10 Tips to Avoid Mattress Buyers Remorse

Around Thanksgiving, I was in a self-indulgent mood and decided to invest in a fancy new mattress. You know, one of those brand name mattresses that Bay Area radio ads brainwash us about. The logic seemed pretty straightforward:Who wouldnt want to invest in a happier life?

3 months later, I am now 3 mattresses purchases older and 2 mattress returns wiser. Its been an educational journey learning how to navigate a medium-sized financial investment. Here are my top 10 learnings that Id like to pass along in case youre thinking of investing in a new mattress:Price comparison shopping mattresses is difficult.

Different manufacturers put together special mattress configurations for different retailers. As a result, you wont be able to price compare a particular mattress model name between two competitors. Difficult, but not impossible (see #10!

)Memory-foam mattresses feel different from innerspring (traditional) mattresses. Digital mattress retailers like Casper, Leesa, Purple, etc. all deliver shrink-wrapped mattresses made primarily out of memory foam.

Their services are super convenient, but Id recommend finding a way to try before you buy, especially if youve never had a full memory foam mattress. You can find a comparison of these different online-purchase mattresses here. Understand your Sleep Style.

Whether youre a back, side, stomach, or something in between sleeper, youll tend to prefer a certain type of mattress. For more info on finding a mattress compatible with your style, check out this HuffPo Article.Dont go too soft!

A common pitfall when shopping for a new mattress is to associate softness with comfort. While it may feel relaxing to sink into a cloud-like mattress, it still needs to provide enough support to keep your spine in a neutral position. The sign of a too-soft mattress is when the heavier parts of your body (hips or shoulders) feel like theyre sinking deeper into the mattress than the rest of your body.

This can lead to pressure building up on your spine, causing you to toss and turn to relieve the pressure. Lie in your initial sleeping position when testing mattresses, as opposed to the position you usually wake up in. If youre like me and tend to get comfortable on your side or back but wake up on your stomach, this could mean that you are relieving discomfort in the middle of the night by rolling on to your stomach.

With a good mattress, you should be able to drift off without any tossing or turning. Dont be shy when trying out mattresses! This is a big purchase decision!

Remove your shoes and crawl to the center of the mattress as opposed to just sticking to the sides. Be wary of showrooms with split mattress configurations. To save space, these showrooms often put two mattress halves together, one firm, one soft, thus preventing you from having the full mattress experience.

Look for favorable Return Policies. Online mattress stores usually have a full-money back guarantee, whereas in-person stores tend to have both a delivery fee and a pickup fee if you decide to return your mattress. Different stores will allow you to do an exchange/return within a certain time range, and only if you mattress keep the mattress clean!

Be wary of stores with re-stocking fees, which are deducted from your refund, preventing you from getting your full money back.Take your time! Some articles online recommend that you spend at least 15 minutes on a mattress to determine if youll find it comfortable.

Thats a long time! There will be a lot of pressures to rush through trying mattresses (hovering sales reps, tons of options, the awkwardnesses of lying on a bed in public), but take your time, this is an important decision! Mattress returns take up precious time and money, so dont pull the trigger unless youre fully satisfied.

Post-purchase, expect it to take some time to get accustomed to your new mattress, it may need some breaking in.Be polite to your sales rep. For my 3rd mattress purchase, I told the sales rep about the difficulty Id had in finding the right mattress, and she went the extra mile to understand what I needed in order to recommend the right mattress.

Good sales reps know quite a bit about different mattresses, and if you show youre willing to learn, theyll be willing to help. Which leads me to:Dont pay full price. Mattress stores often have sales around the holidays throughout the year, offering mattresses at well below their normal price.

These happen often enough that its worth waiting for the next sale. My friendly sales rep ended up knocking the price of my mattress down a couple hundred dollars using the stores Price Match Guarantee. She was able to find a similar mattress online and charged me the price of that mattress.

Awesome!So there you have it, folks! Take your time, do your research, and find a mattress that suits your sleeping style.

Do these things and youll be on your way to a better nights sleep :) RELATED QUESTION Why don't hotel rooms have ceiling lights? My hotel building is over 100 years old, so we have ceiling lights. We also need a ladder to change a bulb 11' from the floor.

It can take 20 minutes for 1 bulb! This is one reason that we have changed to the longer lasting (and more economical) low-energy bulbs. I would be delighted to have wall lights instead.

Retro-fitting them would however be even less economically sound. Higher than average ceilings mean ladders to change the bulbs in ceiling fittings, and this extends the maintenance time and convenience for staff enormously. Even normal height ceilings mean that a chair is needed to swap a bulb out.

Wall fittings are so much more convenient for both staff and customers, reducing the time taken to get light again! As Michael Forrest Jones says - anything other than a simple bulb swap requires the power to be cut to the whole circuit (which may be more than just a few rooms). This makes it very awkward to do emergency repairs after dark!

-- Been there done that. Go with wall fittings that can be isolated in-room! In short: I have ceiling lights.

I don't like them, as they are awkward for maintenance. Replacing them would be expensive and extremely difficult - basically a total rewire of the hotel lighting system. Design engineers are not stupid.

they note the first 2 points!