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150 to make, 90 to ship, total costs < $300. Sells for $850. Main marketing advantage is portability, but apparently only on delivery (compressed into a large

by ep103 11y ago

150 to make, 90 to ship, total costs < $300. Sells for $850. Main marketing advantage is portability, but apparently only on delivery (compressed into a large box). I thought by hipster, they were implying that for once someone was selling a good, cheap, portable mattress. Turns out this isn't any of the three.

Cthulhu_ 11y ago
Plus some extra costs in website hosting and maintenance, marketing, rent of office / packaging plant, and of course personnel (management, support, fulfillment). I don't know how much those cost per item though.
pc86 11y ago
Wholesale would be half that, so about 425 give or take. 43% margin is good for a physical product but not great or hugely out of line. You'll want 2-3x costs for wholesale and about ~2x wholesale for retail.
TylerE 11y ago
Also COST. A queen size T&N is $600, including shipping. Go to your local mattress store and see what $600 buys you.
- dpark 11y ago
  It'll buy you a queen size mattress easily. Mattresses really aren't that expensive. Now, if you want a tempurpedic, you probably need to triple that, but you can buy a nice inner coil queen mattress for $600 if you buy on sale.
at-fates-hands 11y ago
>> but apparently only on delivery (compressed into a large box). I recently read an article on these and the reviewer said it came compressed and wound up in a hexagon tube, like a giant sleeping bag and weighed 70lbs. The Helix arrives on your doorstep in a hexagonal tube. While the tightly-packed tube makes maneuvering the box into your door and across your home fairly easy, it weighs a hefty 70 pounds—which feels even heavier when making your way along three flights of stairs. Good luck to anyone in an apartment walk-up. http://www.popsci.com/helix-sleep-review http://www.popsci.com/helix-sleep-review
maldusiecle 11y ago
There's a really dishonest bait-and-switch going on here, though. Late in the article the author condedes that the company "probably pays a little more for its raw costs because it only uses American suppliers." But there's no reason to assume that's a trivial difference. Plus you've got the cost of storage, marketing, etc. None of this definitively answers whether the company is massively overcharging, but it's certainly not open-and-shut.

by ep103 11y ago

Cthulhu_ 11y ago

Plus some extra costs in website hosting and maintenance, marketing, rent of office / packaging plant, and of course personnel (management, support, fulfillment). I don't know how much those cost per item though.

pc86 11y ago

Wholesale would be half that, so about 425 give or take. 43% margin is good for a physical product but not great or hugely out of line. You'll want 2-3x costs for wholesale and about ~2x wholesale for retail.

TylerE 11y ago

Also COST. A queen size T&N is $600, including shipping. Go to your local mattress store and see what $600 buys you.

dpark 11y ago
It'll buy you a queen size mattress easily. Mattresses really aren't that expensive. Now, if you want a tempurpedic, you probably need to triple that, but you can buy a nice inner coil queen mattress for $600 if you buy on sale.

at-fates-hands 11y ago

>> but apparently only on delivery (compressed into a large box). I recently read an article on these and the reviewer said it came compressed and wound up in a hexagon tube, like a giant sleeping bag and weighed 70lbs. The Helix arrives on your doorstep in a hexagonal tube. While the tightly-packed tube makes maneuvering the box into your door and across your home fairly easy, it weighs a hefty 70 pounds—which feels even heavier when making your way along three flights of stairs. Good luck to anyone in an apartment walk-up. http://www.popsci.com/helix-sleep-review http://www.popsci.com/helix-sleep-review

maldusiecle 11y ago

There's a really dishonest bait-and-switch going on here, though. Late in the article the author condedes that the company "probably pays a little more for its raw costs because it only uses American suppliers." But there's no reason to assume that's a trivial difference. Plus you've got the cost of storage, marketing, etc. None of this definitively answers whether the company is massively overcharging, but it's certainly not open-and-shut.