As an Internet junkie who does most of her shopping online I will give you the best (according to me) places where you can find discount athletic shoes.

I am sure you can find great deals at your Brick and Mortar stores, but considering how hectic our lives these days are and how expensive gas is, I am still convinced that online deals are unbeatable.

Many online shoes retailers offer free shipping and returns, so if something doesn’t fit, you can return it without hassle. However, not all stores offer free returns and not all stores offer free shipping, so no need to say no to a deal only because you are afraid that the shoes may not fit.

Here is what I do in such cases.

If I see a great pair of discount athletic shoes, but I am not familiar with the brand, I do a Google search. Usually something like “ABC brand reviews” works. Good ole Google will usually display a number of stores who carry this shoe brand, which have reviews of people who purchased the shoes. You can be more specific and look for the model of the shoe you want to buy. Google “ABC brand/shoe model reviews” and hopefully you should be able to see people’s reviews of the specific shoe mode. Amazon has lots of great reviews, I use it a lot for these purposes.

If for some reason there are no reviews or they are mixed, visit a shoe store which carries the brand you want to buy (as usual, use Google to find out which stores carry the brand) and try a few pairs of this brand over there.

After you know how the shoes of the specific model and brand run, you can hunt for discount athletic shoes safely. Here are my top 4 favorite places:

1. Endless.com. Endless has a good selection of discount athletic shoes. The best part about this store is that they have free shipping and returns AND they ship for free overnight. How cool is that?

2. 6 PM. This place is like heaven for a shoe addict like myself. Their shipping is not free ($6.75 on any order I believe), but their deals are hard to beat. They carry different athletic shoe brands and they always have some sort of promotions, such as all Nike shoes for $20 etc. Check them out if you haven’t already.

3. SKECHERS. If you bought Sketchers once, I am pretty sure you love them already. They are not only one of the most comfortable athletic shoes, but the most stylish. I never pay full price on Skechers website. I usually patiently wait for the shoes I want to go down in price (it is not easy, but I paying full-price is not my style). They have free shipping if you join their VIP club. Don’t get scared. VIP club onl means that you will be on their e-mail list, so they will send you coupons once in a while (which is always a plus)

4. Amazon. Just like 6PM, this place always have promotions. Shipping is often free on orders over $25. Returns are not though, but if you do your homework, you shouldn’t have to worry about it.