I got these babies on Goodwill.
Hah! Yea, they were used. But there was barely marks when I found them. Even the soles and the heal nails were smooth -- maybe their last owner just wore them to some gala and never really walked on them.
Although they had never really been worn, they are very sofy: soft & comfy. Plus, since they have very low heels, they are not floppy but have a good support on your arches: not all flat shoes are good for your feet, you will need some support when the material is fine. You don't want your arches get flat and hurt!
So the main idea is: Let's Become Bargain Hunters!
Sample Sales & Used Clothing Stores
If you love bargains as well as real shopping, which gives you actual feeling of the items and helps you work out, you may like sample sales. The excitement of imaging how cheap and how good are those items when you wait on a long line and the craziness of crabbing everything you need or not before others spot them are the reasons people get obsessed by sample sales even though that may mean you have to get up at 4 in the morning, tolerate the coldness (many sample sale are close to the end of a year) and suffer the pain on your feet and waist.
People usually get something from sample sales. Sometimes some really good stuff. But they are a couple shortcomings of sample sales. First of all, most sample sales are in big cities -- that's probably the biggest problem for many girls who are not living in NYC or LA, just like me. Secondly, it just takes SO MUCH TIME. Get up at 4a.m., stay on line for another 4 hours and shop for maybe 2 hours -- that's 10 hours! And you have to take the risk of not getting anything you like. Thirdly, many items at sample sales are more or less flawed. However, for girls who love sample sales, that's why these events are so exciting and fun -- just like adventures.
If you love bargains, real shopping and not mind getting used items, used clothing stores may be your destinations. Just like Goodwill, where I got these lovely shoes, you probably need to spend some time digging into (not like "digging into", but you do need to look carefully) the shoes, check the fine lines and the soles, as well as the sizes. In general, compare to sample sales, it is more about "luck" whether you can find something or not because first of all, you don't know what the stores carry before you go there. Secondly, they have different stuff all the time. Being able to get good stuff this time doesn't mean you will be lucky again next time. For me, going to used clothing store is more like treasure hunt: I don't know if I am gonna find anything! But the good aspects for such treasure hunts are: I don't have to get up early, there is usually no lines and it's not very likely that someone is gonna compete you.
But the weakness of shopping at used clothing stores is obvious: when you already know what you want, don't go to used clothing stores. It will just be too random. The best way of getting what you want with a good price is probably try them in store and go find them online.
Online Shopping
Maybe you don't want others' shoes -- don't worry, I totally get it. An easy way to find bargain in this social media society today is going to shoe makers' online stores, shoe online shopping sites and those flash sale sites. I would go to either shoe online shopping sites or flash sale sites. Yes, the official sites of the shoe makers are "real guaranteed". But they don't have good bargains, in most of time. If money was not what you worry when buying shoes and you really wanna keep your loyalty to those brands, official sites are perfect for you. But if you were a "deal lover" just like me and my friends, you would go to shoe online shopping sites and flash sale sites. Those sites are where you find happiness for both of you and your wallet.
I have a personal expectation of discount when I shop shoes online: they have to be at least 40% off their original prices. It also depends on the brands: I would judge if the shoes of this brand are worth that much money. The references of my judgement are the materials and personal experiences. So if you have done enough "experiments", you will have ideas on What shoes should be at that price level and What should not.
Another trick I have been using is: never place an order after viewing just one online shopping site. No matter shoe online shopping sites or flash sale sites, you can always find same or similar items on another one. Since every site barely has the same discount and special offer (usually free shipping or some bonus), I would suggest you to do a little bit more research before you click Place Order button. Believe or not, I found better bargains by comparing between sites almost all the time.
One more secret: when some site promotes their bargain event, put all the items you love into your cart and the out-of-stock ones on wait list. Then wait till the last couple of days of the event, come back and check again and you possibly will find that the items you wanted are available again. Sometimes the sites will add more bonuses during the event -- that's how they sell more -- and you will be able to get the bonus if waited. Someone may question: what if the items I put into cart were gone when I came back? That's possible, I have to say. But it's all strategic. You have to weigh how much you want them. If they were your dream shoes, you'd better make them yours when they're still available. If you felt you can wait, then you may be surprised by what you get at last!
Oh, another condition that you may not be able to wait is a few flash sale sites have time limit on your card. You may be just able to reserve your items for no more than 20 minutes. In that case, you really need to consider if you really want them right at the moment.
Summer Fang
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