Hi Anonymous -- Thanks for your question. As you can see from the many inquiries we get, whether here or on our YouTube and other social media channels, the thing that motivates me first and foremost is to help people find a mattress that they really love. In this vein, I would really like to help you...I really would...except I can't. I can't because I believe that what you are doing is fundamentally unethical (see why below).
Mind you, it is perfectly legal to take full advantage of the generous return policies provided by these companies. And I would even concede that they 'have it coming to them' to a degree, given how aggressively many of them have led with their return policies in their marketing.
But if I'm understanding your post correctly, then IMHO, you've gone too far.
- You tried the Brooklyn and it left you with back pain so you returned it...nothing wrong with that.
- Then you got the Purple and your back pain went away...a great result, particularly in light of your high standards (judging from your stated reason for replacing your previous mattress: it being hard to get more than 8 hours of sleep on it).
- But then, you proceeded to order two more mattresses, bringing the total number of returned mattresses to 3.
- And now, you are asking for a recommendation to order a 4th, with the full and explicit recognition that you will most likely be keeping the Purple and not this one.
Why do I see this as unethical?
- It directly hurts other consumers. Returns may be free to you, but they aren't free to the company. The cost of fulfilling your returns gets baked directly into the price that future consumers will pay.
- It's extremely wasteful. Unlike shoes from Zappos or shirts from Bonobos, a mattress can not be re-sold after you've tried it. And as much as online mattress companies like to boast that returned mattresses are usually donated to charities, the reality is that in many areas this isn't even possible, let alone practical. For example, in many states and cities, there are laws prohibiting the donation of any mattress that has been removed from its original factory packaging, and the logistics of transporting the returned mattress elsewhere can easily be cost-prohibitive.
- It's horrible for the environment. The carbon-footprint of making, packaging, individually shipping, and picking up a mattress in a box is extremely high. First, most of the foams used in mattresses (including polyurethane, memory foam, and synthetic latex) are literally made from petroleum. Second, mattresses are heavy freight, a point that is compounded by having to ship the mattress across the country to you, only to then come pick it up and take it somewhere else.
- It clearly violates the spirit of the return policy. Mattress return policies are designed to address the fact that it's hard to know for sure that a mattress will work for you until you've slept on it for a while. They are not designed to allow you to easily try out 5 different mattresses in your home and return 4. If they were, then mattress companies who offer 5 different mattresses would allow you to order all 5 and return the 4 you don't like (as online shoe sellers allow you to do). However, no mattress company allows you to do this, nor will they ever (see reasons 1-3 above).
All that being said, in spite of my issues with your approach, I do fully support the spirit of what you are trying to do, which is find the ideal mattress for you. Next time though, instead of doing it in a way that harms the environment and your fellow consumers, I would strongly urge you to start with our very detailed and sophisticated (and zero carbon footprint) mattress match quiz, which can quickly narrow you in on a few options that are likely to be a great match for your unique needs and preferences. Then follow that up by watching our in-depth video reviews for those products. This will give you the maximum chance of ordering the right mattress the first time around.
I'm sorry this is all the help I can provide in this case.
