What!?! I know, right! $3k. That's a lot of dough. And yes, mattresses like cars are inflated to begin with, so all of a sudden once you get free box springs and that saves $700- really, it's no sweat off the back of the seller.
But I thought I'd share some tips.
Figure out what you want: In Tucson, we have a great locally owned store, BedMart, that sells beds. They provide what they refer to as "Mattress 101". It was the first stop D$ and I made, and I got to tell you, it made all the difference for us. We took about 1 hour with a great sales guy, learning about traditional, individual coil, coil counts, foam, memory foam, temperpedic and on and on and on and then. We were able to eliminate memory foam, temperpedic, and narrow down to what we wanted: high count individual coils. i.e. great for couples who roll over a lot. I should wear a pedometer to bed, I flip flop all night long.
Then we had to decide on pillow top, firm, plush, etc. I *think* I like I a firm bed, but since I sleep mainly on my side(s) a plush is better for me, but not too plush since D$ sleeps on his stomach. oy. But after all that and laying on lots and lots of beds- we had a great idea what we wanted.
Shop around, and use holidays!: Holiday furniture sales will be my middle name now that I'm a home owner. Big sales everywhere. We looked online, went through the Sunday circulars and just drove around over Memorial Day weekend. It took a lot of time- 5 hours in one day just to shop- but was well worth it. We knew what we were looking for, so now it was a matter of the right bed at the right price. We also played stores off each other, me acting as the dumb wife* asking loudly for the sales person to hear: "But didn't Macy's have that same Sterns & Foster for $300 cheaper?".
*Note- not going to lie- SalesMEN love working with other men. I'm the negotiator in the house, but D$ is the one everyone wants to talk to. Fine with me, I feed him intel, and he does the dirty work.
Don't worry about names or whistles: Here's a tip for you: Mattress makers rename identical products for each different retail store. Different labels, exact same guts. Read this great article on Slate.com about it (although it is from 2000- so the pricing is out of date). So don't get caught up in the lore of Sterns &; Foster. Yes it's a well respected brand, but no different, except for about $1000 more than the Simmons, Sealy or Serta right down the next row. At one store we liked a bed, it was our #1 for a while. The sales guy pushed us hard saying they were the ONLY store to carry Simmons Beauty Rest ELITE CLASS in Tucson. Okay, whatevs. We ended up buying a Simmons Beauty Rest PREMIER Class. The difference? $500, the retailer and the label.
Ask for a price break: Times are tough. Unemployment numbers came out last month at 9%. Consumers aren't buying, retailers aren't hiring. Sales people are eager to make sales. We said point blank to several sales people: "what can you do for us on the price?". The sales guy we purchased from worked the system for us. He got us a $500 rebate, another $50 rebate on the delivery, waived the additional $10, threw in the mattress pad that guarantees your warranty and that sells for $150 at no cost.
Check your warranty: If you don't like the bed in a month will the store or manufacturer take it back? What do you need to do as a consumer/owner to keep you warranty? Do you have to use a special mattress pad? Flip it/rotate it every 3 months? Is it a full replacement or pro-rated price break? For how many years? Note- Do not pay extra to extend your warranty for 20 years. The reality is, most of us replace our mattresses every 10-12 years, so don't get fooled by that trap.
Be patient: This is the hardest for me, as I'm not patient. But I sat and waited and when the delivery call I expected never came, I rejoiced. For my inconvenience I was offered another discount AND gift cards to the store I purchased from. CHA-CHING.
In the end our savings piled up from holiday weekend sale prices, discounts, and rebates.
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