Finding a Mattress in Your Budget

For most people price is one of the most important parts of any mattress purchase (and one of the biggest limitations) and your budget is certainly part of what will determine the type, quality, and durability of the materials and the types of mattress that will be available to you. While it's certainly not always true in the mainstream industry ... in the smaller part of the industry that sells better quality/value mattresses, there is a great deal of truth that "you get what you pay for" so it's important to have reasonable expectations about the type and quality and durability of the mattresses that are generally available in each budget range when you are deciding on your budget for a new mattress. In most cases higher budget ranges will have materials and choices available that have benefits that you can actually "feel" or that will make a difference in the durability and useful life of a mattress. Because of the importance of a good quality mattress ... up to the range where the additional benefits of higher budgets reach a point of diminishing returns (over about $3000 or so), it can be a good idea (within reason) to set a budget range that is the highest you can reasonably and comfortably afford.

Avoiding marketing stories that distract you from quality and value.

Having said that ... there are many mattresses in the industry that use lower quality materials with a "story" attached to them that sell for far more than they should so it's always very important to have a general idea of the type and quality/durability of the materials and mattresses that are available in each budget range. The biggest "tradeoffs" for lower budgets "should be" the range of good quality and durable materials that are available, the amount of higher quality and more costly materials in the mattress, and the durability and useful life of the materials in your mattress and how long it will maintain its comfort and support before you need to replace it ... not the "marketing story" that goes with the mattress. While the reality is that higher quality and higher performance materials, more specialized materials, and more durable materials will all come with a higher cost ... if you are "armed" with the information on this site about where and how to buy a mattress; your specific needs and preferences and criteria that are important to you; and the differences in the performance, quality, and durability of different materials; you will be much better prepared to differentiate between stories and fact so you can buy a good quality/value mattress that you will sleep well on in any reasonable budget range, even if there are some tradeoffs involved with more limited budgets.

For the sake of simplicity and because it's impossible to categorize every mattress and material in the industry and fit them into specific budget ranges because of all the many variables involved ... I have included more general descriptions for each budget range to provide a better sense of what would be a reasonable expectation for each of them. The prices are based on a queen-size purchase which is the most popular choice and for a "mattress only" purchase without a foundation or box spring or any other extras that you may need to complete your sleeping system so that you can make "mattress to mattress" comparisons. Of course, a larger size than queen will cost more and a smaller size will cost less and any additional options that you may need (such as a bed frame, foundation, mattress protector, or pillows) will add to the cost of your purchase as well. Because each budget range has such a huge variety of materials and mattresses made by hundreds of manufacturers that would be suitable for different needs, preferences, and individual criteria and because mattresses in any budget range will vary in their designs, materials, quality, and durability... I would use this as a very rough guideline and not take it too literally or use it to evaluate any specific mattress. I would always keep in mind that the price of a mattress is only one part of it's "value" and that the value of a mattress purchase is always relative to how it compares to the other mattresses that you are considering or that are available to you in your area or online (if you are also considering online choices) based on how suitable it is and how well you will sleep on it, how durable it is and how long you will sleep well on it, and on all the other objective, subjective, and intangible parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

Breaking down mattress options by budget.

Hopefully, this will help you decide on the budget range that is most suitable for you and help you understand what a "reasonable expectation" looks like relative to different budgets.

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