You can order a pizza from the Internet, buy an underground bunker on eBay, and, with just a few clicks, enormous wheels of cheese exported from lavish European countries can be sent straight to your doorstep. So why not mattresses?
Over the last few years, you may have noticed a boom in advertisements for what has come to be known as a “bed in a box.” It’s normal to be curious about the practical idea behind a bed in a box. If mattresses are built strong, guaranteed to last, and designed to be supportive enough to hold hundreds of pounds night after night, how can they work when they’re compressed into an itty bitty box and shipped through the mail? Especially for us full-figured folks!
A bed in a box shipped to your door is the way of the future, and we’re here today to prove it. If you’re wondering if ordering a mattress in a box is your best decision, read on.
What is a Bed in a Box vs Mattress in a Box?
A bed in a box (aka mattress in a box) is a mattress that’s compressed, plastic-wrapped, rolled up and shipped to your address in a sturdy cardboard box. It is usually ordered online and paid for by credit card. Once it gets to your doorstep, you just open the box, let the mattress decompress and enjoy a good night’s sleep.
Comparing Bed in a Box vs Traditional Mattress
As you may have guessed, when shopping for beds in a box, you don’t have to take the time to go to a mattress store, hear the features and benefits of 15 different types of mattresses from an eager salesperson, lay on the bed for 10 minutes and make an expensive decision on the spot — and figure out transportation, delivery cost, and logistics on top of it all!
Shipping
The box is labeled, shipped, and sent to your door for you to unload and remove the mattress so it can decompress.
Decompression
Different companies use different methods of compressing mattresses depending on their size, material, and design. Mattresses are usually created in factories with access to industrial equipment, so the process involves one or more pieces of heavy machinery. A large hydraulic press usually compresses the mattress to 50% or less of its usual height. From there, another machine rolls the mattress into a tight cylinder and folds it into a tiny shape small enough to fit into a cardboard box.
Quality
The bed-in-a-box concept has grown spectacularly since its invention in 2007. Over the past five years, the bed-in-a-box category has doubled its market share in the mattress industry, making up 12% of total mattress sales in 2019. This is a clear sign that high-quality mattresses can (and should!) be delivered to your home this way.
Comfort
You may have also noticed a boom in companies offering different types of mattresses that can be sent straight to your door. This increase is good news for consumers because a healthy market means competitive pricing, great deals, and excellent customer service! The downside is that most, if not all, mattresses are NOT designed for the bigger-figure customer — that’s where Big Fig comes to the rescue!
Why Should I Buy a Mattress in a Box?
There are several benefits to ordering your new mattress online rather than going into a store. Here are just a few reasons why buying a bed in a box makes perfect sense.
1. Cost savings
Here’s where the bed in a box really shines. With online mattress shopping, prices are competitive , and comparing brands, types, and models is much easier. The market faces healthy competition, leading to year-round deals and consumer discounts .
Prices are also generally lower for an online mattress. With an online storefront, mattress brands are cutting out the overhead that comes with owning or renting enough space for a mattress showroom, paying salespeople, and paying overhead costs like utilities, cleaning staff, etc. The mattresses are also compressed into tiny boxes, so the manufacturer is not required to pay for expensive storage, shipping costs, or delivery staff.
2. Shop at home
If you’ve ever had to mattress shop in person, you know the pain of deciding which store to visit, driving there, and awkwardly lying on a bed. At the same time, a salesperson watches, and the pressure of being asked to immediately give your thoughts on committing to an expensive mattress after just a few seconds of laying on it. Buying a bed in a box saves you the hassle of going to an actual store.And being a larger person, these salespeople will typically try and sell you an even more expensive mattress that is NOT designed for your body type, believing that price can compensate for construction - it simply doesn't work that way.
Especially in today’s business environment, shopping online has become the default for many late adopters of technology. Shopping online lets you stay home without having to lay on the same mattress in a showroom many consumers have passed through and laid on before. Researching online is also simple and easy — as the growth in the market has created a bunch of information to help you shop.
3. Convenient delivery
Have you ever avoided a car driving along with a mattress on its roof, flapping in the wind and seemingly in danger of flying off and hitting your windshield at any second? Or worse, have you ever been that person driving down the highway with a California king-sized mattress strapped to your roof by what feels like a thread?
A bed in a box is delivered straight to you, often with free shipping. The cost of delivery and warehousing for a traditional mattress doesn’t just cost more; it’s simply inconvenient. Unless you pay extra, you’re usually stuck figuring out how to move a full-size mattress down narrow hallways, upstairs, and into its resting place in your bedroom. A bed in a box is much smaller and easier to manage as they are compressed and rolled up to make shipping just that much easier. Just be sure to have a friend to help carry any heavy boxes.
4. Same (if not better!) mattress quality
Just because a mattress is compressed and shipped doesn’t mean the manufacturer has thrown quality out the window. In fact, Consumer Reports has found through independent testing that “beds-in-a-box get good marks for durability, stability and firmness.”
Bed-in-a-box companies also tend to offer just one or only a few different mattress models. This lack of choice may not seem beneficial, but it is not necessarily bad. Instead, companies specialize in making mattresses specifically for a specific type of sleeper. They can drill down into the exact design and manufacturing specifications that may make the mattress right for you. The more focused they remain on a few designs rather than schilling dozens, the better the quality will be.
5. 120-night risk-free trials
We haven’t yet addressed the obvious: With a bed in a box, you don’t usually get to try it before you buy. After years of traditional mattress shopping, which revolves around the idea of trying a mattress before you buy it, many consumers are wary of investing in a potentially expensive sleep surface without a trial run first .
To combat this, most bed-in-a-box companies offer sleep trials that can last from dozens to hundreds of nights, allowing you to sleep on the bed for an extended period before committing to the final purchase. You can return the mattress at any point in this trial without penalty from Big Fig, but be careful as some companies have a minimum night's sleep, and others charge you for the return. Sleep Trials give you plenty of time to decide if the mattress feels good without worrying about permanently investing in something you don’t love.
Instagram: @mz_kristen_
How to Setup a Mattress in a Box
Once your new mattress arrives fresh off the delivery truck, it’s time to set it up . For someone who’s never purchased a compressed mattress, this can be daunting, and you may want to order a white glove delivery option (which is available with Big Fig!), where the delivery service will bring the mattress to your room, set it up, and remove your old mattress.
But if you prefer to do it yourself, like so many before you, we’ve broken the usual process down into four steps, from box to bed frame.
- Grab a friend! Some people can set up independently, but mattresses can be heavy (50 to 150 lbs. heavy!), and you can always use the help if needed. Plus, everything, including setting up a mattress, is more fun with a friend.
- If you bought a bed frame or foundation , put that together first. If you already have your frame and foundation on hand, determine where it will go and move it there in your space.
- Open the box and remove the plastic-wrapped mattress. Move it onto the foundation and cut off the first layer of plastic, careful not to slice the mattress. Unroll the mattress into a full-sized rectangle and position it on the bed foundation.
- Cut the rest of the plastic off the mattress (Very Carefully!) and wait an hour, if not longer, for the mattress to fully decompress. It may look fully inflated after a few minutes, but waiting a bit longer can get things up to snuff. In the meantime, clean up the packaging, and you’re done!While you wait for your mattress to decompress, you can watch an episode or two of your favorite show on Netflix, crack a bottle of champagne and toast to your new mattress, play with your dog, or watch the clock while you describe in full to your friend all the great nights of sleep you’re about to enjoy. (If you’re quick, you can do all four.)
What is the Best Mattress in a Box?
What is the best bed in a box? The Big Fig Mattress is the first bed in a box and the first mattress designed specifically for heavier sleepers. Our mattress addresses the unique needs faced by big and tall sleepers and provides solutions for each one.
There’s a prevalent myth around the internet that all beds in a box are made of memory foam, but the Big Fig is anything but. We make a hybrid innerspring mattress featuring high-density layers of foam, high-quality edge support, individually wrapped coils, and layers of THERMOGEL COOLING ® technology. We’re not big fans of memory foam, seeing as our customer base tends to sleep “in” memory foam mattresses rather than “on” the surface, and memory foam creates those annoying little divots and sags we can’t stand.
Instead, we compress our hybrid innerspring mattress into a box shipped to you from our factory in Cleveland, Ohio. We can also ship bed frames and mattress foundations that are easy to put together if you need those, too. We offer white glove delivery options and easy setup tutorials.
The Big Fig is the ultimate mix of comfort and support for plus-sized sleepers. Even better, it can be on your doorstep, ready to unpack in a matter of days. If you’re looking for the best bed in a box that caters to your specific needs and body type and has been known to provide life-changing sleep, look no further.
