With mattresses it's really worth splurging if (1) you can afford it and (2) you actually like whatever you're splurging on. But it's hard to figure out the latter without physically trying the mattress ahead of time... I had to go be Goldilocks at a local mattress store for forty minutes before I found my match.
I don't see how 40 min could be enough. I find with the wrong mattress my back starts to get sore after days or weeks, and I've bought "100 night guarantee" mattresses that started to sag at about the 101st night. It's very hard, at least for me, to make any kind of quick assessment. I'd happily pay a lot but I have no idea what to buy and no confidence that what I do buy will actually last.
Agreed. We tried a name brand foam mattress and it was awful. Tried an Ikea foam that had good reviews and it was awful. Third times a charm - went back to "springs and stuff" and it's a much better mattress. It was $5000 or more (don't recall), but it's been good for 5 years so far with no signs of sagging or wearing out.
Worth noting, prior to my 40s, I really didn't care. Now that I'm deep into my 40s, every second of quality sleep counts and bad sleep means achey neck and back and stuff.
Latex is I guess fine. I have no complaints from sleeping on it. But it is a bear to move. If you don't have a couple of stevedores in your household, good luck.
I think we spent a couple of hours at the local mattress store. I certainly don't think being Goldilocks for 40 minutes is being as difficult a consumer as you seem to think the store might have perceived it as. If anything, local stores are probably happy to have customers who clearly appreciate being able to try before you buy, rather than just a one-click "oh, I can return it anyway" mattress buyer.
Thankfully our favorite mattress was the cheapest one in the store (~$700 for a cal king)
