the princess and the pea

At the risk of alienating potential sponsors (though we all ought to aspire to playing the long-game in all our endeavours and not be enticed with fly-by-night operations), we found this collection of sources deconstructing the mail-order mattress field—a very over-crowded one, and how that bubble may soon burst from Things Magazine to be a fascinating and cautionary one.
The anecdotal expertise is strong in this business, trying to positions oneself above the fray and margins for profit vanishingly small and made worse with returns, refunds and compelling competition. I wonder what other commodities might be stealthily following the same doomed business model that escape our recognition by dint of persuasive cheerleading. Though there’s much appeal to be found in an inject of convenience, discharging our obligations and buyer and seller by closing a transaction as quickly and seamlessly as possible is not the overarching principle of commerce and exchange.