No pressure when we got ours at Sears.

We had a good experience with the online-only saatva mattress. it was a leap, I'll admit, but my lower back is LOVING it.

Try Costco for mattress

I've been extremely with our ikea mattress. Has held up well for 4 years so far.

Test out mattresses at a place like Macys to see what you like. Memory foam, coil, latex

Research a mattress underground
http://www.themattressunderground.com/

Purchase online

We have a latex mattress that we purchased from sleepez.com It was less than 2k - but we did not get a box spring.

I agree about Macys. We usually have the opposite problem at Macy's Home stores. It's hard to find a sales associate to help you, which gives you plenty of time to try out all the mattresses you want.

I bought my last mattress there and am still 100% happy with it years later.

We bought beds at Macy's. No pressure.

We'd like to buy a King bed. Nothing fancy. Our budget for the mattress/box spring/frame is very firm at $3,500, so we'd like to get the most comfortable mattress that we can out of that budget. In the past, furniture shopping has been incredibly exhausting with high-pressured sales, etc. We just want to get the best deal that we can with little hassle. What store would you recommend?