We were disappointed to to see that it is so thin - much thinner than the four others we have in the house. We fear that the office chair will leave large indents or even tear it.
Yes you can buy a cheaper chair mat but they are not as thick and flexible as this model. I'm using the mat over low-pile commercial carpeting--it has some give but my chair moves nicely over the mat's surface. I had the mat shipped to my home via UPS and it arrived in excellent shape!