This is a bed in a box. Once you open the box and rip open the plastic the bed will fill with air and grow in size. The 12” is high but great if your bed frame is low to the ground. When the bed first arrived it felt hard. However, it has gotten slightly better to sleep on after a week. This is my first switch to memory foam from coils and I’m never going back to coils. I’m giving it 4 stars because the bed had a small dirty patch. It was a major risk ordering a bed online and if there is anything wrong with the bed the logistics of returning it weren’t made too clear. Nonetheless, Wayfair has a 99 day mattress trial policy.