as the other items you mentioned. You can use the search feature of the forum to pull up more information about these brands.

Regarding “star ratings”, while most reviewers are certainly well meaning, but because most reviews aren’t relevant to anyone but the reviewer and can be “influenced” so easily and in so many ways, for the most part (with only few exceptions) mattress reviews are a classic example of garbage in / garbage out even though the “garbage” may be well meaning and true to the experience of the person writing the review. These are generally short-term comments rendered by people unqualified to provide an educated analysis of the componentry within a product, and I wouldn’t regard them as a reliable method of picking out any mattress.

A big part of the underlying problem with these types of “star” marketing systems though is that consumers as a whole put too much trust in mattress reviews in the first place (either positive or negative) in the mistaken belief that they are a good way to assess whether a mattress would be a suitable or a durable choice for them so they end up choosing a mattress for all the wrong reasons based on other people’s experiences and reviews or on the “deal” they think they are getting instead of legitimate “fact based” research that would be relevant to their own unique needs, preferences, and criteria. Many mattress companies are well aware of their ability to influence people and change buying habits and certainly take full advantage of the mindset and target market that pays significant attention to them so they are really just taking advantage of a “reality” that they know will sell mattresses for them. You’ll be better off sticking to the steps as outlined in the mattress shopping tutorial I linked to earlier.

I hope that information helps get you started.

Phoenix