Would You Buy a Used Mattress?

I'm sorry, I J. can't get past the words "USED MATTRESS".

The eeeeew-AH factor is J. too strong.

Maybe THAT'S why new ones are so expensive?

;(

I sold the mattress on my guest bedroom last yr (didn't really need it, DD's room was more important) on craigslist, but NO, I wouldn't buy a used one myself.
Yeah, bleddy hypocrite. Shoot M.. :)

I bought a used mattress when I was 22 and poor grad student. 8 years later I threw it out when I finished school. I bought it from a store and it was like new, people who bought it thought it was uncomfortable. It was fine for M..

Never.

The hotel - I'll J. ignore it for a night or three.

Moved in with my now wife - I ignored that her ex used to sleep on it.

But purposely buying one....guess it J. depends on how strong your "ignorer" is. Mine's pretty weak, so I couldn't do it.
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I'll add that a mattress gains 3 (THREE) times it's weight due to dead skin and dust/dirt over a 10-15 year period. If that don't stick in your brain.... ewwwww. I gotta go wash my hands... :)

I buy used ALL the time. But I don't buy used undergarments or mattresses. I won't buy a "refurbished" one either. I saw a news story on it once and it grossed M. out. My husband and I need a new mattress. I will save for a new one and not buy used. Good luck!

NO NO NO!!!

Why? Because we fought bed bugs for quite awhile. I won't even get a used table without thoroughly checking it now.

And I'd burn the used mattress before I ever considered bringing it into my home...

With all the dust mites, allergens, dead skin, and sweat in it.. Even a "clean" used mattress would be disgusting.

No thanks, I'll J. buy a new one.

I would not buy a used mattress. Hotels change them frequently and I am sure that most will now cover the mattresses.

You have no idea where this mattress was stored, if there are bed bugs in it, if they or their children have peed on it, etc. Try to find one that is still in the packaging or look at the mattress stores for a good sale or discontinued one.

The higher end ones are expensive and some are not worth the money. I don't know why they charge so much for them.

First, thanks Dad. Ewwwwwww. Ick yuck. That will stick in my mind all day.

Anyway, I think the issue with hotel used versus buying used is that buying used, it stays in your home. In a hotel, it is only for a couple of nights or so. With that said, woudl I do it now? I don't think so. I would try to avoid it. Maybe if it was new. But then I would wonder why sell it? Bed bugs are actually my reason. No thanks. But I ahve bought used before. We bought a bunk bed set that had mattresses. They had covers on that we threw out and the mattresses were practically new. My kids used them for a couple of years till we could buy new.
As for why they are so expensive, I think anything that lasts for a long time and does not get replaced often costs more. Hence why a fridge costs over $1000. A cheap one is $700.

I have bought used mattresses (queen size) at a garage sale. The home was a mansion and the mattress had the original plastic on the mattress. This home was very well maintained and clean. I paid $35 for it. I went to Sam's and bought a 4" pillowtop to put on top of it and we love it. I couldn't afford the $$$ for a new one.

I have also bought used bunkbeds with mattresses. No pee stains. No pee smell. I put a mattress bag over the mattress and used them for use. A matress bag is a huge "baggie" that mattresses slip into.

Why do new mattress cost so much? Greed and the Law of Supply & Demand.

Good luck to you and yours.

I got one from a friend..

NEVER again! lol.

There is usually a REASON people sell their old mattresses... If it's bad enough for them that they need to replace it with a new one, then it's probably not going to be so great for M.. So unless you are getting it DIRT CHEAP, I would buy a temporary mattress pad to make the one you have now bearable, and save up for a new one. (That's what we are doing now. lol.)

No way.... Yuck

There is a reason someone is trying to sell a used mattress.

You can find a cheapo mattress but that won't help your back. We J. bought a pillow top Queen for our daughter last year and it was about $700. We paid aobut $1000 for our King years ago.

I am not one to go cheap but... check places like Big Lots, Discount furniture stores, etc. Don't go used, ugh

Good luck.

Yes, I have bought a used mattress. It was fine. In fact it was great and comfy. J. steam clean it, or use disinfectant, put it in the sunshine, then use a mattress cover.

no I would not. I don't even like staying in hotels! Gross!

NO! I can hardly sleep in a motel room because I hate to sleep where someone else has slept.

Never done it. I think they are expensive because they can. I mean you have to have a mattress and you only buy one once in a blue moon so they mark them up.

J. a theory mind you.

So far as being different, I don't think it is. At least for M. I can buy a new one so I get what I want. I always feel like used anything I am not actually getting what I want, like with cars, always missing a feature but ......

No, I wouldn't buy a used mattress. You don't know who peed in it, etc.

I usually buy mattresses new. The reason not to buy a used mattress is that a mattress has a relatively short life, and most people tend to use them until they are no longer any good. There are however times when that isn't the case. I bought my kids bunk beds used. The matresses came with. The bottom bunk mattress was garbage, but the top was very gently used (the kid who had the beds slept on the bottom and the top was only for sleepovers). Some people have spare bedrooms that never get used, and have brand new mattresses that get sold when they downsize. You can look at a mattress and see if it is in clean, new condition. We always use sheets as well. Bedbugs are a concern, so you need to know what to look for. I also check hotel mattresses for bedbugs. I was at a yard sale with a friend and I bought a couple of nice bath towels. She said "yuck, you're buying used towels?" She loves to travel and stay in hotels. I pointed out that these towels had probably only been used by this one family, whereas the towels she uses in hotels have been used by very many people.

I have only had one new mattress in my entire life. It was about 15 years ago. I J. got a used mattress for my grandson. It is fine.

I think that it's a matter of your germ issues. I think that we do sleep in hotels and other places all the time when we travel. Those are strangers beds too.

I make sure the mattress is clean as possible, no huge stains where someone has peed or pooped on it. No food drops, J. normal clean mattress. Some discoloration is possible after all.

But I take it home and put a mattress pad on it. I cover that with our electric heating mattress pad then the sheets. If you wanted more coverage there are plastic "bags" you can but to totally encase the mattress inside.

We have a few times. They were from people that had always used a mattress cover and they had been mattresses in their guest bedrooms.

One was a Very expensive posture pedic. The couple were combining households and did not need all of their mattresses.

They were in perfect condition, non smoking households and no pets.

I would only buy from a friend or relative.

When I moved into my first place it had furniture already in it...I'm the biggest germ freak...I went and got an antimicrobial mattress cover and then tried REALLY hard not to think about it. I J. didn't have the money to buy a mattress (used or new). Then a few months later, a friend of mine had a relative that was looking to unload some matresses he used in his vacation rentals. They were only a year old, in really great condition and FREE! So, I called my landlord had the old matress removed and put in my "new" mattress, again with the antimicrobial cover..Fast forward to a few years after that and I gave that mattress away to a friend for her daughter, because I was buying a new mattress and bed set. I did what I had to do when it came to finances...I also thought a lot about the situations you mentioned when we sleep on beds that aren't ours and J. tried really hard to divert my attention elsewhere when I started to think of all the grossness and ick that probably abounds in those things....:)

I have once. Poor college days. The hubby and I were living together sharing and air mattress. Our electric pump was a old repaired piece of junk that shocked you every time it was plugged in. We'd get into arguments over who's turn it was to air up the bed. It was uncomfortable. Some guy had an ad on campus (pre craigslist days) that said he was selling some fishing equipment. We set up an appointment. Apparently a few hours before we got there, he was told his Visa would not be renewed and he had to go back home. So he decided to sell everything. The bed was so cheap, we practically did cartwheels out of his apartment. But we were desperate and broke. And he even had the reciept showing us the bed was only two months old.

But now? No I wouldn't. Bed bugs oog M. out. And they seem to be a bigger and bigger issue. Once you have them, it's a nightmare to get rid of them. It's possible to see evidence of them on a mattress, but it is also possible not to see any signs. And I know you can get sanitized mattresses as well. I am not convinced that those are always what they are cracked up to be. And finally, a bed is a pretty intimate object. To M., it's a little like sharing underwear.

For the record...we buy used all the time. Generally, I have no problem with that. We are also a pretty "green" family...we recycle, don't use paper towels, we have a garden and we compost.

ETA....It's probably very similar to using a hotel mattress. And although I have slept in hotels, I wouldn't want to take that bed home with M.! Besides, most of the time, people use a mattress until they can't any more. A spring poking here, ripped fabric there. Usually, they get all the miles out of a mattress that they can. Occasionally, they are simply upgrading, but generally speaking, there is a reason they want that mattress gone!

Not sure on this one. We J. bought a new mattress and box spring set. We bought the floor model box springs and the mattress new. We save $300 by buying the floor model box springs. Maybe you could see if some of the stores would do something like that or even if they have a return you could get for less money.

Yes, I would. I haven't but probably would if it 'looked' ok.
I have sold a mattress on craigslist.
My guess for the high cost would be that it's not an item that is bought frequently. Therefore the maker can charge a little higher... IMO

No way. Bugs, you don't know what. Look for a sale, coupon, etc.

My initial response would be ewww, ick, gross! I don't think I would go looking for a used mattress. But we bought a bedroom set for my son from a neighbor - it was used in a guest bedroom. It came with the mattress. It was in good condition - looked pretty new, no stains, etc. - so we kept it. And we bought a bedroom set off of Craigslist and it too came with a mattress. It was fairly new and hardly slept in, so we kept it. So, I guess it J. really depends. Case by case. Where is it coming from? Is it clean? Why are they replacing it? Who slept on it? Does it have urine stains? Does it have bed bugs? Etc.
Big Lots has new ones at good prices right now.