Buying new sneakers - What passes for "excitment" around here...

[hatman]

Last weekend, I went out looking to buy a pair of new sneakers. It's not always easy for me. I've got unusually wide feet. When I was a kid, I made do by getting shoes that were a half size or so too big for me, and then kind of got used to my little toe being squished in.

It wasn't until my early 20s or so that I discovered New Balance, which offers most, if not all, of their shoes in 4E width. But New Balance isn't carried everywhere. I got my last pair at Nordstroms - great service, but a little pricey. Figured it was worth it, though, especially since I don't buy new shoes that often.

I checked online this time, and found that Nordstroms is, in fact, the nearest store that carries New Balance. There aren't that many places around, it seems. So I went back. Checked out their selection, and found something that seemed to work. Only problem... They had only one pair of shoes in my size, and they weren't even close to what I was looking for.

The salesperson was almost as surprised as I was. He offered to order the shoes I was looking for, but doing so would require that I either pay shipping on top of Nordstroms prices (which actually turned out to be MSRP) or that I wait and go back out to the store (which is a lot more difficult to arrange these days than it seems it should be). I also realized that if I was going to order them, I'd be better off doing so myself. (I was rude/thoughtless enough to mention this to the salesperson, but he just stopped, thought about it, chuckled, and agreed.)

So I went home and looked around and sure enough I found the same shoes in my size at a store that participates in Upromise (a whopping 10% contribution!) for $10 less. Shoebuy.com also offers free shipping (both ways if you have to return it!), free taxes (if there are any, they pay them), and a 110% price gaurantee. So I looked around a bit more and found another site that sells the same shoes even more cheaply. Ordered from shoebuy, pointed out the other site, and got another $10 knocked off the price. (And remember, 10% of the final price goes to Upromise.)

Took a little while to process the order, but they're on the way now. Should arrive on Tuesday, I expect, since I don't think even UPS delivers on Memorial Day.

If they fit, I'll be very happy.

But you know the best part in all this? The one thing that nearly convinced me to go with Nordstroms anyway? The salesman's name was Khalil. Which sounds so much like Kal-El that I did a double take. And then looked at the business card he'd given me to be sure, and found out that his last name is Clark. At least Mom bought something from him. That made me feel better. I didn't like leaving Supersalesman empty-handed.

Comments

[mrsmosley.livejournal.com]

Khalil Clark! So funny. I don't know if I could have refrained from mentioning something about it to him. :)

[pgwfolc.livejournal.com]

I thought about it, but it didn't seem right. I mean, when you get down to it, what would you say, really?

[kb91.livejournal.com]

Supersalesman, LOL.

I've ordered shoes like that before, too, though I can't believe Nordstroms doesn't ship them to you for free when they don't have your size. I usually buy my shoes at Lady Foot Locker where they carry Rykas, a women's only brand that have a wider toe box and narrower heel, which exactly the fit I prefer. When they don't have my size, they always offer to order it for me -- and the price includes free shipping right to my house. I wonder if Foot Locker offers the same deal? Might be worth checking out, the next time you're in the market.

Did you try Zappos.com, btw? I always see ads for them, and they offer free shipping, both ways (sales and returns). I often see boxes from them at our local UPS drop-off site, so it must be as easy to return as they say. The only downside is that they do seem to charge full MSRP. But being able to shop at home with easy/free returns has a lot of advantages.

[pgwfolc.livejournal.com]

Well, they would have brought it from store to store for free. He said he could send them to my home faster than to the store, but it'd cost. Then he said there were a number of options, and the faster I wanted the shoes, the more it'd cost. Maybe there would have been a free shipping option, but I didn't bother to ask. I knew that I wouldn't be able to try them on in the store, knew that I'd get them cheaper from an online retailer than Nordstroms could offer, and just went with it.

I don't know if Zappos was included in either of my searches. I used Upromise shopping (I wrote the Firefox search plugin myself!) and Froogle. Upromise found Shoebuy, which had good terms, a good price, and a 10% contribution. Froogle found the other site that had them cheaper and allowed me to get the Shoebuy ones for less than anyone.

Like I said, if it works out, I'll be happy.

[theblackshadow.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, the title alone of this post is hugely entertaining for me. Because I can completely relate LOL. The most excitement I have in my life is finding a new animal in my strange backyard or finding out that my loaf of bread was on sale at the grocery store.

[pgwfolc.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've sympathized with some of your posts to that effect, as well.

But... woo! Cheap bread! You rate! *g*

[annabtg.livejournal.com]

Khalil Clark! So nerdily awesome ^__^

And yay for new shoes!

See ya,
Anna.

[pgwfolc.livejournal.com]

Indeed. :)

[beansideirae.livejournal.com]

lol, love the closing sentence.

[pgwfolc.livejournal.com]

*g* Thanks. :)

*waves*

[kalinalea.livejournal.com]

Was skimming through your journal and just had to stop here because a) 'Supersalesman' cracked me up, and b) I totally feel your pain about the shoes. My husband wears a 9EEEE shoe. His feet are almost as wide as they are long. It's incredibly hard for him to find shoes that fit, but on the plus side, his balance is very good! *g* Our son inherited this trait, so I've spent lots of time over the years scouring the world for wide shoes. They both wear the New Balance athletic shoes, but dress shoes are still a problem, and cleats, like for baseball and soccer, almost don't exist in a wide width. Very annoying. How is the kid supposed to run the bases if he can't feel his feet? Anyway, I can usually find the New Balance shoes around here when I need them, but I'm going to bookmark that site anyway, just in case.

I love your journal, BTW. Hope it's ok to friend. I'm 'Caroline' in the L&C fandom :)

*waves back*

[pgwfolc.livejournal.com]

Yeah, 4Es are hard to find in anything but New Balance. (And I'm 8EEEE, so that's even squarer. I can balance well on anything at least as wide as my foot, but skates confuse the heck out of me...)

As for cleats and stuff... Been ages, but I think I did the same thing with them that I did with other shoes before I found NB - Get them in a bigger size to accomodate the width, and then use pads to adjust the fit of the length.

As for Shoebuy... it worked out well for me. Now I just have to keep an eye on Upromise to make sure the contribution shows up.

Oh, and New Balance's website has a store locator if you ever need to find a place that carries them.

Anyway...

I love your journal, BTW.

Thanks for that. :) And welcome to the Tea Party. :)