6 ms·

Mattresses are crazy-overpriced and near-monopolistic, though. Not quite to Luxottica levels, but close. At least before companies like Purple and Casper and so

Mattresses are crazy-overpriced and near-monopolistic, though. Not quite to Luxottica levels, but close. At least before companies like Purple and Casper and so on came along.

bearcobra 7y ago
Serta Simmons, Tempur-Sealy & Sleep Number still control a shocking amount of the market
- thedance 7y ago
  But how do they control it? Is it just that they make a good product at a market-clearing price, or do they abuse the system somehow? In my mid-sized American city there are not just one but two local mattress makers that I could buy from if I felt like I needed to, and I did once but I don't feel like the choice was either denied to or forced upon me.
  - pwinnski 7y ago
    A lot of it, if I'm correctly remembering an article I read several years ago, is that several of the most popular brands are actually the same company, and that company also quietly owns several of the most popular chain stores. So you go into a store you think is in competition with the store across the street, and look at mattresses from manufacturers you think are competing against each other, and it's all one company owning both stores and both mattress brands. It's not as universal as Luxottica, as I said, but it's pretty widespread.
    - wpietri 7y ago
      And if I recall rightly, the manufacturers made different products for each vendor, making it very difficult to say, "I like mattress X from company Y, let's see who has the best price on it." This led to a lot of people having favorite hacks. E.g., a friend bought his mattress from a hotel company. His theory was he was probably paying a little more, but the incentives were better, so he trusted the hotelier more.
      - blaser-waffle 7y ago
        There a lot of "if I recall correctly" answers but no one is listing any company names. Who is this Mattress Powerhouse? From whence they came?
        wpietri 7y ago
        I'll tell you what. You tell me the things you've Googled for, and how the results fall short in terms of finding things that explain the mattress market structure. And then I'll correct whatever issue leads you to not finding the stuff that's out there. Deal?
prpl 7y ago
I don’t think spring mattresses aren’t as overpriced as you might expect. You can look at the pure cost of springs, foam, fabric/covering, etc... It turns out that buying these things individually, for a minimal queen size mattress made of springs (~1000, pocket coiled) with a foam top (2” latex or synthetic), foam support on the bottom, and not too much edge support (other than tighter springs on the edge) will start to approach $750 or so. Ikea makes cheaper beds but they skimp on the coils and use the cheapest possible foams, but that’s often okay too. Add $100 for labor and you arrive at a mattress that that is about $900. That’s about the floor for a mattress most people would be happy with. The 100% foam mattresses are much cheaper (less labor, cheaper materials) and many people are happy with those, but not all.
- Krasnol 7y ago
  Yeah I heard that all years before. My SO is significantly smaller and lighter than me and when we moved together here in Germany we went to one of those "always sale"-shops that are all over. The guy talked to us for almost an hour. We tested mattresses and bought one we thought might be good for ~1000€. 2 years later(!), it already felt like it was getting worse, she was rolling on me, we had back pains and a year later we really needed a new one. Fortunately a mattress seller became famous at the time in Germany for breaking the monopoly here and getting all the hate from the lobby. You know what he did? He sold the same mattresses everybody else sold but significantly cheaper. The margin was just ridiculous. After being "banned" and not being supplied shortly after he started, he came up with his own mattress. 100€. Just foam. We had it for ~5years now and I never slept so good before. The mattress have been tested as the best mattress on the market for many years here in Germany so it wasn't just us. I know the US market is different because people seem to value ridiculous sizes and design over health and usability but this is what actually helps this scammy market to rise to those ridiculous prices.
  - radicalbyte 7y ago
    The problem with foam mattresses is that they can contain nasty "fire retardant" chemicals and are a recycling nightmare. What's the brand from the guy with the good 100 EUR mattresses?
astura 7y ago
Idk, they've been available for a while but Purple and Casper just brought heavy marketing to the picture. Purple and Casper are both only five years old yet I bought a Casper-like queen sized mattress in 2011 from overstock.com for like $300.
driverdan 7y ago
Purple and Casper are both crazy-overpriced too.

Mattresses are crazy-overpriced and near-monopolistic, though. Not quite to Luxottica levels, but close. At least before companies like Purple and Casper and so on came along.

bearcobra 7y ago

Serta Simmons, Tempur-Sealy & Sleep Number still control a shocking amount of the market

thedance 7y ago
But how do they control it? Is it just that they make a good product at a market-clearing price, or do they abuse the system somehow? In my mid-sized American city there are not just one but two local mattress makers that I could buy from if I felt like I needed to, and I did once but I don't feel like the choice was either denied to or forced upon me.
- pwinnski 7y ago
  A lot of it, if I'm correctly remembering an article I read several years ago, is that several of the most popular brands are actually the same company, and that company also quietly owns several of the most popular chain stores. So you go into a store you think is in competition with the store across the street, and look at mattresses from manufacturers you think are competing against each other, and it's all one company owning both stores and both mattress brands. It's not as universal as Luxottica, as I said, but it's pretty widespread.
  - wpietri 7y ago
    And if I recall rightly, the manufacturers made different products for each vendor, making it very difficult to say, "I like mattress X from company Y, let's see who has the best price on it." This led to a lot of people having favorite hacks. E.g., a friend bought his mattress from a hotel company. His theory was he was probably paying a little more, but the incentives were better, so he trusted the hotelier more.
    - blaser-waffle 7y ago
      There a lot of "if I recall correctly" answers but no one is listing any company names. Who is this Mattress Powerhouse? From whence they came?
      - wpietri 7y ago
        I'll tell you what. You tell me the things you've Googled for, and how the results fall short in terms of finding things that explain the mattress market structure. And then I'll correct whatever issue leads you to not finding the stuff that's out there. Deal?

prpl 7y ago

I don’t think spring mattresses aren’t as overpriced as you might expect. You can look at the pure cost of springs, foam, fabric/covering, etc... It turns out that buying these things individually, for a minimal queen size mattress made of springs (~1000, pocket coiled) with a foam top (2” latex or synthetic), foam support on the bottom, and not too much edge support (other than tighter springs on the edge) will start to approach $750 or so. Ikea makes cheaper beds but they skimp on the coils and use the cheapest possible foams, but that’s often okay too. Add $100 for labor and you arrive at a mattress that that is about $900. That’s about the floor for a mattress most people would be happy with. The 100% foam mattresses are much cheaper (less labor, cheaper materials) and many people are happy with those, but not all.

Krasnol 7y ago
Yeah I heard that all years before. My SO is significantly smaller and lighter than me and when we moved together here in Germany we went to one of those "always sale"-shops that are all over. The guy talked to us for almost an hour. We tested mattresses and bought one we thought might be good for ~1000€. 2 years later(!), it already felt like it was getting worse, she was rolling on me, we had back pains and a year later we really needed a new one. Fortunately a mattress seller became famous at the time in Germany for breaking the monopoly here and getting all the hate from the lobby. You know what he did? He sold the same mattresses everybody else sold but significantly cheaper. The margin was just ridiculous. After being "banned" and not being supplied shortly after he started, he came up with his own mattress. 100€. Just foam. We had it for ~5years now and I never slept so good before. The mattress have been tested as the best mattress on the market for many years here in Germany so it wasn't just us. I know the US market is different because people seem to value ridiculous sizes and design over health and usability but this is what actually helps this scammy market to rise to those ridiculous prices.
- radicalbyte 7y ago
  The problem with foam mattresses is that they can contain nasty "fire retardant" chemicals and are a recycling nightmare. What's the brand from the guy with the good 100 EUR mattresses?

astura 7y ago

Idk, they've been available for a while but Purple and Casper just brought heavy marketing to the picture. Purple and Casper are both only five years old yet I bought a Casper-like queen sized mattress in 2011 from overstock.com for like $300.

driverdan 7y ago

Purple and Casper are both crazy-overpriced too.