Financing a Mattress

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A high-quality mattress is going to cost a lot of money. Unfortunately, not everyone has a large sum of cash to drop on a mattress purchase. Thankfully, there is an option out there for people who are on a tight budget: financing.

Financing can be broken down as “buy now, pay later.” By financing a mattress, you can pay for your new sleep option in installments rather than all at once. This means you can take home your mattress and start getting a great night’s sleep right away instead of having to wait until you can pool together enough money. However, before you decide to finance a mattress, you need to understand what exactly the process entails, and whether it’s right for you.

What Does It Mean to Finance a Mattress?

Financing a mattress is similar to opening a credit card, getting a mortgage for a home, or taking out car payments. With financing, you spread out the cost of the mattress in multiple payments over a number of months. Once the mattress is paid in full, it’s completely yours. 

Financing may sound like a complex process, but it’s actually very simple, and almost anyone is capable of doing it. Read on to learn more about the financing process.

How Does Mattress Financing Work

Different mattress retailers will have their own set of financing terms and conditions, which should be discussed with the salesperson. Regardless, all mattress financing follows a somewhat similar template when you go to checkout.

First, you’ll go through a credit check, which can often be completed in real-time. Depending on your credit history, your credit score can be poor, fair, good, or excellent. The better your credit, the lower your interest rate can be. 

Your interest rate could be as low as 0% if your credit is truly amazing, which means you only have to pay back the retail price of the mattress. On the flip side, if you have lower credit or no credit, you could be paying interest as high as 10 or 20%, meaning that you’ll be responsible for additional fees.

After the credit approval, you’ll look at the payment plans. Mattress payment options are typically on a monthly basis after making a down payment. A mattress retailer will either have you pay off the entire mattress within a set time period (for example, 24 months), or they may just have you keep paying over a number of months until the mattress is paid off fully. You should be wary about this latter option as it could result in you paying extra in interest fees. 

Don’t forget to ask the lenders if there are flexible payment options available, as well as if there is a minimum interest charge or minimum monthly payments.

Pros and Cons of Mattress Financing

Pros

Why would anyone want to finance a mattress? Depending on your financial situation, this option could be a huge benefit for you. Here are just a couple of pros with mattress financing.

  • You can build your credit. Whenever you take out a loan or open a line of credit, you are impacting your credit. Financing a mattress and paying it off on time (or even earlier) can significantly boost your credit. You just need to make sure that you aren’t missing any monthly payments (more on that later).
  • You don’t need to dip into savings. It’s important to have a decent savings account in the bank in case of emergencies. You don’t want to have to dip into this savings for a mattress purchase. With financing, you can instead use your regular spending money and leave your safety net intact.

Cons

Although there are many pros to mattress financing, there are also several negative aspects as well. Before you finance a new mattress, consider the following.

  • Returns can be tricky. Many mattresses come with a sleep trial period, where you can test them out for a certain period of time and return them hassle-free for a full refund. However, financing a mattress can throw a wrench in the works and make returning much more difficult. In addition to this, if you decide to return a financed mattress, you may still be held responsible for paying the accrued interest.
  • It can end up being more expensive. Financing a mattress is meant to make the process easier for people on a budget, but if you’re not careful, it can end up costing you more than the initial purchase amount. Financing can come with interest payments, late payment fees, and additional hidden fees. Always make sure you fully understand the financing schedule and procedure before you agree to finance your new sleep option.
  • You can harm your credit. Similar to with a mortgage or a car payment, there are penalties that come with late payments on your financed mattress. One of those penalties is a negative mark on your credit, which can affect your ability to finance other major purchases in the future.

Conclusion

A mattress is a fairly large purchase, but many people are able to buy theirs immediately without a payment plan. If you decide that you need a more costly mattress that is out of your current budget, then financing options could potentially help you out. The most important thing is for you to carefully analyze the terms of the financing offers so that you are getting the best mattress for the best price.