What's a fair asking price for my Tempurpedic mattress?

September 12, 2010 6:17 PM

I have a 4 year old, full sized, 'OriginalBed' Tempurpedic mattress which I originally purchased for about $1200, and now sells for $1000. What is a fair price to ask for it now? It's clean and undamaged, and someone is interested in buying it, but I don't know how much to ask for.
posted by BuddhaInABucket to Shopping (6 answers total)

I'd start at half of the going rate for new, and adjust down according to buyer response.
posted by lemniskate at 7:42 PM on September 12, 2010

If you ask the buyer to name a price first, you'll have some idea of where to start negotiations. This is going to vary wildly by circumstance, so that will tell you what kind of circumstances you're in.
posted by decathecting at 7:44 PM on September 12, 2010

$200 - Half price is way too much. I'd expect half price if it were less than a year old but not after you'd slept on it for 4 years.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 7:51 PM on September 12, 2010

In some US states it's illegal to sell used mattresses. In others you have to have them professionally fumigated. Probably not worth it unless you can sell under the table to a friend.
posted by miyabo at 8:10 PM on September 12, 2010

Best answer: I always check to see what a similar item has sold for on ebay (check completed items), and then discount it another 20% to sell to a friend (because you aren't paying the ebay fees, aren't dealing with risks of someone ripping you off, it's your friend, etc)

A NEW full tempurpedic mattress recently sold for $680 on ebay. I couldn't find any used mattresses that had sold, not even for much less.

I'd half that and take another 20% off - so 340 - 70 = $270.
posted by visual mechanic at 1:07 AM on September 13, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks for the advice- the mattress is worth more than that to me so I'm gonna take it with me when I move despite the hassle!
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 6:50 PM on September 13, 2010