Shopping for a Mattress Isn’t Like Shopping for a Dress
Shopping for a mattress isn’t at all like shopping for a dress or other piece of clothing in the sense that you can’t really inspect it for quality as much as you could clothing material. It’s not like you can rip the mattress apart to see what is inside and make your best guess at how long it is going to last. With clothing you can try it on and can manually inspect the fiber it is made from to see how well it suits you. When you are shopping for a mattress, you have to be somewhat of a detective.
Shopping for a Mattress is Like Shopping for a Dress?
How to shop for a mattress is answered by doing your homework, and by asking good questions of the salesman, and possibly reading the literature. Like a dress you can try it on (and don’t be afraid to do just that) by lying on it in your favorite sleeping position for about 15 minutes, and like a dress you can gauge the quality somewhat by the brand, but also like a dress your mattress may not be your best friend’s mattress. What you prefer won’t be the same across the board for everyone else.
Here’s How it is Really Done
So the way you come to the best approximation of the very best mattress for you and learn how to shop for a mattress effectively is to talk many of your friends (not just one or two) and family about their mattresses — what kind do they have, what brand do they have, and are they happy with it? It’s a really good starting point for learning what is out there, especially if they have a type of mattress that you aren’t familiar with. And as far as the brand goes, if you take a poll among your friends and family where the same mattress brand is dominating your conversations, that’s a good tip that you should make that high on your priority list to do some further looking into. Like-minded people naturally tend to like the same or similar products (but of course, not always).
Make a List of Questions
You may not be able to plan everything out and know everything you’ll want to ask, but at least be prepared to sound intelligent when shopping for a mattress and talking to that mattress salesperson. You’ll be a lot less likely to be taken advantage of and sold something that you end up regretting if you present yourself as someone with some breadth and depth on the subject of mattresses and particular mattress types/brands. And good knowledge helps you to back up your instincts as well. You should be a much better discerner of the salesperson and his tactics if you bring your best to the conversation.
Just be Prepared
Overall, if you are prepared you’ll ease into it a lot better and have fun with the process instead of being skeptical that you are going to get taken. It’s much less stress if you do some homework ahead of time (things like — what is the history of X mattress company, and what is it about them that makes their mattresses unique, what kind of consumer feedback does X mattress generally get, and why is it favored, etc.). Mattress shopping can be fun, and now armed with a little more knowledge about how to shop for a mattress you can be much less stressed when actually doing it.
