$1100+tax is more than double what you'd pay at Ikea, Amazon, Costco, etc.
I thought the promise of all these direct-to-consumer products was to pass savings onto the consumer because they are vertically integrated and cut out scammy middle men.
Seems like all that's happened is they just keep fat margins for themselves.
Started-up with principles. Got big. Reverted to the beancounter corporate mean. Now charging what the market will bear. Opportunity now open for new startup with principles. Rinse and repeat.
> Seems like all that's happened is they just keep fat margins for themselves.
Judging by their S-1, not so much... They're offering up $100M in shares on $200M of assets and $300M in debt. They spend about as much on marketing as they make from selling the goods, leaving shareholders to pay for all of the administration expenses. If it were a tech company it'd be easy to say this is another debt-fueled startup looking for an exit...
The gross margin of manufactured consumer goods with lots of competition isn't usually 50٪. But you're right marketing is needed to maintain it. I'm stunned by the high general and administrative costs.
There are plenty of 12 inch memory foam mattresses on Amazon that are in the $300-$400 range for a Queen size, including shipping. I'm happy with the "Zinus" brand.
I bought a cheap Amazon matress (~200 or so) for a guest-room bed. That bed ended up becoming our primary bed and within a year it developed a noticable softspot + indentation where I sleep (my wife's side is fine, I'm a side sleeper, she's half my weight and sleeps on her back mostly). We rotated it and it was good for another 6 months before the same thing happened.
In contrast, our 4 year old Leesa mattress (which we're back on as a primary bed) is fine.
I'm sure that I overpaid with the $900 Leesa, but I don't know how to be sure I'll get a durable mattress if I get a cheap one.
In the past 5 years I have owned a Casper at $850, a tuft and needle for $750, and something by Ashley for $350. I think I like the Ashley slightly better but they are virtually indistinguishable. I second the recommendation to go cheap.
I've had a lot of negative things to say about Amazon for the past couple of years, but yeah, you shouldn't be paying much more than $300 for a mattress. Everything on top of that is your customer acquisition cost, which should be in your bank account, not Google/Facebook's.
In my experience you can just optimize the firmness to your liking with a pad. If suddenly its too firm or too soft, you can switch it out and not have to replace a whole mattress. Relatives visited and wet the bed? Throw it out and get a new one, your only out a few hundred dollars instead of $1000+.
For couples who want their mattress different ways, that is another market.
not sure why that matters even if it's true their marketing costs are high. if it ends up costing significantly more then what value are you providing me as a customer for selling something that is 2x more than what I can get anywhere?
I thought the promise of all these direct-to-consumer products was to pass savings onto the consumer because they are vertically integrated and cut out scammy middle men.
Seems like all that's happened is they just keep fat margins for themselves.