Getting The Best Mattress Price.

If you don’t learn anything else from this post, plant this deep within in your heart.

THE PERCENTAGE DISCOUNT IS MEANINGLESS!

I don’t care if the salesman claims that the mattress is 99% off, it is meaningless if the starting price has been inflated. All that really matters is the final price. Imagine if Mattress Store #1 is having a giant mattress sale and everything is 50% off. You find a mattress you like for $500 that was supposedly $1,000. You go to Mattress Store #2 and find a comparable mattress set for $450, which is 30% off of their regular price. Which would you choose? Believe it or not, I had customers pay more because they thought they were saving more!

It seems they are everywhere. You can find them in large metro areas, and in small communities. You can find them in the large mattress chains, and stuck in some temporary building with a homemade mattresses for sale sign. Who am I talking about? The salesperson that will say whatever it takes to get your business.

I happened to be in another market for Thanksgiving and visited a few stores. I was told about a small shop that does a whole lot of business in the area, so I was interested in seeing what they offered. Among the many things I learned during my visit:

If you go out and by a brand new BMW, would you attempt to save a few bucks by buying your tires at Walmart? I mean it is the ultimate driving machine, doesn’t it deserve high quality tires?

I ask this because we are in the season of fairs, conventions and events around the country. Often at these types of events, vendors set up shop and sell mattresses. Sometimes they even sell major brand mattresses. These events are usually staffed by some of the biggest writers in their respective companies. They will do whatever it takes to earn your business – because “they are just there for the day.”

You go to a small chain of mattress stores and the salesperson gives you the hard sell on the brand new Purple Hippo 9000. This mattress boasts Platinum, 5 in 1 coils wrapped in 100% silk. It has both memory and amnesia foam, latex and a hundred other foam layers that have really sexy names. You try it out and it does feel awesome. The salesman has the hook in you, now its reeling time. It comes with a lifetime warranty and we are the only chain that carries this exclusive product.

In fact, he is SO confident that he WANTS you to go down to his competitors and have you ASK them if they carry the Purple Hippo 9000. He may even warn you that they will try and talk you OUT of such an awesome product.

Dirty tricks used to be a staple of some of the sleazier folks in the mattress industry. Fortunately, most of the purveyors of this activity have either left the business or closed down.

Caveat emptor – Let the buyer beware.

New or Used Mattress – If you are buying “clearance, discontinued or floor models” there is a really good chance that you are buying used mattresses. Some states require inspections and some sort of sanitation process. This can be as simple as spraying on a disinfectant.

I was forwarded several links that purportedly were from unbiased sites that discuss complaints about Tempur-Pedic® mattresses. They wanted me to take a look and provide some feedback.

Before I start the process of debunking the so-called complaints, the first thing you should look for on any site that purports to reveal “the facts” is to figure out their point of view. If the answer to every “problem” just happens to be another competitive product, that should pretty well locate the creator of the site. In fact, if the site was created primarily to push people towards a competitor, you must realize that the “reviews” and “advice” may be tainted. Let’s move on.

Its that time again – Here come the mattress freebies!

Free Gift Card!
Free Stuffed Animal!
Free Sheets!
Free Memory Foam Pillow!
Free Box Springs!

For regular readers of this blog, you know my position – Don’t fall for the hype. There is nothing free in this world. If you are getting something for nothing, you are paying for it somewhere.

Forget the trinkets and trash and focus on finding the right mattress for your body. Once you do, locate comparable mattress sets and compare prices for the complete package, including all add-ons (delivery, frame, mattress protector and even gifts with purchase – GWP). If the store offering the free stuff is actually less, fantastic. But more times than not, the store that does not have the freebies will be less. Take the money you saved and go out and buy yourself that cuddly stuffed animal.

You visit your local mattress store and start trying mattresses. You find one you like and start asking a few questions so you can compare it to other similar models. Hank, your friendly mattress salesperson, proudly tells you it has 1,000 coils!

Of course being the bright person you are, you realize something doesn’t sound right about that number. Your instinct is correct. Hank just quoted you the Coil Density, not the actual coil count.

I’m not sure who first started this practice, but coil density refers to the number of coils the mattress WOULD have, were it not foam encased. It truly is a worthless number in my opinion and causes more confusion than necessary. And I have found in my travels that most salespeople don’t necessarily explain or fully disclose the difference. I will let you decide whether or not they are being deceitful in this practice.

True Story – I’m visiting a store and a lady comes in for her college age daughter. She is driving a luxury vehicle that would easily retail over $50k. Not that we should ever make judgements based on cars, clothing or jewelry, but I found it interesting.

She doesn’t want to spend over $300 for a queen set, delivery and frame – tax inclusive. Adding delivery, frame and tax to the equation, means the mattress set needs to be in the $200 range. The delivery will go to a remote college campus that is not regularly served by any retail chain, so the delivery cost will be greater.

My Four Favorite Stupid Sales Promotions

Mix & Match – This is the most bogus promotion ever. First off, unless you are a company made up of morons, you will never have a bunch of leftover boxes to sell. Second, Federal Law now prevents retailers from selling mixed sets because they are tested as matched sets for fire safety. When I worked the floor during one of these promotions I refused to mix. I simply gave customers a matched set for the advertised mix & match sales price. That is always the right and ethical thing to do. When a mix & match promotion is on, usually you are getting a lower quality box. It may be nearly as good, but the cost savings (if any at all) has to come from somewhere. Even if it is structurally comparable to the matching box, why would you want something that looks different? That is just stupid, especially if you can go to the next store and get a comparable or better MATCHED SET for the same or less!

My Five Favorite Sleazy Salesperson Pressure Tactics

“I got this coupon in my desk…” – This tactic gives them a reason to discount. If they can reduce the price, ask yourself why haven’t they already reduced it and get the heck out of there. You will never get “the best deal” at a place like that.

“Let me call my district manager to see if I can go that low…” – Same Barbra Streisand (BS) as above. Don’t walk, but run out of this store.