Best Time to Buy a Mattress and the Reason Why

If you’re getting better sleep on your couch, it’s time to buy a new mattress.

Average mattresses can cost around $200 to $1500. High-end mattresses may cost up to $5000 or more, while budget mattresses can cost around $150 or less. Most people can find a quality mattress in the $1000 price range. Good news is that if we do our homework, we can buy a high-end mattress at an average cost.

Best Time

Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the best times to buy top branded mattresses at mega discounts of up to 75%. This year, there was a secret sale on Thanksgiving Eve of a further 20% off on Black Friday deals.

If you’ve missed out on these deals, there’s good news, you could still possibly save as much around Memorial Day, with up to 75% off and a whopping $800 of mattress bundles.

Clearance Sales

Then there are Clearance sales when companies need to make room for new models. A winter clearance sale has shown savings between 30 to 70%, keep your eyes peeled from January. May is “Better Sleep Month” and the most popular month for mattress clearance sales. An End of Summer sale in August offered savings of $1,100 on one mattress alone.

Great deals also happen on President’s Day, Labor Day and the Fourth of July, with savings of up to 40% and 60%, but top brands are slashed right down on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Amazon Prime and Back to school sales in July are also quite popular times for mattress sales, with expected savings of up to 50%.

All year round

Online

If you simply can’t wait, you can always find a good quality budget brand online while you save for next Black Friday, to get the mattress of your dreams. Online mattress brands have discounts all year round.

In fact, you should never pay the actual price as shown on their websites because there are always discounts and coupons available exclusively through third party sites, such as mattress review companies.

Liquidation mattress outlets (unbranded)

These outlets can offer up to 80% less on top brands that have been liquidated for several reasons, including store closures, year-end model changes, floor model swap outs and freight-blemished mattresses.

Due to this extremely low price, there are no returns or sleep trials included. They are also under a contract which prevents them from showing the brand name and the market price of the mattress.

Store closures, liquidations, grand openings, relocations

Keep an eye out for these throughout the year. Store closing sales of 60% off was spotted during the Fourth of July.

Wherever or whenever you decide to buy your mattress, base your decision on your own research. We’ve gone ahead and found all the sale times throughout the year, what deals you can expect on branded mattresses, with special notes and tips.

We’ve also put together a guide to help you with your research, with special notes and tips as well. You can skip to the guide here: Mattress Buying Guide

Sale times and how much you can expect to save…

Note: Around these times, most stores offer added bonuses like free or discounted mattress sets and accessories, such as bases, pillows and bedding. Most of these prices are based on this year’s prices.

January

New Year’s – Many stores see New year’s day as a great opportunity to attract those customers who missed out on previous year’s deals and get rid of their old inventory. You may see some year-end sales as companies start to prepare for the new year.

February/March

Clearance sales – Some companies will start having their clearance sales in February, due to new inventory arriving in February and March.

A winter clearance sale – showed savings between 30 to 70%, the exact month is not known. I would start looking from January just to be on the safe side.

President’s Day – falls on the 3rd Monday in February. It is one of the first major sale days of the year and one of the next biggest sales after Black Friday & Cyber Monday. Some of this year’s deals saw savings between 10 to 50%, whilst some offered savings of between $200 to $500.

April/May

April to May have been known for years as being a clearance time for mattresses. May is known as “Better Sleep Month” and is the most popular month for mattress sales. Many brick-and-mortar stores are under pressure to get rid of their old inventory in May before putting out their new models in June because a lot of mattress manufacturers roll out their new models in May.

Notes:

• If you need a spare bed for a guest room, a clearance sale could be an option.
• Clearance sales include shop floor mattresses, returned mattresses and dented/scratched mattresses with savings around 50 to 60% off.
• Be sure to ask about their sanitization, return and warranty policies on these kinds of beds. Some stores may sanitize them, but if not, you could opt to get the bed sanitized yourself. Also note that they may not offer a return or warranty.
• If there are any warranties, be sure to read the fine print very carefully to make sure you don’t get any surprises if and when you need to return it.

Tips:

• Consider the defects and whether that will actually affect the quality of the mattress and your health in the long run or if it’s just some superficial scratches or color imperfections.
• A plus about buying your mattress brand new is that you will have a trial period and will be covered by the warranty.

Mother’s Day – Is the second Sunday in May. Last year there was a promotion called “Your baby is your coupon”, where you could get a discount on your selected mattress or a free gift. Brand new moms could stand a chance to win a brand new mattress, a new crib and $3000 worth of babysitting fees by being the first mom to post on Instagram.

Memorial Day – Observed on the last Monday in May. They say Memorial Day is like the ‘Black Friday’ of sales in the mattress world. Savings between 10% to 75% were spotted including a whopping surprise saving of $800 on adjustable base and mattress sets. Most sales start about a week before and may extend to June 1 and last a few days more.

Amazon also has mattresses on sale on Memorial Day. 

June

Father’s Day – Is celebrated on June 16. Last year’s Father’s day deals offered both 10% to 25% off on selected mattresses and savings of between $200 to $300 on other selected mattresses.

July

4th July Summer Sale – Independence day discounts were mostly around 10% to 40% off and up to $500 off.  Store closing sales of 60% off was spotted during this time. Always best to be prepared for sales on days like this so you can spend more time celebrating and less time shopping. Some offers might be limited, so preparation is a must. Be sure to check out our mattress buying guide below to help you with choosing a mattress that’s right for you.

Amazon Prime Day – If you’re an Amazon Prime member you could take advantage of their special offers. You can also sign up for a 30-day free trial of Prime. This year, Amazon Prime day took place on October 13-14, due to the Pandemic but you can expect it to be around July 15, on it’s birthday. Last year’s discounts were up to 57% off and up to $500 off. Other retailers may also offer discounts on Prime Day, just to stay on the competitive edge with offers up to 25% off and up to $500 off.

Back-to-school/Fall Sale – Between the end of July to early August, a lot of companies use this back-to-school opportunity to have promotions for children’s beds and college students. You can expect to save around  25% to 50% or $100 to $450.

August/September

End of Summer clearance sale – a massive $1,100 off was spotted in August.

Labor Day – Is on the first Monday in September, savings around Labor Day weekend are also quite huge, anywhere from 10 to 60%. You could even find labor day specials on Amazon.

October

Columbus Day/Indigenous People’s Day – October 11 is a federal holiday in the U.S and shows savings of around $100 – $300 or up to 30% off.

Halloween – Surprisingly stores don’t want to scare you away on Halloween – you can find savings of up to 20% online.

November

Veterans Day – November 11, deals usually run the entire week as stores try to clear out old inventory to make way for their promotions. Some stores may offer a 10% discount throughout the year, to active military, veterans, first responders and their families.

Thanksgiving – the fourth Thursday in November – National mattress retailers were offering a 36-hour secret sale the day before Thanksgiving, offering an additional 20% off on some of their Black Friday deals.

Black Friday & Cyber Monday – Black Friday & Cyber Monday deals showed savings of $100 to $1000 and up to 75% off, typically between 25%-75%, with discounted or free accessories. Although Cyber Monday was originally set aside for Online deals, you may find in-store specials on Cyber Monday.

December

Black Friday & Cyber Monday may extend into early December and New Year’s mattress sales may begin towards the end of December.

So, you can be laid back knowing you could get a good deal even before next Black Friday.

Now, to make a confident choice, we hope our mattress buying guide below will be of great help to you.

Mattress buying guide

You can skip to each section here:

1. How do I know I need a new bed?
2. What do I need to know?
3. Which firmness level is right for me?
4. What do I need to do?
5. Buying tips
6. Self-care
7. Our parting words

1. How do I know I need a new bed?

It’s too soft if you…

• wake up with a stiff and sore lower back and the stiffness goes away after some light stretches.
• feel like it’s too much effort to move around or get out of bed.
• feel like you’re in a hammock.

It’s too hard if you…

• wake up with sore hips, arms and shoulders.
• toss and turn because you feel pain, numbness or tingling.
• feel a gap between the curves of your body and the bed.

Note:

• How you sleep may also cause numbness and tingling – If you’re pressing on those areas, while you sleep, then you’re cutting off the blood flow.

Other reasons you may want to consider a new mattress

• If it’s just too old – If it is not properly cleaned, it can collect dust mites. A dust mite allergy could mean coughing, wheezing, sneezing or shortness of breath and all this could cause trouble sleeping.
• If you have a coil bed and it squeaks when you move around, it could mean coil damage – If the coils are damaged then it’s not going to provide you with good support.
• You wake up feeling tired and exhausted even though you slept the whole night and didn’t do anything too physically exhausting.

2. What do I need to know?

Knowledge is power

Remember, a little research now, will help you reap the rewards in health and comfort for years to come.

We are here, to guide you towards making a well-informed and confident decision. So, apart from knowing the best times to buy a mattress, knowing what makes up your mattress and your needs and preferences are the main things to consider.

So let’s start narrowing down your choices

Grab a cuppa and ask yourself these questions…

Get to know what makes up your mattress, so you can choose your favorite materials

• What are mattresses made up of – What are the different types of foams and coils?
• What are their pros and cons?
• What are the different types of bases?

Notes:

• There are quite a number of mattress bases out there, such as foundation, adjustable, box springs and more, and it’s important to choose the right one because some manufacturer’s warranties are on condition the mattress is on a compatible base.

Get to know your needs and preferences, so you can choose what’s best for you

• Which weight category am I? (see firmness section below)
• Am I a side, back, stomach sleeper or combination?
• Do I change my sleeping positions a lot? (A bouncier or more responsive bed makes it easier to change positions)
• Do I get easily disturbed? (A bed that isolates motion well, will limit the amount of disturbance.
• Do I need a base? Do I prefer a particular type of base? (Does it need to be adjustable or have storage)
• Do I prefer or need something quiet? (Springs can be noisy or get squeaky over time)
• Do I feel hot/cold when I sleep? (Foam sleeps warm, while spring sleeps cool and latex is not as warm as regular foam)
• Do I have any back-pain, injury or health issues? (You may want to consider investing in one that provides targeted pressure relief and support)
• Do I need a smaller or bigger bed?
• Do I need to consider waterproof mattress protection?
• Do I prefer changing my mattress every 5-7 years? (If yes, then perhaps you might want to look into a high quality less durable bed, which may cost less)
• Where do l want to buy it? Check out the pros of cons of buying online vs. in-store.

Notes:

• When considering the needs of your partner, you may need to compromise and there are plenty of mattresses designed with couples in mind. (See Best Mattresses for Couples)
• If you’re considering physically trying out what the different firmness levels and materials feel like in store, please do take necessary Covid precautions or you can get an idea from online recommendations and reviews.

3. Which firmness level is right for me?

Firmness

Firmness level on the 10-point firmness scale

• 1 to 3 – Soft
• 4 to 6 – Medium
• 7 to 9 – Firm

If you’re buying in-store you can easily test it, but if online – you need something to go on. Here are some typical recommendations.

Firmness depends on your body weight and sleeping position