When Is the Best Time to Buy a Mattress in 2023?
Holiday sales aren't the whole story. Read these insider tips to find the best deals year-round.
May 4th, 2023 •
If you’re in the market for a new mattress, you might not have the luxury of planning your purchase around the sales calendar. Maybe you’re moving into your first apartment and need a bed fast. Maybe your aching back can’t take one more night on your old, sprung-out bed. In these and other cases, the best time to buy a mattress is now.
But for many of us, mattress buying isn’t as urgent of a transaction. The Better Sleep Council recommends replacing your mattress every seven years, which should give you sufficient time to plan ahead so you can save money.
But buying a new mattress is a big investment, and in some cases, it pays to hold off your mattress purchase until the prices are discounted. Luckily, those times come at fairly predictable and frequent times throughout the year for many online mattress brands and retail stores.
How to Make a Date with a Mattress Deal
If you have some time to plan how you’ll find the best deal on a mattress, we can give you the inside scoop on the best times of the year to shop. We’ll break it down by holiday sales, the best months, unexpected windows of opportunity to save money, and brands that consistently offer outstanding deals.
With the right information and a little planning, you could save big on one of the best mattresses the market has to offer.
Holiday Mattress Sales
Thanksgiving has long been the kick-off to the Christmas shopping season with Black Friday ranking as one of the top ten busiest shopping days of the year. Mattress retailers offer deep discounts to try to cash in on the huge numbers of shoppers who turn out, in person and online, for Black Friday mattress sales that last through Cyber Monday.
So even though you might be focused on getting a head start on your Christmas shopping, you’ll want to take advantage of the big markdowns on mattress prices around the Thanksgiving holiday.
Just like most other retailers, brick and mortar mattress stores also schedule their sales around national holidays:
You can usually find mattress prices slashed during the days leading up to these holidays, and many companies extend their holidays sales beyond the actual date.
Best Months to Buy a Mattress
The holiday sale schedule means February, May and September are good times to find mattresses on sale before, during, and after the dates in question. But there are other reasons why these months are the best months to buy mattresses.
February
What makes February a good time to buy a mattress? Presidents Day is one reason. This mid-winter holiday weekend gives many shoppers an extra day to hit the mall. They’ve also had over a month to recover from the sticker shock of Christmas shopping, and the dreary days of winter in many parts of the country leave cabin-feverish consumers looking for excuses to get out of the house.
Mattress retailers compete for these weather-weary shoppers’ attention with discounted prices on much of their inventory.
May
Spring has sprung—and maybe the coils in your old mattress have, too. Waiting until the Memorial Day sales to replace your old mattress could save you hundreds of dollars because the new mattress models show up in June through September. May is the last chance to clear out showrooms and make room for the newly released mattresses.
July
Different mattress companies and retailers roll out July Fourth sales, but only Amazon has Prime Day. It’s an annual 48-hour sale exclusively for Amazon Prime members, with discounts on a wide variety of products including mattresses. Prime Day usually takes place in July, but pandemic-related shipping delays forced Amazon to change the dates to October in 2020 and June in 2021. Amazon has announced that Prime Day 2023 will be July 12-13.
September
September is a good time to buy a mattress at a discounted price. Why? Labor Day often means mattress sales because of the three-day weekend tradition, but September 30 also marks the end of the fiscal year in most cases. That’s when retailers and other businesses take an accounting of their profits and losses. And that means taking stock of inventory, a search that invariably turns up mattresses that are discontinued, brands that are lesser known, and floor models. To get rid of these oddballs fast, stores often sell them at clearance prices in late September.
Surprise Sales
Grand opening sales, liquidation sales, and moving sales are additional opportunities to snag good deals on mattresses—sometimes better deals than those offered during scheduled sales events.
These types of sales can pop up at any time, so as soon as you begin thinking about replacing an old mattress, start doing your research on the brand, size, material type and firmness level you might want. Then keep your eyes peeled for ads announcing these store openings, closing and relocations.
How Much Can You Expect to Save?
Brick and mortar stores can often lower their prices at least 60% during their sales because of their huge markups. If you’ve seen a sale price for a mattress you want, insist on the sale price whether the sale is running or not.
Salespeople expect you to haggle, so come prepared with comparison prices you found online or with your rock bottom offer on the mattress you want.
As for mattresses sold online, it’s not uncommon to see discounts ranging from 10% to 40% and bundle deals that let you save when you combine mattresses and accessories into a single purchase.
Which Online Retailers Run Mattress Sales?
It’s very common to see discounts or freebies among popular online mattress brands. Some brands that are known for running great sales often include:
Saatva and its subsidiaries Loom & Leaf and Zenhaven do not traditionally discount their mattress prices. Purple does not run regular sales but sometimes offers discounts on bundled items, such as a mattress and foundation combo. Tuft & Needle has begun running seasonal sales for mattresses and accessories.
Most online mattress companies have a live chat feature on their site that allows you to get answers to your questions in real time, including information about upcoming sales. Live chats also provide you with an opportunity to try to negotiate a lower price even when no sale is running.
When the Best Price is Not During a Sale
Online mattress companies generally don’t approach sales as make-or-break business opportunities. The many perks of online commerce—shopping in your sweatpants, delivery to your door or bedroom (if white glove delivery is offered), and generally lower prices—have disrupted the traditional way we buy mattresses.
Eliminating the middleman and lower overhead costs allows online mattress companies to offer year-round bargains and a no-haggle approach to selling mattresses. So really, a good time to buy a mattress from online companies is anytime you need a new mattress. The prices will almost always be lower than physical retailers.
That being said, most online mattress outlets have begun to offer sales throughout the year for extra savings. Like the brick and mortar stores, many online stores time their sales around national holidays and Black Friday to take advantage of the times people are primed for shopping.
You can save as much as 40% on some mattresses if you’re willing to wait for a sale online. But since most online outlets offer seasonal sales there’s a good chance you can find a sale at least once every three months.
It’s also easy to stay on top of upcoming sales and promotions. All cyber stores that run periodic sales encourage you to sign up for email notifications of upcoming discounts and promotional sales. By simply sharing your email address, you’ll know exactly when is the best time to buy your favorite mattress.
Recap: Any Season Could be Your Time to Save
With the number of sales offered throughout the year both online and in physical stores, you have a pretty good shot at finding the mattress you want at a reasonable price.
So, do your research ahead of time, find a mattress you like, and be prepared to pull the trigger when you see prices dropping. You’ll sleep even better on your new mattress when you know you saved big. In the meantime, check out some of our top-rated affordable mattresses:
