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Trial periods are one of the best perks of buying a mattress online. They make perfect sense – you need to sleep on a new bed for a while before you really know whether or not the mattress is right for you. After the break-in period, you need a couple more weeks of continuous use. So in total, you’ll spend around two months of testing; and online mattress companies know this. That’s why they typically give customers a free trial period which is anywhere from 90 days to over a year.
How Do Mattress Trials Work?
A mattress trial period is the period of time (typically several months) when you get to try out a new mattress after buying it. Mattress trials became the norm with the rise of online bed-in-a-box companies. Since they offer large and expensive products online, and since a mattress is a thing you really have to touch and sleep on before knowing if you actually want it, online mattress retailers have had to come up with something.
Their solution? You pay for a mattress, they bring it to your doorstep, and you get several months to try it out. If you don’t like it, they’ll take it away and give you the money back. You may also be able to exchange that model for another one.
One thing we have to mention – you do have to open and use the mattress in order for the mattress trial period to be valid. Many companies have a minimum trial period you have to use the mattress in order to be able to request a refund. Also, most bed-in-a-box companies strongly recommend that you unbox the mattress within a week or a month of its arrival.
Mattress Trial Periods up Close – Specifics You Should Know
We recommend paying attention to four key details in a trial policy:
- Length of the trial period
- Mattress break-in period
- Return process
- Refund
How Long are Free Mattress Trial Periods?
The average sleep trial is between three months and a year.
The shortest trial period you’ll find is 30 days, and the longest one is 18 months. Unless you’re on a strict budget, we recommend taking a mattress that has at least 90 days trial because you definitely want that time period to make sure the mattress is for you.
Every mattress brand has a different policy and the trial length is normally posted on the product page for everyone to see easily.
The trial period may start on the day of the mattress arrival or even 30 days after purchase – this depends on the mattress company, so be sure to look closely at when exactly your trial starts.
Mattress Break-In Period
There are two main reasons why your brand new mattress doesn’t feel comfortable:
- you’re too used to sleeping on the old one, and
- your mattress hasn’t broken in yet.
Some buyers will get a new mattress, sleep on it for a few days, and insist on returning it. Most companies are familiar with this and they know they must condition people to use the mattress longer in order for it to become fully comfortable.
That’s why many mattress companies require customers to use the mattress for two weeks up to a month before being able to request a return.
A break-in period is a time during which your mattress is still very new and not yet conformed to your body. During this period it may feel too firm and you may feel slightly sore when you wake up. After you break in the mattress, after about a month of use (sometimes even longer), it’ll be more comfortable.
Return Process
Just before the return, go to the mattress brand website. Most companies have their return policies clearly explained and they also post frequently asked questions with answers. There you’ll learn the exact details of how to initiate the return.
Normally, you start the return process by calling customer service or by filling out a form on the website (if they have that option).
Some brands will pick up the mattress from your home while others have special services which do it for them. The manufacturer may take the mattress back, or it may donate or recycle it.
Refund
The amount of money you may get refunded depends on the policy. You may get a full refund, or you may have to pay for shipping. Some policies include additional handling or restocking fees.
If you paid for the old mattress removal, you won’t be refunded for that.
Bear in mind that refunds and returns may work differently when you buy a mattress from Amazon or another third-party rather than from the manufacturer directly.
Mattress Trial Periods by Brand
Super long- 18 months: Idle Mattress
Idle is the absolute winner in mattress trial length. All of their mattresses have the same 548-night trial and a lifetime warranty that covers body impressions (other manufacturers consider this normal wear and won’t cover it). Another win with Idle is that all three of their hybrid models are two-sided, which means you can flip them and sleep on a firmer/softer side. The memory foam ones aren’t like that, but we love having a choice.
Long – 12 months: Awara, Brentwood Home, Avocado, DreamCloud, Nectar
The 365-night trial is what some of the best companies in the industry offer.
Awara, Brentwood Home, and Avocado are all-natural, organic mattresses that ended up on our best organic mattresses list. Awara comes with a lifetime warranty while Brentwood and Avocado have 25-year warranties.
DramCloud has some excellent lifetime-warranty-covered medium-firm mattresses. Their year-long trial begins 30 days after your purchase date.
We do have to warn you about Nectar mattresses. It’s not so much about the mattress quality as it is about how the company handles its products and how it solves (or doesn’t solve) customer problems. They’ve got a lot of grief from dissatisfied customers in the past year or more. The fact that right now they offer two pillows, bedsheets, and a mattress protector for free with a mattress purchase tells us they may be just getting rid of their products – a sign they’re not doing so well.
Longish – 120-180 nights: Nolah (120), Layla (120), Wink Beds (120), Brooklyn Bedding (120), Comfy (150), Saatva (180)
The 180-night trial should be more than enough to know whether or not you want a Saatva mattress. You’ll find famous models such as Loom and Leaf, Zenhaven, etc. among Saatva products.
In this group, Comfy is the only one with a trial period of 150 trial nights. Comfy mattresses don’t offer too much edge support, but they sure are a good choice if you’re into softer, memory foam mattress types.
Nolah and Layla make foam mattresses, but each of them has a unique approach. Nolah has developed a special type of foam that offers great pressure relief and Layla is one of the rare companies to offer a flippable memory foam mattress with two firmness options. Wink Beds and Brooklyn Bedding are also worth checking out.
Common – 90-101 nights: Puffy, GhostBed, Purple, Eight Sleep, Bear, Tuft and Needle, Casper, Nest, Natural Form, Amerisleep, Noa, Mainstays
The majority of mattress manufacturers offer around three months of sleep trial. This is quite reasonable and should be enough for anyone to be sure if the mattress is right, regardless of whether they bought a memory foam, latex mattress, hybrid mattress, or any other type. Some of our favorites in this group are Casper, Puffy, Purple, and Amerisleep. Read our guide that lists the best mattresses with free trials for more information.
How Do You Know If a Mattress Is Good? Here’s What to Focus on During Trial
During the course of your sleep trial, pay special attention to how your mattress behaves and how you feel about it.
- Sleep quality. How well do you sleep on your mattress? This should be your priority. If you wake up energetic and happy, you may have found your perfect mattress. If you’re not that lucky, your sleep quality may actually get worse in the first period, but you should definitely wait for a while and see if the situation improves during the break-in period.
- Comfort. How comfortable is it? Does it allow you to sleep in your favorite sleeping position without sore and painful spots? If you have back pain, does it alleviate or aggravate your pain?
- Firmness. If your new mattress feels a bit on the soft side, bear in mind that it’ll get even softer after a while, especially if you’re a big person. Make sure it’s not too soft, and if it’s too firm – wait until the end of the trial period, and if it doesn’t turn into a comfortable mattress by then, return it.
- Heat. Some mattresses (especially soft memory foam mattresses) trap heat and make your sleep too hot and thus unpleasant. Many people wake up when the heat retention is too high. Pay attention to how much heat your mattress traps and how much it allows you to sleep cool.
- Motion isolation. This is especially important for couples – the ideal mattress allows you to get in bed and turn over without disturbing your partner.
Other factors may include edge support and how easy it is to move around. These two may not be important for the majority of young people, but the elder crowd will benefit from good edge support when getting in and out of the bed. Also, it may be difficult to turn over and switch between sleeping positions when they sink into a mattress.
Mattress Trials FAQ
Do You Have to Pay Anything at The End of the Mattress Trial?
If you keep the mattress, definitely not because you’ve already paid for it. If you decide to return the mattress, you may have to pay for the shipping or handling. That is, they may not give you a full refund.
You have to look at the website or call customer service to get this information regarding the policy of your brand. Mattress brands that do offer a full refund typically mention it all over their website – but be wise and read the fine print, as well.
Can I Get a Sleep Trial When I Buy a Mattress from a Mattress Store?
Unfortunately, brick-and-mortar mattress stores do not offer sleep trials (at least not such long ones) as the online stores. The physical stores rely on the fact that you can go into a store and lie on a mattress for a while.
You can test the firmness, motion isolation, comfort, and decide if you want it or not. Since there are many beds lying around, you can hop on and off until you find your next new mattress – and that’s your free mattress trial right there.
What’s The Difference Between a Basic Return Policy and a Mattress Trial?
The return policies you normally get allow you to return unused and/or unopened items. With mattress trials, you use the mattress extensively and then you get to return it for a refund in case it doesn’t work out for you. On top of that, mattress trial periods last for three or four months while return policies are normally around 30 days.
When it comes to trials, not all companies give it the same name. Instead of a mattress trial period, you may find words like a free trial, a sleep trial, a mattress trial, or an at-home trial. Either way, they all offer the same type of service.
Where Do the Returned Mattresses Go?
Unwanted mattresses typically end up in charities, homeless shelters, or get recycled. If they are recycled, they get disassembled and the materials can be used in a variety of ways.
For example, recycled hybrid mattresses and innerspring mattresses can be recycled so that the fabric becomes a part of the industrial oil filters. Foam comfort layers can be turned into carpets, and steel springs can be recycled with other metals.
There is some risk of receiving a mattress that’s been used, but this doesn’t happen with reputable, high-quality brands.
Should You Buy a Mattress Online?
Online purchased mattresses typically come with a long mattress trial period, so that’s a big plus, even though you don’t get to try it out before paying for it.
If you have a suspicious mind, you might want to steer towards in-store shopping. It’s better for some people to know exactly what they’re buying than to get stressed out from the very start, let alone if the mattress has to be returned.
Others will enjoy the hassle-free experience of having it delivered to their door.
Another positive side is the fact that bed-in-a-box companies are able to offer lower prices because they don’t have to invest in brick-and-mortar stores or pay the salaries of salespeople.
Should you choose a reputable company that has lots of positive reviews about their product and customer service, there’s really no reason not to buy a cheaper mattress online.
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