buying mattress: advice req'd (please!)

Hi Everyone,

We need to buy a new mattress. I haven't a clue where to go, what's a good price (I am uber-thrifty though so price matters). Also, which type of mattress to buy. We're in BC so the big names appear to be The Brick, Sleep Country, the Bay, Sears. I've probably missed some!

• What brand, model, do you like or recommend?
• What features are important, and not so important?
• What the heck does all this stuff mean: tight top, pillow top, pocket coils, etc. etc.
• I'm wondering if mattresses tend to go on sale at certain times of the year, too.

If anyone knows anything, esp if you have learned through your (happy or unhappy) purchases, please pipe up. I'm all ears! :-)

Thanks in advance for reading,

There are some things you just cant be frugal about. The Ergonomic Tempurpedic is worth every penny and them some. I don't think they go on sale but its worth it.

I hate buying anything at The Brick, Sleep Country appears a tad too "shifty" to me, and if you do buy at Sears and The Bay, never pay full-price. Have you considered Costco? At least they won't give you the run around if you need to return the mattress, for whatever reason. Perhaps ask people you know what brands they prefer...I have a Simmons one.

Be wary of being up-sold on a mattress. The various manufacturers have dozens of lines and some of the bells and whistles aren't really necessary. I am due to buy a new one myself...hope I can find one without a huge pillowtop, I've heard they don't last that long, and you can't flip the mattress - not to mention being able to find sheets that will fit on them.

Thanks to you both for stopping by with your comments. All good info to have! Yes I don't want to cheap out, but don't want to get sucked into something overblown and unnecessary.

I will check out Costco, that is a good idea.

I wonder if anyone with a pillowtop mattress has found them to be good/cruddy? Does it pack down and get not so soft over time?

As you can tell I can't make big decisions to save my life :embarassed: so I really appreciate your assistance.

I hear IKEA have very good matresses.

Costco is a great place to buy a mattress. They have them on coupon on a very regular basis.

Mine has a pillowtop, we've had it a few years and it isn't squished down. We're not little folks either! :)

One thing I learned while mattress shopping is that although everyone says their price won't be beaten, there's absolutely no way to price match. Every store has a different name for the same mattress, there's no way you can prove another store has the same one for less.

One thing I found is that newer mattresses are tall. DH and I are both very tall people (I'm 5'11), and when I sit on my bed, my feet don't touch the floor. That's OK for us, but if you're short, it might matter!

Costco does have some good deals, but you can't really try them out the way you can in a bed department of a store. But as someone else mentioned, their return policy rocks.

Good luck!

Ask for deals, see what they'll throw in for you - like bed frame, pillows, etc.

Hi Zonny
Thx for the feedback. What brand did you buy for your pillowtop? I'm not little either :) lol

I love my queen pillowtop from Costco. I paid $499.99 for the set when it was on sale last February. So far it has been great for us. I am fairly certain it is a Sealy set.