I tested out mattresses by giving 'em the ass test - sitting and lying on them as much as I could. Then I bought the one that made my ass happy. It cost me $500 back in mid-'99, and just this past weekend, someone who was sitting on my seven-year-old-bed watching a YouTube video said, man, your mattress is COMFY.

What I mean to say is : test-drive the mattresses and listen to what your ass says. If your ass likes it, it'll probably be good, and it'll probably last a long time.

Heh. Mr. taz and I were lucky; when we first moved here, we went out to the closest place by our apartment that sold mattresses (a place that wasn't properly a mattress shop, but just happened to have some in their basement), bought one for about $300, and carried it back home (a block away) ourselves. Mr. taz built a wooden base for it, and we've been sleeping on it for 12 years... It's been perfect - no complaints at all. That's called blind luck. It has no purchase information at all, and even if it did, it would be Greek, I guess.

So, that can't help you, but if you haven't read the info from the two mattress salesman guys (1,2) on the Choosing a Mattress epinions page, have a look, and check out a lot of the other posts that give lots of info on warranty stuff, etc.

It looks like I'll be taking my ass out to go mattress sitting.

And we'll probably lay down some too. It'll be hard work but somebody's gotta do it. I wonder if their eyebrows will arch when we get our two year old up to see how well it bounces for him too?

I do know I want delivery and old mattress takeaway included in the deal and I don't think CostCo does that (though they have some pretty excellent prices).

But(t) thanks for the input!

I sleep on a firm Sealy sprung mattress and, between the mattress and the sheet, I have a duvet (comforter) as a kind of extra-soft mattress topper. So I get the softness plus the support.

I was in a meeting with a CEO of a big regional mattress retailer a few months ago. They average about $1000 for a mattress and he seemed to think those high-end mattresses were worth the money. We got a detailed explanation of the sales-force, here are a few things I recall:

- Each big retailer gets their own set of distinct products from the manufacturers. This makes comparison shopping difficult.

- He hinted that prices are highly negotiable and you can save $300 to $500 if you play hardball. Commissions make up a huge portion of the cost of the mattress and the salesperson can give away some or all of his commission to make a sale.

- This retailer staffed their locations with only one or two salesmen. They saw only 4 or 5 customers a day and converted 2 of those. I believe most retailers have similar formats. Perhaps you can come in near closing, find a salesmen that hasn't made a sale that day and get a good deal. Or tell the salesmen the kind of deal you want and wait a few days for him to call you back when he hits a slow spell.

Hope that's helpful. I haven't purchased a mattress since that meeting, so I don't know how reliable the info is. But it sounded like they ran their company along industry norms. Of course, this doesn't apply to Costco or the large department stores, just the dedicated mattress retailers.

If there's one near you, I highly recommend getting one from Original Mattress Factory. 10 years and counting on the mid range queen size I got.

Spend at leat 15 mins lying on each mattress you are considering. Sitting on it is good, if you are looking for one with durable edges that are made for those who like to put their shoes on while sitting on the edge, but what it feels like on your back shoulders is key.

Turtlegirl and I have been trying mattresses for months and finally decided on the Design Within Reach Sonno mattress, which is a memory foam mattress but with a much better design (IOHO) because it has air channels that help it breathe and therefore is less likely tot trap body heat. They only have stores in big cities though. We had already planned to be in Washington, DC last month so we visited a store then and spent a good 30 mins laying on the bed and trying out various sexual positions we like. The salespeople didn't seem to mind.

The Sonno has a 15 year warranty, and never has to be flipped. It works perfectly as a platform style (no box spring) or with a regular cheap boxspring.

Good luck. As I said we have been shopping for months because it is a daunting experience.

Oops, left out that these stores do actually deliver and there is a 30 day guarantee on the mattresses. BUT you do have to pay the delivery costs to return the mattress if you aren't satisfied. Still nice to have some options. Can't wait until ours arrives! I am so tired (ha!) of this old Sterns & Foster we have.

Don't be self conscious about lying on the mattresses at the store. When we bought our last one I saw several other shoppers reluctantly lie on the bed for about 2 seconds and suddenly jump up (and look around to see if anyone else noticed them), as if that was enough to get a good idea of how it feels. I think they were worried about looking silly.

I think I even rushed the process, because we're not happy with our mattress. It seemed nice at the store, but now we regret our decision. We bought one of those mattresses with an extra two inches of soft padding on top of a hard mattress (I forgot what it's called), which is supposed to give you the best of both worlds. It's actually sort of sucky. I have a bad feeling that we're going to bite the bullet and just get a new one.

I have a pillowtop mattress. Even softer than sleeping on a pile of babies.

Leave off the last 'S' for 'Savings.'

I sleep on a mattress I got for $50 from a store that was moving to another location. Its a demo and not all that good. Its not all that bad either considering what I paid for it. The thing that makes my bed wonderful is the the $300 feather-bed topper that I have. It makes the crappy mattress super comfy without being too soft. I have gotten several compliments on the comfiness of my bed. I love my bed.

I have gotten several compliments on the comfiness of my bed.

There's a sentence that could be easily misinterpreted...

It probably could.

I don't remember what our mattress is, except that it's one of the major brands, but we picked it by going to a mattress store, and spending a minute or two lying on each possible bed. We even brought our pillows.

Once we had a few candidates, we laid on each of them for probably 20 minutes each.

Then we had a short discussion, and told the salesman "we want that one."

I guess some people would think we looked silly, but we'll probably spend more time on it than on any other piece of furniture, so I think it'd be foolish NOT to give a good and thorough test.

I used to owrk next door to a Sleepy's and one time I was smoking with the manager and we were trading customer horror stories. She said she had one couple ask if the bed for sale made a lot of noisy when you had sex on it. I dunno, give it a test drive...

Seconding the negotiating recommendations. I got a full for the price of a twin by playing hardball. They want to make a sale; price is less important. Be fierce!

Just want to reinforce the thought that you can bargain like hell on a mattress if you are so inclined. A couple of years before we were married my wife and I each needed a mattress so we bargained together tag team style. We each took turns being either bored/antsy or "Please help me by this mattress from you before s/he walks." We worked him pretty hard. When I said, "What will you do if we buy two?" he blanched but still droppped another 10%. It was fun.

Just a word of caution about those "pillow top" mattresses. After time, they could become lumpy, while the rest of the mattress is fine. We bought an expensive mattress ( at least for us ) from Sleepys. Pillow top, very thick, no boxspring needed. But we've only had it for three years, and already there are noticable "sagging" areas. And we switch and flip it regularly. Plus, finding sheets deep enough for the thick mattresses can be difficult.