I am a firm believer in never paying full price for anything. Why spend $100 on a pair of shoes when you can wait for them to go on sale or purchase them second hand? In addition to being a thrifty spender, I love extending my fashion and finding new pieces for my wardrobe. Here are my top places for buying shoes.
- Nordstrom Rack
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The department store offers an online outlet store where they sell slightly out of season items for a reduced cost. Most brands offered on the website are brand names, but I have also found new favorites from department stores and boutique brands. It is difficult to find most sought after items like Nike’s Air Force 1s or some Birkenstock styles, but there are plenty of similar shoes to find.
- Thrifting
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Thrifting is a great way to be more sustainable when purchasing new clothing items. Instead of letting items pile up in landfills, you have the option to give items a new life. Typically it’s best to look at stores such as Goodwill or local vintage and thrift shops, but some can be depleted of new and unique items. When thrifting, I prefer to travel to larger cities that have many suburbs, because there tend to be a variety of thrift shops throughout the different neighborhoods.
- Mercari and Poshmark
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Similar to thrifting, online secondhand sellers provide the same benefits as thrifting at a thrift shop, while keeping the ease of shopping online. Mercari and Poshmark are two separate, secondhand shopping websites that allow users to sell and buy gently used and new items. These websites are great for finding authentic up-scale brands like Nike and in some cases even Louboutins. Sellers can go through authentication checks to ensure products being sold are legitimate, which gives buyers an added security likely not found when going into thrift shops.
- Sales and Clearance
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While this one is obvious, it is something I constantly have to remind myself. Those shoes will go on clearance eventually, they will not always be $150. There is the probability your size or preferred color will go out of stock before hitting clearance, but maybe that means it wasn’t meant to be (or at least I tell myself that to feel better.) Just like clearance, there will eventually be a sale on those cute sandals before they sell out. Sign up for newsletters and coupons to ensure you’re notified when the price drops. Some companies will even send you a coupon for looking at the same product multiple times without purchasing.
- Dupes
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I will admit, I can be a brand snob at times, but some shoes are not worth the hype when it comes to the price tag. For example, I love the look of the Nike Air Force 1s, but there is no reason I should be put on a waiting list to pay $90 for a pair of white leather sneakers. Instead, I shopped Reebok’s Club C Double sneakers with the yellow stripe. I was able to get the white leather platform shoe I wanted and they have yellow on them (my favorite color). Nordstrom prices these shoes at $40 currently, meaning I saved around $50 and I have a pair of shoes more unique than a basic white leather sneaker (still a staple look, though).
Buying shoes shouldn’t break the bank, and waiting for a deal shouldn’t be excruciating. Finding the right websites and stores makes all the difference when finding shoes that fit your style while staying on budget.