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What’s the Difference Between “Used” and “Refurbished” Mattresses?

By Jeff Frank

Question

I am thinking of buying a queen Tempur-luxebreeze from Mattress Firm. Are these new, used or refurbished? New is easily understood, but used and refurbished I don’t understand the difference. Can you help? This is a lot of money and would hate to be taken for a ride. 

Answer

Here is a link to a an FTC article about used and refurbished mattresses.

For questions about mattresses in general, check out Tuck.com. They have information, reviews and comparisons of over 100 mattress brands.

Refurbished mattresses cannot be sold in some states. Where allowed, they need to be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before being repackaged.

I strongly advise against buying “used” mattresses from yard sales or other non-regulated source.

“Used” mattresses sold on regulated websites or stores are in a different category. These are often unused mattresses that were returned in their original packaging or arrived in the warehouse with damaged boxes or packaging.

There really is no reason to buy a used or refurbished mattress. If budget is an issue, Amazon Basics (and other online mattress companies) offer acceptable quality mattresses for under $400 (queen-size).

There are many excellent mattress brands available (for new queen-size mattresses) if you can afford to spend $1000 or more.

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2 thoughts on “What’s the Difference Between “Used” and “Refurbished” Mattresses?”

    • Thank you for your comment.
      If you search on Amazon for “refurbished mattresses” everything that comes up is New.

      There are mattresses listed as “Used.” But if you go into the details, it appears that all of them are sold through a company named “Amazing Bargains” and include the following description:

      “Amazing Bargains USA is a reseller of overstock, box damaged and returned products. We source these products from major ecommerce companies and big box retailers. We grade each product, provide a condition disclosure and price the product accordingly.”

      According to this description, these mattresses were never actually “used” or “refurbished”, but could not be sold as “New.” Also, the price difference between new and used is not very large.

      Ebay is different. Many of the items they sell, including mattresses, may be “used” or “refurbished.” Ebay’s disclaimer for refurbished items is:

      “Seller refurbished: The item has been restored to working order by the eBay seller or a third party. This means the item was inspected, cleaned, and repaired to full working order and is in excellent condition. This item may or may not be in original packaging. See seller’s listing for full details.”

      Ebay does not accept responsibility for any problems arising from the sale of used or refurbished items by 3rd party sellers. Their disclaimer states:

      “Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.”

      Reply

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