How to Buy Shoes Online
Even though many people, myself included, prefer to buy shoes online, some are concerned about buying shoes without trying them on first.
I used to be the same way, because I just had to touch and try the shoe before buying it and I hated to wait for them to arrive. But a frugal side of me could not resist the great deals on shoes, which online retailers offered, so I slowly started buying shoes (and clothing) via the internet and… never stopped.
Now I am hooked to online shopping and I don’t see any reason going to an actual store and wasting gas, time and energy.
Shoe shopping is not a rocket science, but there are a few tips you should keep in mind while hunting for the perfect pair.
When you buy shoes online, pay attention to the shoe width. I learned this one the hard way.
I was shopping for cute leather slides for summer and saw an adorable pair of Naturalizer slides on Endless for only $15. I think their original price was around $70, so I got excited, choose my size, completely ignored DD letters next to it and checked out.
Imagine my disappointment when the shoes arrived and I realized that I could easily fit both of my feet into one slide. Thankfully, I didn’t loose any money, because endless has free returns, and I didn’t loose much time, because they ship for free overnight, but I learned my lesson.
I have a narrow to medium foot, so I need to buy shoes which are marked as A or N (narrow), or M or B (medium). D or W is for wide feet and DD (WW) is for extra wide.
When shopping for shoes online, choose retailers which offer free shipping and preferable free return shipping also. I love Endless, because as I mentioned before they ship for free overnight (it works great for the impatient frugal kinds like myself), and you can return shoes which didn’t fit for free as well.
I also buy shoes from Gotham City Online (it is actually my favorite shoe store). Shipping is free with minimum purchase (which is not high – around $25-30 I believe) and their deals are fantastic.
If you are buying shoes from stores like Zappos, Shoes.com or ShoeMall, make sure to use cashback sites to get some money back. If you shop through Big Crumbs, Ebates or Mr. Rebates, you can get up to 16% of your purchase back. Signing up for cash back sites is easy and free, so there is no reason not to do it.
Happy shoe shopping!:-)
