Kirk
Not so long ago, it would have been unimaginable to buy a mattress online. How can you test if it’s comfy from behind a screen? Isn’t delivery going to be expensive? These questions have all been answered, though, by the mattress-in-a-box system offered by the likes of Eve, Casper and Emma.
The futuristic materials used in designing these new mattresses mean they can be shipped cheaply and arrive neatly vacuum-packed at your doorstep. Like the space age dream of meals popping out from a single pill, we really have arrived at the future of mattress buying.
But if you’ve never bought a mattress online before, it can be a daunting concept. After all, you’re going to spend a third of your life on the thing, so it’s got to be right. We go through some of the factors to consider when making your purchase below.
How do they do it?
It might seem like magic – a full size mattress being compressed into a conveniently sized box – but it’s quite simple really. Almost all bed-in-a-box mattresses you will find online are made of memory foam. It’s this rapidly developing technology which allows them to be packed and squeezed into the boxes without damage.
If you’ve been sleeping on a traditional sprung mattress until now though, the change over to foam could take some adjustment. The first few nights could be a little unusual, but don’t worry, the retailers have thought of that.
How do you try it out?
Pretty much every single site selling mattresses online will offer you a free trial. These can be as long as a whole year, but usually you’re looking at something around 100 days. If you just can’t quite gel with it over this time, you simply send it back without it costing you a cent. Pretty cool, right?
In fact, this allows you to make a much more informed decision than the usual quick bounce test in a physical mattress store. With the notorious hard-sell tactics used by salesmen, and more restrictive return policies, you actually have a much better chance of finding the right mattress for you online.
How do you send it back?
Don’t worry. You’re not going to have to squeeze it into an envelope. Many outlets encourage you to donate the unwanted mattress in your local area. You send them a receipt proving you’ve donated it, and they refund you the purchase price. Simple as that.
These policies do vary from company to company though, so this is definitely something to research before ordering.
Who to buy from?
Although the whole mail-order mattress is a relatively new idea, there’s still a lot of options out there. We’ve mentioned a few already, but here are some of the established sellers:
- Casper
- Nectar
- Tuft & Needle
- Allswell
- Zinus
- Purple
- Wayfair
And this is just a handful – there’s a lot to choose from! But, if you take your time, find a good trial and choose wisely, you’ll be sleeping soundly for years to come. (And have saved some big bucks too!)
