When is The Best Time to Buy a Mattress?

Death, taxes, and mattress sales. These are three things we can always count on. Seriously, when aren’t mattresses on sale? You might think this veritable smorgasbord of choice and sales is a good thing, but honestly, it just makes a relatively simple problem even more complex than it needs to be.

Buying a mattress is a necessary evil we all face at some point since we spend roughly a third of our lives asleep. This means it’s more than just a purchase, it’s an investment for the next ten to twelve years.

So with that in mind, when is the best time to buy a mattress and get the most bang for your buck? Well, let’s take a look at the market and find out.

Time for A New Mattress

First things first, you need to know when it’s time for a new mattress period. These things can have a decently long lifespan provided they’re well cared for.

However, it’s important to pay attention to it and the effects it’s having on you to help you determine when is the best time to buy a mattress. You may notice one or more of the following symptoms:

Stiff, achy joints and muscles
Daytime fatigue
Allergy symptoms
Constantly winding up in the middle of the mattress while sleeping
Virtually any other surface is more comfortable
You can’t remember how old your mattress is

Now, much of this is subjective, but if you feel like you’ve had your mattress a long time, combined with any of these uncomfortable factors, it may very well be time to start paying attention to all those ads you normally tune out.

The average lifespan is around seven years or so, depending on the issues and whether or not your mattress is actually causing them.

It’s an expensive investment, so be sure to check with a doctor before rushing into a new purchase. It could also make all the difference in deciding when is the best time to buy a new mattress, so be prepared for that possibility.

Time to Go Shopping!

So you know you need a new mattress. It’s time to go out and do some shopping. Before you head out and start wasting gas driving all over town comparing prices, be sure to check around your area online, first.

This is the beauty of the modern age where everyone has a miniature supercomputer in their pocket. Browse through the local stores advertising mattress sales and figure out your targets before you hit the road.

This way, you have a bit of a plan and a budget in mind before you actually start talking to occasionally pushy sales associates.

The more prepared you are, the better you’re going to handle these guys. Remember, their job is to sell mattresses, so some of them are definitely going to be a bit pushier than others.

Stand your ground on both your budget and your interest range when going toe to toe with them. It’ll likely help you save money and possibly even land you a better deal.

Online Versus In-Store

So you might be seeing all of these deals popping up online, including a few that might say something like ‘Free delivery’ or ‘discount on all online orders’.

This may sound like a good deal and for anything else, it would be, and we’d recommend you take it. But not with mattresses. We understand that some people may live far from stores and don’t have a choice but to order online, but with mattress shopping, it’s always better to see them in person.

The reason for this is because testing is nearly crucial to selection. You need to lay down on different beds, lots of different beds. You need to feel the difference between a firm and a soft, a pillow-top or a plain.

This way, you can determine the needs and wants of your own body first hand, which you can do while shopping online.

Best Shopping Times

Okay, so we now have to deal with the optimal times to actually get out there and buy. The trouble is that there are a lot of factors involved in shopping times.

Different sales happen at different times of the year depending on the volume of customers and whether or not the holidays are involved, which is a big detail to pay attention to in particular.

So since there are so many factors to consider when figuring out when is the best time to buy a mattress, we’re going to cover them individually to break them down and make them easier to digest.

Late Winter and Early Spring

Around March and April is the best time for this particular season because this is usually when the new models are going to be hitting the stores.

The reason this is an excellent time to go shopping for mattresses is because of the older models. These older mattresses are now taking up valuable inventory space, so the stores are desperate to get rid of them.

If you go into the stores around March and April looking for a good deal, the sales associates will likely be more than happy to assist you with the best deal possible just to get rid of the things.

Sometimes, you can expect to see a floor model alone a full half-price lower than it normally would be. You can even ask the manager when inventory turn-over takes place to better time your purchase.

Holiday Weekends

Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day and Black Friday are all huge shopping days, especially for mattresses.

You may expect some more heavy traffic than normal, but according to experts, you can also expect that mattresses normally at full price will have their figures dropped considerably in preparation for the torrent of customers.

A full two-thirds of the product could wind up heavily marked down, and experts state that you can expect to see sales as high as ten to twenty percent off the normal price during these weekends.

The crowds will be a little heavier and you might have to wait your turn to test out a mattress, but if you take a look at how much money you stand a chance of saving, then it could honestly be highly worth it to go regardless.

All Year

You’ll still be able to find good deals all year long. Like we said, there really isn’t a time when mattresses aren’t on sale somewhere.

If for some reason you can make the holidays or special months to buy a new mattress, you can still find decent deals regardless of shopping around and comparing prices at different locations.

You can also call around and speak directly with managers to inquire about options for better deals.

Plus, if it helps at all, shopping year-round helps you to beat the mad rush of crowds at the holiday season, making it easier to test your chosen mattress and take your time doing so.

Naturally, this less chaotic atmosphere makes this ever-crucial decision that much easier to finally make.

Trial Periods

Believe it or not, many stores will offer in-home trial periods on their mattresses. If you’re stuck on deciding, and can’t say for sure whether a mattress is going to be good for you, you can ask the store if they offer a trial period.

This is where you simply take the mattress home and try it out for a predetermined length of time, usually around three months or so. This allows you to put it to the ultimate test and determine whether or not you like it in your most natural setting; while you’re actually asleep.

If you wind up not liking it, you’ll be able to return it to the store and get a full refund on the price, which you can then use to try again somewhere else.

This is particularly helpful if you’re forced to buy from an online store and aren’t able to test out the mattress beforehand, so it’s good that this trend is starting to gain traction further and further into the market.

Online Shopping

If you must search online, then keep in mind what we mentioned; that you may have to do a trial period on the mattress to test it.

Beyond that, you can still find good deals online on classic mattresses, or the relatively new trend of compact boxes up mattresses that roll out once unwrapped. This is a fun and convenient novelty, but it also allows for some highly competitive pricing to happen.

A lot of new companies have opened up strictly to take advantage of the online competition that actually leverages in favor of the customer.

Sometimes, the online prices force stores to get even more competitive to keep their customers, driving their prices lower to stay in the race. This is highly beneficial for you and stresses why price shopping is so important.

So, when is the best time to buy a mattress? While shopping for a mattress is occasionally a pain, it doesn’t necessarily need to be.

Remember, all the information you could possibly need or want is stored online and at your fingertips. Buying a new mattress should be more fun, less stress. Shop smarter, not harder.