Hipsters have helped to change everything from the way your food is delivered (by a bicycle food delivery service) to where you stay when traveling (AirBnB) to how you get across the city (Uber, Lyft, etc). And now they are changing some old school industries that seemed almost unchangeable – the mattress industry. Gone are the days of going to a showroom and lying on an endless supply of mattresses until you find just the right one, ordering it and then waiting for it to be delivered (and hoping that beast fits up the tiny staircase of your converted loft space). But who has time for all that? Enter the direct-to-consumer bed-in-a-box market. That’s right, there is now an entire online mattress industry that promises to deliver your mattress within days and in a rather compact box. They all promise fast delivery, small compact delivery boxes and comfort guarantees.
So how can you decide? We rounded up some of the key players to help you, here is the lowdown.
Casper:
This New York-based competitor created some big buzz early on thanks to some celebrity factor, namely investors Ashton Kutcher and Leonardo DiCaprio. It launched in 2014 with a one-style-fits-all mattress delivered in a sailor-striped box. The Casper mattress consists of 1.5 inches synthetic dunlop latex, 1.5 inches 4 lb/ft density memory foam, 1.5 inches 2.5 lb/ft support foam, 5 inches 1.8 lb/ft base foam – for 10 inches total. It is medium to medium firm in support. I tried the Casper, I found it warmer to sleep on than a Leesa. Like all these other mattresses, Casper comes with an affordable price tag – a king size mattress is priced at $950 USD.
Leesa:
We first heard about Leesa when we got a cheeky email titled, We Dare you to Sleep with Leesa. Okay, why not? I tried out Leesa to see how she stacks up against the rest. I found the bed very comfortable; I prefer a medium to firm mattress. It slept cooler than I expected for a memory foam mattress (memory foam is notorious for being a bit too hot). Added bonus: when my partner moved at night, it didn’t disturb me at all. The Leesa mattress consists of a 4 inch low-density (3.3 lbs/ft average) foam / memory foam comfort layer over a 1.8 lbs/ft density six-inch foam base for 10 inches total thickness. Sleeping with Leesa comes at a bit more of a premium than the other two at $990 USD but I think she is worth it.
Endy:
This Canadian, Toronto-based, startup entered the already packed (read competitive) direct-to-consumer bed-in-a-box online market about a year ago. Endy is not only a Canadian owned company but it also does all its manufacturing in Canada; the low Canadian dollar has helped keep costs low and attract customers. The Endy mattress is made up of a 2″ layer of memory foam, a 3″ layer of 1.8lb/ft soft high density support foam, and a 5″ layer 1.8 lb/ft firm high density support foam – for 10 inches total. A king-sized Endy will cost around $850 USD.
Still not sure about buying a mattress online? Don’t lose sleep over it. Most of these companies over a 100 sleeps guarantee; try it out for 100 days and if you don’t like it they will pick it up and refund your money. The ‘lightly’ used mattresses get donated to charity.
