I'm a Sleep Editor and sales hunter – these are the best mattress sales happening in October

Not every mattress is always on sale, but I take your point: it would seem that you can always get a good deal on a mattress. Be warned that not every mattress sale is real: a few of the biggest names in bedding list never-changing 'sales prices' throughout the year in a practice known as price anchoring.

If you're keen to spot a good deal from a real fake, it might be worth downloading a reputable price tracker, such as CamelCamelCamel, which works on Amazon.

November is the best time to buy a mattress because of Black Friday. That's when you'll see the greatest breadth of deals and depth of discounts. Since a lot of brands open up Early Access sales at the start of November and extend them into the first week of December, you've got plenty of time to shop.

With that said, there are so many mattress sales throughout the year that it's almost always a good time to buy a mattress. Memorial Day in May is known for offering particularly deep discounts, while Amazon Prime Days in July and October are the best time to buy from Amazon storefronts, including Nectar, DreamCloud, and Zinus.

Now that Labor Day sales have ended, there are now plenty of fall mattress sales in full swing, but the next big sale event where you can expect to see lots of mattress discounts will be during the Black Friday mattress sales (it will be here before we know it!)

However, I would advise, if you're looking to purchase a new mattress imminently, don't wait around, make the most of the deals now.

As the resident Sleep Editor at Homes & Gardens, I'm often asked: 'how much should you spend on a mattress?' Short answer: somewhere between $500 and $1,000. That should be enough to edge out the cheaper models made with toxic foams and fiberglass, without spending unnecessarily on bells and whistles, including luxury fabrics or cooling covers.

My long answer varies depending on which mattress you buy. As a general rule, hybrids and latex mattresses tend to be more expensive than memory foam models, which in turn are more expensive than innerspring mattresses. You'd be lucky to get a Queen-sized hybrid mattress for less than $1,500, due to the combination of technologies and mattress materials. I'd expect to spend at least $1,500 on a latex mattress, especially an organic one, to compensate for the time and energy it takes to produce natural latex.

Memory foam mattresses are the most variable: you see highly affordable models, such as the Zinus Cooling Green Tea Mattress, which retails for a little less than $500, beside much more expensive mattresses, such as the Saatva Contour5 Mattress, which goes for more than $2,500. Your average innerspring mattress comes in under $1,000 because it's so simple to make, but you'll find a few more expensive models: the Saatva Classic Mattress comes to mind at just under $2,000.

'Tariffs are adding new layers of cost pressure across industries, and the mattress category is no exception,' says Byron Golub, Vice-President of Product & Merchandising at Saatva, the Smarter Luxury Sleep Company. These rising tariffs can significantly increase prices for companies that rely heavily on imported finished goods or components.'

'American-made mattresses are less exposed to tariff-related cost volatility,' Byron continues. 'With the potential for tariffs to raise prices on imported materials or finished products, now is a smart time to invest in a U.S.-crafted mattress. Not only are you likely to lock in current pricing, but you'll also benefit from faster delivery, local craftsmanship, and a company that can pivot more quickly in response to supply chain disruptions.'

Now is the time to learn where to buy American-made mattresses. It's worth flagging, though, that most mattresses incorporate a combination of domestic and foreign components. You might struggle to find a 'Made in USA' mattress, since the Federal Trade Commission standards are so rigorous: the mattress must be 'all or virtually all made in the United States'. Specialist components, such as wires and hardware, are often sourced from global suppliers. You'll have better luck shopping for 'Assembled in USA' mattresses.

As an eCommerce editor, I employ a price tracking tool to keep abreast of the best online mattress deals, learning where and when they drop. I've observed that the prices at some of the biggest mattress brands stay static throughout the year.

Say a mattress is listed for $1,200, and it's discounted in the mattress sales to $700. If that discount only runs for a few weeks before returning to full price, then that creates some incentive to buy. If, instead, the mattress stays at $700 all year round, then you aren't really bagging a good mattress at a great price − you're just buying an inferior mattress for what it's really worth.

This practice is known as price anchoring. According to the team at Talon.One, 'Price anchoring is a marketing strategy where a business establishes a visible starting price for a product but emphasizes its current discounted price. The initial price acts as a reference point or "anchor" against which the lower-price option is contrasted, creating a perception of greater attractiveness for the discounted option.' If the mattress never returns to its anchor price, then it fails to represent real value, and you might not be getting a good deal in the mattress sales.

Let's go back to that $1,200 mattress, discounted to $700. Once the sale is over, the mattress should return to its listed price. What I often see, instead, is mattress brands raising their own MSRP to create the impression of a deeper discount. Suddenly, the mattress will be listed for $1,300, and discounted to $800. Since an RRP isn't legally binding, sales prices and MSRPs can fluctuate throughout the year. It's bad form on the part of the business, but to prove that the price of a mattress is continuously mislabelled, you'd need to file a lawsuit.

According to Angelo Albertini, Founder and CEO of MyBespokeMattress, 'Lawsuits have brought attention to the need for transparent pricing and the importance of protecting consumers from potentially misleading sales tactics.' I asked Angelo for his top tips to find genuine mattress deals.

Whether you're shopping for a mattress in-store or online, Angelo recommends a strategy of 'compare and conquer'. Once you've settled on a make and model for your mattress, cross-check the price across a range of retailers. You might find that a perceived saving at one store isn't a saving at all, but a reflection of the real value of the mattress.

To get a deep discount, Angelo suggests shopping in-store, where you'll find older mattress models that offer similar comfort and support to the stuff you see online for a fraction of the price. When you shop with a specialist sleep store, you know you're protected by a watertight mattress warranty that might not apply in the end-of-season sales.

To streamline your shopping experience, I've rounded up a few of my favorite mattress deals. Each mattress is tried and tested by an H&G sleep expert for comfort, support, cooling, and motion isolation.

When you're shopping on a budget, it pays to do your research. There's a fine line between a good deal and a low price on a poor product. Here are three key considerations to keep in mind as you shop for an affordable mattress.

Stick to the specialist sleep stores: most of the big-name mattress brands, from Nectar to Emma, will offer a value mattress as an alternative to their more expensive models. You might miss out on a few high-tech features, but you should still get a good-quality bed with a decent sleep trial and watertight warranty.

Check the specs: it's worth reading the fine print to work out exactly what you're getting for your money. A mattress might be marketed as luxury, yet feature a lot of the same materials as a more affordable mattress: in that case, you might as well take the savings and opt for the affordable mattress.

Comfort over cost: you're going to sleep on this mattress for the next seven years, if not more. While you should consider cost, and you could save hundreds if you get a good deal, you should only buy a mattress that suits your sleep needs. If you don't, you'll just have to buy another new mattress in a year or two.