It is a fact that no matter how clued up you think you are, it is unlikely you really know what you can expect for your money. This post will give you an indication of what you can reasonably expect in relation to your budget.
Firstly, there are a few things that you should know in relation to retail pricing.
All components used in mattresses cost the manufacturer relatively the same price. Just because ‘Brand X’ uses a container full of springs on a weekly basis does not necessarily mean that they are paying substantially less for them. It then follows that it will be the same for fabrics, waddings and fillings.
The raw cost price of a mattress will generally be the same, for a ‘like for like’ model, for all manufacturers. You are then quite right to wonder why there are such huge price differences for essentially the same mattress. Well, once the mattress has been manufactured, additional costs have to be added by the manufacturer to the raw cost such as Advertising and Promotion, Transport and Logistics, and so on…
Depending on the size of the manufacturer depends on how high these additional costs can go. The bigger the manufacturer, the higher the costs. After all these have been added, and the mattress is in the shop, there is then the retailer’s costs to consider. Shop Costs of Rent and Rates etc, Staffing costs to sell the bed, Delivery Costs to get the bed to you, and so on. After all that – the retailer adds on his mark-up, or share of the profit in order to keep his business growing or to divide between the shareholders.
When you find your “like for like” mattress, virtually tear them apart to see where all your extra money is going! Is it in the mattresss or on the advertising?
What fillings should you have in your matttress?
Even though there are well over 2000 models of mattress out there – you really don’t have much of a choice. . How so?
For a budget of around £500 the main upholstery will be either/or Polyester or Visco Elastic Foam nothing more. And when I say nothing more, I mean any other waddings added that can offer the slightest significant improvement to the mattress , other than having it contained in the specification.
Mattresses that contain natural fibres (lambswool, cashmere, hair, cotton, mohair etc,) in such a quantity for them to be beneficial just do not exist for budgets less than £600.
So now, for an idea on what your money can get you.
Take a quick look through the models I have on offer. Use this as a starter point as I think it would be difficult to beat. Lets say for example your budget is around £400 (Double). I say that this amount can get you 1000 pocket springs, Double Sided with a decent polyester wadding, reflex foam aiding the support and longevity and an above average fabric . Incidentally, this is our minimum standard, we do not sell a lower quality than this.
Using the main comparison details -1000 Pocket Springs, Reflex Foam (25mm) and Polyester (1250gsm) you should then search each shop or site looking for a similar built mattress for a similar price. When you have your list of posible candidates for comparison you then look at all the additional details such as fabric quality, detailing, service, guarantee etc
Use the same initial principle no matter what your budget – Find out what it can get you and then try to match it – or beat it – for comparison.
In General using Double Sizes as an example:
I say that £100 will not get you much – at best a 13.5 gauge open coil with a thin polyester layer.
£200 could get you a fairly OK orthopaedic mattress or the beginnings of a basic pocket springs with 800 – 1000 count.
The £200 – £300 mark should get you away from most low-mid ranges and into the pocket spring models.
£300 – £400 should get you an excellent pocket sprung mattress.
£400-£500 should get you many manufacturers mid range models.
I’m adding a disclaimer here. If you are looking at high end mattresses with premium weight natural fillings as the main components then prices will indeed be in excess of the £600 plus ballpark. My comments relate to mass produced mattresses without a predominant ‘natural fillings’ content.
The rule of thumb is get the best ‘components’ your budget can buy. If £300 can get you a pocket sprung mattress – why settle for a cage sprung mattress for the same money?
Finally. Keep notes on what you see – and make sure that you are comparing like for like / component by component. After visiting a few sites without them, you will become lost and forget the important specification details. .. However, and unfortunately, you will soon see that these basic fundamental details are missing from many descriptions. If they are vague – then phone / mail the retailer or manufacturer and ask.
Hi – me again. Thanks for the suggestions and you make sense with the questions you asked me. We’ve since tried some different ones out and are now considering a latex top with pocket springs. We went to furniture village and tried several. One that did catch my eye was the Millbrook Pocket Latex which was on at around £720 or so.
Can you tell me a little bit about what this mattress is like and whether you have something similar in your range? Also I believe my wife has sent in a couple of emails regarding this so would be grateful if you could drop us a reply when you get a chance
Thanks
Hi Ajay. Millbrook do three latex models in their core range – Sensual / Supreme / Elite – Let me know which one of these caught your eye. John and Ryan.
Hi
I recently started looking at mattresses in Dreams. Liked the sound and feel of a pocket sprung with foam/latex comfort layer. The latex ones we tried (they only had 2) weren’t great but the foam ones were quite impressive. We took a fancy to the kaymed (or inner wisdom) monarchy. This has 2400 pocket springs and is classed as 3 in terms of firmness. What are your thoughts on this and do you have an equivalent in your range which you could recommend?
We also found the Dynasty comfortable but as that was in a different Dreams store it was difficult to compare. With both of these close to £1200 I couldn’t help but feel like it was quite expensive for why it was though.
FYI I am around 12 stones and the wife is around 10 stones. We both sleep on our sides and we would prefer something medium (we hate very soft and think we need something a little more comfortable than our 7 year orthopaedic mattress). Suggestions welcome.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Ajay. Here is the listing from Dream;
The Monarchy mattress features the Silhouette dual spring system for unrivalled support. It´s sumptuously quilted with layers of Kay-tech memory foam to alleviate pressure. This mattress is foam encased for total edge support and covered with a luxurious soft touch fabric.
My thoughts? At £1399 for a Kingsize – which includes a saving of £500 from the RRP of £1899. My thoughts are they are taking the P***
I would go back to Dreams and ask them the following questions.
1. WTF is a Sillhouette Dual spring system?
1a. Are they better than pocket springs?
1b. Why are they better than pocket springs
1c. Are the springs the reason why this particular memory foam mattress is so expensive?
1d. If not then what is it?
2. How sumptuous are the layers of Kay-Tech memory Foam?
2a. How many layers are there?
3. Is kay-Tech memory Foam better than British Vita memory Foam
3a: Could it be the same thing?
3b. What are the differences that make it better?
Do you see where I am going with this? What makes my blood boil is that Dreams are asking you to part with £1400 for a mattress – a memory foam mattress no less – and no real description of what you are paying for. For petes sake do not let a salesman – anywhere – hoodwink you with psuedo nonsense. You know you can buy a foam encapsulated memory foam mattress for around £500 or so. What makes this particular foam encapsulated mattress so much better that it costs three times the accepted norm?
If you don’t know what it is you are spending your hard earned on then ask! You only buy a mattress every so often so there is absolutely no shame in admitting you do not know what they are on about. My cynical side would tell me the salesman wouldn’t know either or at least give a plausable explanation. Sillouette Dual Spring System indeed! John and Ryan.
Hi
I was wondering what you think of the John Lewis “own brand” mattresses (made by Spink and Edgar, I believe). In particular the “Premier” range? We’ve tried them out in a local store, and the Premier 2 seemed quite comfortable (1&3 were too soft). Are they worth the money?
We need to replace a 25 year old Myers orthopedic mattress (yes I know it is ancient!), and I was suprised to find that several others of the mattresses we’ve tried out in shops were *less* comfortable than our worn out one
Hi Julian, You are right, these are manufactured by Harrison’s for John Lewis but.. Does Harrison’s et al have an ‘identical’ model in order for you to compare? I personally do not know and I would imagine only a handful of senior execs in each company know the real answer for sure. John Lewis may have their own brand mattresses manufactured to an increased specification but sold for much less than equivalent models sold under the Harrison’s Branding. A good reason to NOT shop by brand alone.
In the case of the JL Premier 2 (Kingsize £1500) the only difference from what I can glean compared to the JL Premier 1 (Kingsize £1150) is 200 more springs and an extra row of hand side stitching. The weight difference between the two is just 3kg which can be accounted to the additional springs. Is this worth an additional £350 to you?
Your direct question asks me if they are worth the money? The answer is – I do not know. And there are precious few who do. For just one simple reason.
The descriptions on the JL site tells me that the Premier 1 contains; Egyptian cotton, mohair, cape wool and horsehair . The Premier 2 contains; Egyptian cotton, mohair, cape wool and horsehair. So the only obvious differences are the couple I mention above.
However, Could there be more cotton (most expensive component) in the Premier 2 mattress? Or more wool? More mohair? .. And so on. These most fundamental and important details – the quality and the weights – are sadly missing. Not only on JL’s site but from nearly all others as well.
Incidentally, The Premier 3 (Kingsize £2000) contains; Cashmere, cattlehair, wool, Egyptian cotton and mohair. Is the inclusion of Cashmere and Cattlehair worth the extra asked? Does it contain loads of expensive Cashmere and a little bit of cheap cattlehair? Or vice versa? Granted there are more springs, but what exactly will the extra money be getting you?
Knowing these tiny little details would help you to compare like for like quickly and with relative ease from every single retail source. So why do you think you cannot find them?
That was a good question Julian, highlighting the number 1 reason why you and everyone else who is reading this will have great difficulty to find the right mattress at the right price. John.