3 Good Reasons to Buy Your Next Mattress at Costco

Most of us will spend at least one-third of our lives laying down on a mattress in bed. That's why buying a cheap mattress just to save a buck often doesn't bode well for most people, as what you save in upfront costs, you may eventually pay for in poor sleep, physical discomfort, and visits to a chiropractor.

In this sense, Costco mattresses present an interesting middle ground between low price and high quality. The warehouse retailer sells a variety of foam mattresses from big name brands such as Sealy, Tempur-Pedic, and Novaform, for prices that will make you look twice. Often the prices are so low you might get suspicious -- are Costco mattresses really worth it, you might think, or are they a bad night's sleep waiting to happen?

In general, yes, Costco mattresses are a hidden gem at the warehouse. Let's take a look at why buying a mattress at Costco could help your personal finances -- and your sleep.

1. Excellent quality

Costco mattresses frequently rank high for quality and price on numerous third-party sites, like Wirecutter. In fact, Wirecutter recently named Costco's flagship mattress, Novafoam, as its top pick for mattresses under $1,000 after testing roughly 100 mattresses from different brands.

Personally, I haven't tested a Costco mattress, but I also haven't found any recurring themes or complaints on Costco's website. Instead, many one-star reviews on Costco.com express subjective opinions, like different expectations of comfort, but very few say the quality is low or the materials are weak. The majority of reviews are overwhelmingly positive, both on Costco.com and other sites like Reddit.

2. Competitive prices

No surprise here -- it's hard to beat Costco's prices on foam and memory foam mattresses. Just for comparison, here's how Costco's most popular memory foam mattress, the Novaform ComfortGrande, stacks up against popular brands for a queen-sized mattress.

In addition to low prices, Costco will often run promotions that will discount its mattresses even further. For instance, for its Labor Day sale, Costco gave buyers a $200 to $300 Shop Card if they purchased certain Tempur-Pedic mattresses in store or online. Some of its NovaForm mattresses also qualify for Costco Direct discounts, meaning you could save money by buying two or more mattresses at the same time online.

3. Generous return policy

Mattresses fall under Costco's 100% satisfaction guaranteed return policy. That means, you can return your mattress to Costco at any time for a full refund, regardless of your reasons. Some users on Reddit claimed they've returned mattresses after several years of use.

This gives you some much-needed time to test out the mattress before committing for the long term -- something that could give you peace of mind as you buy one. Just make sure not to abuse Costco's generous return policy, since it may ban members that do.

Wait for the best deals to buy a Costco mattress

Costco frequently sells mattresses at a discount, especially around holidays like Labor Day and Black Friday. You can often get $150 to $300 off a mattress, sometimes as a discount off the sticker price, other times as a Costco Shop Card.

All in all, Costco mattresses are a great value, combining quality and low prices. You could save even more by buying your mattress with a Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi, which will earn 2% back on mattress purchases. Pair it with a Costco Executive membership and you can earn 4% back on your mattress purchases -- one of the highest cash back values for mattress purchases I've seen.