You’ll spend at least 2,000 hours lying on your mattress this year. That’s too much time to consider compromising your comfort for a lower price tag. When you learn how to shop strategically for a new mattress, you can find the best quality and comfort without emptying your savings account.
When Is It Time for a New Mattress?
Your old mattress won’t burst into flames if you push it past its prime, but your back and neck will surely feel the effects. Most experts agree that your mattress should be replaced after 10 years of use.
Look for these subtle signs that your mattress is ready to retire:
- You wake with unusual back and neck pain
- Your mattress feels considerably less comfortable after you spend a few nights in a different bed
- Stains, rips, and broken springs are becoming harder to ignore
Fortunately, you don’t have to spend a fortune to replace your mattress and start to enjoy your sleep again. Use these strategies to find a decent and affordable mattress that will do its job for the next decade.
Wait Until Late Winter (or Whenever Clearance Occurs)
Just like clothes and cars, mattresses maintain a specific inventory rotation. If you can catch your local mattress warehouse as it’s preparing for an influx of new inventory, you’ll be able to purchase an “older” model or floor sample for a fraction of its listing price.
Retailers need to clear the old to make way for the new, and they count on a savvy shopper like you to happily purchase last year’s selection at a discount. You can expect to save as much as 50% off a floor model.
This method works best when you ask the store manager to explain his store’s inventory turnover schedule. Timing varies from location to location, so a little bit of investigation may help you narrow down the most lucrative time to return.
Hit Holiday Weekend and Seasonal Sales
You can also score steep discounts by waiting for holiday and seasonal sales to occur. Mattress stores look for any excuse to throw and sale and draw more customers in the door, so every just about every long weekend is used for leverage, including:
- Memorial Day
- Presidents’ Day
- Fourth of July
- Labor Day
- Black Friday
You can’t walk within 500 feet of a mattress store on a holiday weekend without sensing a sale. Whether it’s 10% off or 75% off, mattress stores will pull out all the stops to sell you a mattress within your price range.
Shop Online Anytime
Of course, you can’t forget about the incredible deals available exclusively online. Since online outlets don’t have to worry about overhead expenses like retail stores, they automatically price their mattresses as much as 50 to 60% lower than brick-and-mortar locations. You don’t need to wait for a holiday or clearance sale to get an incredible deal online.
As long as you’re comfortable purchasing your mattress without testing it first, online shipping is an excellent strategy. You can browse your options from your couch instead of wandering a showroom and feeling the pressure of salespeople eager to close a sale. Shopping online also gives you access to a much larger selection because you can instantly search nationwide inventory instead of being restricted to the inventory on hand at your local retailers.
Even better, many online sellers offer a risk-free trial period to make sure their customers can test out their mattresses before committing. Some offer up to 100 or 120 nights to test your new purchase. If you decide it’s not the right fit, simply return it within a certain window and receive a refund or simple exchange.
With these strategies, you don’t need to sleep on an old, lumpy mattress another minute.
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