Experts Say These Are the Best Times to Buy a Mattress
Buying a new mattress is a major purchase, especially considering we spend about a third of our lives sleeping. The Good Housekeeping Institute has thoroughly tested and researched tons of mattresses and brands and surveyed more than 10,000 mattress owners to find the best mattresses you can buy.
Once you've gone through the painstaking task of choosing a mattress, it doesn't always pay off to jet out and buy a mattress as soon as you've decided on one. Our evaluations show that a good mattress can cost $1,000 to $2,000 for a queen size, which is the most popular size on the market. Regardless of how much you're looking to spend, if you wait for a few key sales that come around each year, you can save some serious cash.
At the Good Housekeeping Institute, we've covered mattresses for years and are continually conducting tests and collecting consumer reviews of the top mattress brands from our diverse panel of consumer testers. We extensively review dozens of models by meeting with brands, surveying real mattress owners and conducting consumer tests. In recent years, we've reviewed answers to more than 170,000 questions, including both qualitative and quantitative feedback. Based on our expertise in this category, we've determined that the best time to buy a mattress is on and around holiday weekends and on popular sales days like Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Amazon Prime Day.
What is the best time to buy a mattress?
Major holiday weekends
Although you can find mattress sales throughout the year, the timing can vary by brand. This means you have to keep tabs on all of the brands you're interested in and wait for sales to pop up, which can be a ton of work. "If a mattress brand does offer sales and discounts, a holiday weekend is when you can rely on finding sale pricing," says Lexie Sachs, executive director of the Textiles, Paper & Apparel Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute. "Plus, you'll also probably find the most competitive offers between companies." Here are the big ones:
Presidents' Day: Though it's always on the third Monday in February, you can expect to find sales all weekend long.
Memorial Day: Similar to Presidents' Day, Memorial Day is the third Monday in May, and you can find sales the week before Memorial Day weekend — or possibly even earlier than that — and throughout the weekend itself.
Fourth of July: This isn't a set holiday weekend, so the time frame for Independence Day sales tends to be spread out longer and start earlier.
Labor Day: The first Monday in September. Again, you'll find sales during the week leading up to Labor Day weekend (or earlier), all the way through the actual weekend.
Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Amazon Prime Day
They're not exactly holidays in the traditional sense, but these big sale days come with steep discounts on just about anything a consumer could want, including mattresses:
Black Friday and Cyber Monday: We know, you're so surprised, but the weekend and Monday after Thanksgiving is the biggest sales time of the year. As a result, brands tend to pull out their most competitive offers around this time. In fact, in 2022 we saw some mattress brands start their Black Friday sales weeks before Thanksgiving.
Amazon Prime Day(s): Mattress brands are responding to this major shopping event — even if they don't sell through Amazon. It typically occurs in mid-July, though in 2022 there was a second Amazon Prime Day in October.
When should I replace my mattress?
While there's no hard-and-fast timeline around replacing a mattress (it's not like they expire, after all), you can expect a good mattress to last at least eight to 10 years. Focus on warning signs that it's time to replace your mattress: lumps, indents and whether your mattress is causing sleeping difficulties or pain upon waking.
If you need a faster or cheaper fix, or if you just want to upgrade the feel of your mattress, a mattress topper is a great way to add comfort and support without buying an entirely new mattress.
The best way to extend the life of your mattress is to take good care of it. You can use a mattress protector to protect it from spills, wear and tear, allergens, dust, accidents and even bedbugs. Best of all, it's pretty hard to clean an entire mattress, but you can wash a mattress protector by tossing it in the washing machine.
How much should a good mattress cost?
A mattress is an important investment, and the price can definitely reflect that. Our evaluations and proprietary research show that a good mattress usually costs between $1,000 and $2,000 for a queen size. If you're on a budget, there are plenty of options for good mattresses under $500, and there are picks for $2,000-plus that are well worth the splurge.
Pricing for mattresses is mostly determined by the materials and number of layers in a mattress. More layers usually means a higher cost, and an organic model may be more expensive than one made from polyurethane foam.
Unfortunately, mattress prices have increased significantly in recent years because of industry-wide supply chain issues. Brands have been regularly increasing their prices, and we don't see that trend stopping over the course of the next several months. You can still find discounts if you shop around and plan accordingly, though, so avoid paying full price unless you have to.
Where should I shop for a mattress?
When it comes to mattress shopping, there are pros and cons to in-store versus online shopping. It's important to consider what you need in a mattress and how convenient it is for you to shop.
✔️ In-store shopping: The biggest advantage of shopping in person is that you get to lie on the mattress before purchasing. Mattresses are a significant investment, so if you're going to drop the cash, it's worth finding out what it's going to feel like in real life. Cons? Going store to store to shop can be time-consuming and overwhelming — and make it difficult to directly compare mattresses to each other. Plus, lying on a mattress in a store for a few minutes isn't going to tell you what it's actually like to sleep on the mattress. Before hunting in person, it's worth doing a little online research to find the best price and make sure you're not overpaying. Don't be afraid to ask for a price match if you find the mattress listed for less online too.
✔️ Online shopping: Even though shopping online means missing out on physically feeling what the mattress is like, it does come with a major advantage: It's much easier to directly compare different models and brands with each other by just opening a new browser window. This can be a great alternative if you have trouble making decisions too, since direct-to-consumer brands often streamline their assortment of products. Plus, shopping in bed in your pajamas is probably the comfiest way to shop. Something to note: Although some online brands say that they offer a better price because they cut out the extra overhead costs of a traditional brick-and-mortar store, we've found it's not always an accurate claim.
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