Buying a New Bed/Mattress

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Moe

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So I'm 27 years old and have never actually bought my own bed before. I got my current one when I was about 21, so long overdue.

Looking for tips. Where's the best place to buy? places I should avoid?
Brands to avoid?
What do you actually look for when testing a mattress?

I always wake up with a bad back, my current mattress is terrible. I want to make sure I choose right!
 

Ecca

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My wife recently wanted to upgrade to a King size bed, and we ended up buying a mattress from Grays online, best choice ever, saved a heap, mattress is good quality, we just went out and bought a base locally.
 

Moe

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My wife recently wanted to upgrade to a King size bed, and we ended up buying a mattress from Grays online, best choice ever, saved a heap, mattress is good quality, we just went out and bought a base locally.
So you took a risk buying online not knowing what the mattress would be like? Can I ask how much you spent?
 

Bulldogs09

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Moe, went through this with the wife twice in the last 10 years. Last time we bought a king, we went to Domain, 40winks or whatever, Harvey norman etc all the big names. We almost bought one at Domain or Harvey Norman I forget. It was the entire thing like bed, ensemble etc almost cost us about 7g!

Spoke with a mate who owns a few factorys. Told me of a place that MAKES them and sells them to some of these stores, without paying the HUGE mark up. We got out of the ensemble and mattress King size for something like 2200 or 2300 I forget. It's about 5-6 years now and I'm thinking of just buying the mattress again at probz like 1-1.2g I'd guess. I like an extremely firm mattress and train for boxing so I'm really fussy with my back and sleep.

Save yourself THOUSANDS by hunting down one like this unless your on the Gold Coast then I'm happy to pm you the addy!
 

Moe

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Thanks guys. Yeh id like to stay away from the big names like domain and HN, unless they're having massive sales
 

Ecca

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So you took a risk buying online not knowing what the mattress would be like? Can I ask how much you spent?
I think about $400.00 TBH, and at that price we were prepared to roll the dice
 

Hacky McAxe

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We bought a mattress from John Cootes about 3 years ago for pretty cheap. It was extremely comfy when we bought it. Now it's not so comfortable and badly warped. Wouldn't recommend it.

The base we bought from them at the time is excellent though, but even that is starting to look a bit rough after only 3 years and when we bought it came in 3 boxes. The head part, the end part, the left side and the left side.

I pointed out that they brought 2 left sides so they brought a new right side while I was at work. I get home from work, open up the right side box and find another left side. 3rd time they waited until I was home and brought 3 boxes just in case.

It was from the same factory that burnt down recently.
 

CrittaMagic69

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I made my bed but paid like 3k for the mattress lol
 

Moe

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is there any difference from having a solid base compared to a bed frame with slats? is it just personal preference?
 

CroydonDog

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Don't scrimp on the mattress - you spend over 1/3 of your life in it.

But there are savings to be made, especially buying direct from the manufacturer. Most people know whether they are a soft, medium or hard sort of person, so IMO laying on one in the store for a few minutes doesn't really do much. I think mine cost only about $1300, and its brilliant.
 

CroydonDog

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is there any difference from having a solid base compared to a bed frame with slats? is it just personal preference?
No, it's all in the mattress.

I've always gone for slats, as I can then store stuff under the bed, but a lot of solid bases come with drawers.

Good luck with the purchase.
 

Moe

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No, it's all in the mattress.

I've always gone for slats, as I can then store stuff under the bed, but a lot of solid bases come with drawers.

Good luck with the purchase.
Thanks. So in that case ill go for whatever looks best.

Yeah I don't plan on scimping on the mattress. I'm prepared to pay for that.
I've spent the first 27 years of my life in slight discomfort lol. Time to live in luxury.
 

CrittaMagic69

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is there any difference from having a solid base compared to a bed frame with slats? is it just personal preference?
I think the solid base will make the mattress feel firmer and wear out earlier, whereas the slats will make it feel softer and last longer....i could be completely wrong though lol
 

Hacky McAxe

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is there any difference from having a solid base compared to a bed frame with slats? is it just personal preference?
No major difference. Slats tend to provide a little extra bounce to the mattress but less support. The real bonus of slatted beds is that you can usually store stuff under the bed. If you want one to last longer a base usually works better but bases don't usually have a head rest and very rarely have under bed storage area.
 

Mr Invisible

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is there any difference from having a solid base compared to a bed frame with slats? is it just personal preference?
These days not much (except the price). Mattress and base used to prolong the mattress longer, but with the new gel/memory foam/coil technology in matresses, it's largely pointless.

We went solid slats (not pokey plastic or thin timber), and it sits fine.

A few things:
+ Pillowtop mattresses cannot be flipped, only rotated 180 degrees.
+ Many modern mattresses with coils can't / shouldn't be flipped because of how the springs sit.
+ Most new mattresses will have a smell when new. This smell can take months to dissipate.
+ With HN, etc, their ranges will differ depending on your location. E.G In an area with lower income earners, their "top of range" might be a $1500 King Koil Magicoil (example name). In a higher income area, the King Koil Magicoil might be the $1200 entry / mid entry level mattress, and the high end a $10,000 King Koil Lord of the Beds.

We actually found our mattress was only available in mid - high income earning areas, and ironically was cheaper at Castle Hill than Auburn. Given they all come from the same factory (AH Beard in Padstow).

Don't scrimp on the mattress - you spend over 1/3 of your life in it.

But there are savings to be made, especially buying direct from the manufacturer. Most people know whether they are a soft, medium or hard sort of person, so IMO laying on one in the store for a few minutes doesn't really do much. I think mine cost only about $1300, and its brilliant.
Absolutely... with matresses it's one of those "pay for what you get" things. Bigger brands (and price tags) have longer warranties.

You can belt down the price on them pretty easily, given the high markup (never pay ticket price).

Besides, if you are paying $50 in physio a week because your backs borked, its a false economy to buy cheap.
 

Moe

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Next question, is it worth paying extra to get a king over queen?
 

likeadoggy

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make sure your wallet is full and get a king size. dont spend anything on the bed obviously, spend it into the mattress. You're looking at a couple of grand
 

BankstownBulldog

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I just bought a super king mattress and ensemble from Harvey Norman Bennets green on their 50% off half yearly sale. The bed is freaking huge!!

I ended up paying $3,700 and got one of their biggest and best beds.

I had to buy sheet sets and quilts/covers etc as nothing else we had would fit it.

What's more a week after I bought their bed I herd an add on the radio for 10% cash back as a gift card on all purcheses so I called them and spoke to the manager who credited us with $370 gift card.

It is by far the biggest and most comfy bed I have ever slept in!
 

blueyedsamurai

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Just check it first

[video=youtube;n_zS2Y4b7N0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_zS2Y4b7N0[/video]
 

CroydonDog

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Next question, is it worth paying extra to get a king over queen?
Are you regularly sharing the bed with someone? If not, i wouldn't bother - they are huge and sheets can often be more expensive. Even if you are, it might depend on the size of your co-sleeper.

I owned a king size bed yonks ago and whilst it was cool to have all that room, I found it took so much space, and everything for it was either harder to find/more espensive. But that's just my experience.
 
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