What's the Best USED / PREOWNED Mattress?

If you have experienced sticker shock when shopping for a new mattress, it is understandable. New mattresses today are not cheap, but you don't necessary have to break the bank to get a good one.

But what if your budget is very limited to, say, $500 or less? If this is the case, consider buying a used or pre-owned mattress. Generally speaking, the best used mattresses are the ones that make the best new mattresses.

This means you might want to avoid getting a used innerspring bed. In addition to having less satisfaction among owners compared to other types of beds in regard to comfort and longevity, innerspring mattress will typically fill up with dust mites after a few years, not to mention the sleeper's dead shedded skin cells which is what the mites feed on along with the mattress itself.

Memory foam and latex foam mattresses do better than innerspring beds in terms of comfort and durability, according to our research. However, dust mites usually populate these beds too after some time. Even though the mites don't feed on the foam, they can still live in the bed to feed on dead skins cells that have settled into the foam.

This leaves us with conventional bed-style airbeds, such as the Sleep Number Bed, and waterbeds. These types generally make for the best used mattresses. Owners find them to be comfortable and durable. It's not uncommon to find a Sleep Number Bed owner who has had their bed for 12 years or more. Waterbeds are also known for lasting many years, even decades, assuming they are given good care. And since these types of beds are largely filled with air or water, they can't really wear out or sag -- hence their good longevity.

Dust mites are not a big problem with these beds since the mites cannot penetrate the mattress surface, nor can the sleeper's shedded skin cells. However, air beds do tend to have foam on some parts of the bed, and consequently the mites can live in there, but almost certainly not in big populations. In addition, unlike other mattresses, airbeds and waterbeds can be cleaned thoroughly.

In other words, a used airbed or waterbed will almost certainly be in better shape and at least seem newer than a used mattress of a different type. Ebay would probably be a good place to start shopping. Just type in "Sleep Number Beds," for example, and there are several used ones available at least as of this post.