Best Mail Order Mattresses

One of the best reasons to buy a mattress online is the convenience of it all. You can have a mattress shipped right to your door, there are no pushy salespeople, and you can test your mattress in the comfort of your home.

“Try before you buy” shopping isn’t as beneficial as it seems. Lying on a bed for several minutes in a store is not only awkward but won’t give you a proper feel for how a bed will act in the long-term. However, online mattress brands nearly always provide sleep trials to ensure you are as happy as can be with your purchase.

In this article, we review some of the best mail order mattresses. With that, we break down what you need to know when shopping for a mattress online to ensure you get the best deals.

The comfort layer in the Amerisleep AS3 is 3 inches of Bio-Pur®, a plant-based memory foam. Unlike traditional memory foam, plant-based memory foam is more breathable, responsive, and durable.

The 2-inch transitional Affinity layer with HIVE® technology adds more springiness to the bed since most memory foam can be a bit stiff. The layer’s HIVE® technology is a 5-zoned support system. It’s firmer around the back, legs, and head while being softer around the hips and shoulders.

The supportive base is made from 7 inches of Bio-Core®. It helps protect your mattress from sagging while also promoting a neutral spine.

All Amerisleep mattresses feature a soft and breathable mattress cover to keep sleepers both cool and comfortable.

The top layer of the Zoma Mattress contains 2 inches of Triangulex™, a gel memory foam with three-zoned support technology. Around the back and hips, the foam is sturdier, while around the head, shoulder, and legs the foam is a bit softer.

Underneath the comfort layer is 2 inches of Reactiv™ foam. This foam is similar to latex: buoyant, breathable, and durable. It contours to your body’s curves while ensuring you won’t feel stuck in your mattress.

The base of the mattress is 7 inches of Support+, a durable foam built to prevent the mattress from sagging as well as promote a neutral spine while sleeping.

The Vaya Mattress has 3 inches of Vaya Comfort Foam in the top layer. This proprietary foam is built to cradle your curves but is also responsive, so it’s easy to switch positions and you won’t feel trapped in bed while you sleep. Vaya Comfort Foam is cooler than most other foam beds as well.

The base layer of the bed is made from 9 inches of Vaya Support Foam. This layer promotes a neutral spine while sleeping. It also reinforces the mattress to prevent sagging or soft spots.

The mattress’s plush cover secures the two layers. This cover is also moisture-wicking to help you sleep dry and undisturbed.

Most soft mattresses aren’t comfortable for larger adults because thick comfort layers can make it difficult for them to move and can even cause the mattress to bottom out. With the Active Flex transition layer in the AS5 Hybrid, the soft bed springs back into shape if you switch positions, making it comfortable for average and plus-sized users alike.

The support layer of the AS5 Hybrid is made from pocketed coils with zoned support. The zones not only improve spinal alignment but also reduce pressure points and distribute your weight to help your sleep better. The pocketed coils have a sturdy foam perimeter to make getting in and out of bed easier, along with ensuring the bed’s edges don’t sag.

Underneath the support layer is a base foam. It improves the mattress’s structural integrity while enclosing the bed.

Amerisleep mattresses are CertiPUR-US® certified, meaning the foams are tested and free from harmful chemicals. The beds are unlikely to off-gas—an unpleasant smell common when first using a foam mattress.

The mattresses are made in the USA and ship for free within the contiguous 48 states. Amerisleep backs their mattresses with a 100-night sleep trial and a 20-year warranty.

The coils in the Zoma Hybrid respond to your movements, ensuring you’re well supported. The springiness of coils adds an extra bounce to your bed, making it easier to get in and out of bed and switch positions. A pocketed coil base also increases the air circulation to your bed, so for hot sleepers who constantly overheat, a hybrid bed may be the best choice.

Underneath the coils is a thin and durable base foam to secure the mattress and reinforce the upper layers.

The Zoma Hybrid and Zoma Mattress are both made in the USA and CertiPUR-US® certified. Both mattresses come with a 100-night sleep trial and a 10-year warranty. They also come with free shipping and returns, in case you decide the bed isn’t right for you.

Similar to the Vaya Mattress, the Vaya Hybrid contains Vaya Comfort Foam and has a soft cover designed to stay cool while you sleep. Beyond this, the two mattresses are quite different.

The Vaya Hybrid features a pocketed coil support unit, individual pieces of steel wrapped in cloth. Each coil moves independently rather than as a single unit and this helps the bed better support your body and promote a neutral spine.

There’s a thin foam base underneath the support layer to act as a surface for the coils and enhance the mattress’s support.

All Vaya mattresses are CertiPUR-US® certified and made in the USA. Despite being so affordable, Vaya also offers a 100-night sleep trial and a 10-year warranty covering defects and sags deeper than 0.75 inches, so you can ensure your mattress is protected for many years.

The Purple Mattress is wrapped in a soft and stretchy knit SoftFlex cover to adapt to both your movements. Despite being so soft, the SoftFlex cover is still breathable.

The top layer of the bed is 2 inches of Purple Grid™, Purple’s proprietary foam designed to contour to your body, relieving pressure and keeping sleepers cool. Unlike other foams, Purple Grid responds rapidly, making it easy to readjust and switch positions. It has minimal motion transfer as well, a crucial benefit if you share your bed.

The base of the bed is made from 7.5 inches of Dual-Layer Comfort Foam. One half of this layer is soft and cushiony, while the other half is durable and supportive. This layer prevents the mattress from sagging prematurely and helps promote good posture while you sleep.

The Purple Mattress comes with a 100-night trial and a 10-year warranty protecting the bed from sags and defects. Purple provides free shipping and returns for their beds.

The top layer of the T&N Original contains 3 inches of Adaptive® foam, a gel and graphite-infused poly-foam. Gel and graphite infusions prevent heat build-up in the mattress while staying comfortable and isolating motion.

The base of the mattress is a 7-inch layer made from foam. This supportive base helps promote healthy spinal alignment and prolongs your mattress’s lifespan.

You have the option to upgrade the T&N Original Mattress with HeiQ NPJ03 for an additional fee. This antimicrobial technology is designed to keep you and your mattress clean and also helps your mattress last longer.

T&N mattresses are CertiPUR-US® and GREENGUARD Gold certified. The Tuft & Needle Original Mattress comes with free shipping and returns. T&N offers a 100-night sleep trial and a 10-year limited warranty for your mattress as well.

SEE ALSO: Most Comfortable Mattress

The mattress features a wool cover with needle-tufted rosettes. Not only are the rosettes decorative, but they bind the mattress together to improve the bed’s durability. For those of you who are plant-based, the mattress comes in a vegan option where there’s cotton in the place of the wool cover.

Since the Avocado Green Mattress is a hybrid bed, it also contains upwards of 1414 pocketed coils in between two layers of latex. The pocketed coils are designed with 5 support zones to better support your hips, back, and shoulders. The bed has a steel perimeter around the coils to ensure sturdy edge support.

The Avocado Green Mattress comes in two variations: standard and pillow top. The standard mattress is 11 inches thick and a 3-inch latex comfort layer. It’s medium-firm, which is great for back sleepers, stomach sleepers, and plus-sized adults.

Conversely, the pillow top variation has a 5-inch latex comfort layer, making the mattress 13 inches in total. It has a medium feel, which is ideal for side and combination sleepers. The pillow top version costs an extra $400 for a queen bed.

The Avocado Green Mattress is handmade in the USA. It comes with a 1-year sleep trial and a 25-year warranty.

Types of Mail Order Mattresses

Since you won’t get the chance to feel a mail order mattress before purchasing it, it’s a good idea to know what type of mattresses are out there, what they feel like, and how comfortable they typically are.

Some of the most popular mattress types you’ll come across online are memory foam, latex, innerspring, and hybrid.

Memory Foam

Memory foam mattresses are conforming and great for relieving pressure and stress on your body. They also offer excellent motion isolation and are uniquely quiet, ensuring sleepers who share a bed won’t disturb each other.

Traditional memory foam mattresses tend to get hot, so look for memory foam mattresses with cooling properties, such as a phase changing cover or gel or copper-infused foams.

Latex

Latex is a type of foam mattress made with the sap of rubber trees. Latex mattresses are naturally very buoyant, durable, and cool. If you enjoy the pressure relief of a memory foam mattress, but frequently overheat, consider latex. Latex isn’t quite as pressure-relieving as memory foam, but its breathability makes up for this.

Since latex is a natural product, it’s generally a bit expensive compared to memory foam.

Innerspring

Innerspring beds have been around since the 1870s and are rather well-known. Innerspring mattresses contain a coil support layer and a pillow top comfort layer made from materials such as cotton or down.

Everyone has probably slept on an innerspring mattress before, but they’re probably one of the lowest quality mattress types. While innerspring beds are supportive and breathable, they’re notorious for wearing down quickly. The pillow tops go flat while the coils can break and rip through the mattress, leading to sleepers getting scratched.

Since innerspring beds are cheap and well-known, they’re still quite popular, but we don’t suggest choosing an innerspring bed.

Hybrid

Hybrid mattresses provide the support and breathability of an innerspring mattress while being as durable and pressure-relieving as a foam mattress. Built with a pocketed coil support layer and a thick comfort layer, hybrid beds are sturdy and durable.

The benefit of pocketed coils is that they’re quiet, unlikely to snap or break through the mattress, and they respond to your movements independently. Rather than having a thin pillow top made from cotton, wool, or down, hybrid beds usually contain memory foam or latex comfort layers.

What to Look for in a Mail Order Mattress

When shopping for a mattress—online or in-store—there are a handful of factors to consider to ensure you’re buying what’s right for you. Always check a mattress’s firmness and price, as well as whether or not it comes with a sleep trial.

Firmness

Since you can’t get a feel for your mattress before receiving it, it’s vital to understand mattress firmness levels and determine what firmness you need. This makes it easier to figure out what mattress best for you and potentially prevents having to return your bed.

Most brands follow a mattress firmness scale from 1 to 10. 1 is the softest while 10 is the firmest, though mattresses with such extreme firmnesses are rare. Most beds fall between 2 to 8 on the firmness scale.

Choosing a mattress firmness comes down to your sleeping position and size. So, based on your sleeping position, consider the following firmness guidelines:

• Mattresses for Side Sleepers: Soft to medium-soft (2 to 4.5)
• Mattresses for Back Sleepers: Medium to medium-firm (5 to 6.5)
• Mattresses for Stomach Sleepers: Medium-firm to firm (6.5 to 8)
• Mattresses for Combination Sleepers: Medium (5)

Mattress firmness recommendations are based on the average-sized adult who weighs between 130 to 230 pounds. So, if you weigh less or more than this, it’s important to adjust your firmness needs slightly:

• If you weigh less than 130 pounds, choose a slightly softer mattress than the general recommendation for your size. In general, the best mattresses for petite sleepers are soft to medium.
• For those who weigh more than 230 pounds, choose a slightly firmer mattress than the general recommendation for your size, such as a medium-firm mattress.

Lastly, a mattress for couples may require shoppers to find a versatile medium feel as a compromise or invest in a split king with different firmnesses on each side of the bed.

Sleep Trial

One of the potential downsides you may face when shopping for a mail order mattress is that you’re unable to see or feel the mattress before buying it. But keep in mind, lying on a mattress for several minutes in-store isn’t a great indicator of whether or not a mattress is good for you either.

Tester mattresses in retail stores have been sat on by countless individuals, so they may not feel the same as they will in your home. Also, it takes at least 30 days to adjust to a mattress and ensure it’s right for you. Thus, the invention of sleep trials.

Sleep trials are extended trial programs where you test your mattress out at home free of charge. If you decide the mattress is wrong for you, you can return or recycle the mattress and receive a full refund. Some brands will take care of the mattress removal themselves, as well.

The industry standard for sleep trials is 100 days, but the trial can be as short as 30 days or as long as 365 days.

Price

Without the overhead costs to maintain a retail location, mail order mattresses are generally much cheaper than brick-and-mortar mattresses of similar quality. You can get mattresses online for between $500 to $2000 depending on the size and materials.

Benefits of Buying a Mail Order Mattress

Although shopping in-store seems smart, most people who shop for mattresses in-person are less satisfied than those who shop online. Let’s take a look at the numerous benefits of buying a mail order mattress.

Large Selection

It can be hard to compare items in person since most retail stores only sell one or two brands. Online, you can compare hundreds of different brands and mattresses. You can find specialty mattresses and have mattresses customized to fit your exact needs.

The large selection online gives you more options to compare without driving to dozens of different stores, ensuring you find the exact mattress for your needs. Mattress websites often lay out everything you need to know about your mattress in a straightforward matter. This way, there’s no question of quality, and you’ll be more informed before investing.

Less Pressure

With all retail stores, there are salespeople eager to sell you products and steer you towards the “best” (most expensive) item in the store. Salespeople are usually more interested in making a commission versus helping you find the best product for yourself and your budget. Not only are salespeople distracting, but they can make it confusing when deciding what bed to get.

When shopping online, there is the option to start a text chat with a salesperson, but there’s no pressure to do so. This way, you can browse in peace and won’t feel pressured to buy a mattress that same day.

Convenience

Not all of us have the time to go out to a mattress store. If you work long hours, have energetic children, or cannot drive, it’s not always realistic to sit in a mattress store—sometimes for hours—testing out mattresses. With online mattress shopping, you can shop from the comfort of your home at any hour of the day.

Affordable Prices

Although you can occasionally negotiate prices when mattress shopping in person, mattresses sold at retail stores are marked up 50 percent. This is mainly due to all the costs associated with running a brick-and-mortar location, including paying rent, bills, and employees.

Without these added costs, online stores can sell the same high-quality products for a fraction of the cost, surprising many shoppers with just how many qualify as a budget mattress. Online retailers frequently host sales and deals, unlike brick-and-mortar stores. They also generally offer free shipping and returns, which is rare for retail stores.

To save on a mail order mattress, you can take advantage of some of the year’s best mattress sales:

• Presidents Day Mattress Sales
• Memorial Day Mattress Sales
• 4th of July Mattress Sales
• Labor Day Mattress Sales
• Columbus Day Mattress Sales
• Black Friday Mattress Sales
• Cyber Monday Mattress Sales

SEE ALSO: The Best Place to Buy a Mattress & 7 In-Store Myths

FAQs

Can you sleep on a mattress in a box right away?

You should wait 24 to 48 hours before waiting to sleep on your mattress in a box so it has the time to fully expand. Some mattresses—memory foam in particular—tend to off-gas within the first few days, meaning the bed can smell and cause issues such as headaches, rashes, or itchy eyes.

How long can you leave a mattress in a box?

This depends on the manufacturer, but you can leave most mattresses in their box for between 4 to 8 weeks. Still, we suggest removing your bed from its box as soon as you can.

Mattress in a box mattresses are vacuum-packed for shipping, but they shouldn’t stay in that condition for long. Leaving your mattress in a box longer than stated can cause permanent damage and ruin the reliability of the bed’s structure.

How long do mattress in a boxes last?

Mattress in a box mattresses have the same lifespan as other mattresses, about 7 to 10 years. However, your mattress’s lifespan depends on the type of mattress you purchase. For instance, innerspring mattresses only last 6 years while latex mattresses can last 12 to 15 years.

Is it safe to buy a mattress online?

So long as you shop through a reputable company, you should be safe buying a mattress online. It’s understandable to be worried about getting scammed or not receiving your mattress when shopping online. Always read customer reviews, including negative ones, to make sure the company honors its policies.

Still, most online companies have a straightforward return process, so if it turns out your mattress just isn’t working for you, you can send it back hassle-free.

What do online companies do with returned mattresses?

Most mattress companies recycle or dispose of returned mattresses. While you can find used mattresses online through third-party apps or websites, mattress companies never sell used mattresses as it’s unsanitary.

Some brands take apart old mattresses and recycle the reusable components to manufacture a new bed in an eco-friendly manner. However, if a bed contains recycled parts, brands will note this on the product page.

Conclusion

If you’ve ever been apprehensive about buying an online mattress, don’t worry. Buying a mattress online saves you time, money, and energy. Most online brands offer great deals, long warranties, and trial periods. After all, online mattress retailers practically invented the concept of sleep trials and extended return policies to ensure you’re comfortable with shopping online.