buying used shoes, ok or not?

so the way i see it is this, buying used leather footwear is not recommended because the insole of the shoe would have molded to the previous user(s) feet. so it is better to buy a new pair of shoes, or if you have to, buy a very slightly used pair, to minimize the feet imprint problem.

so do care about the imprint issue and you buy second hand shoes or not?

I don't buy second-hand shoes for a variety of reasons. One that it is gross. Would you lend your shoes to a random stranger on the street? Of course not! There is cheap and then there is taking it too far.

I consider myself cheap--so I buy 70% of my shoes on sale. The rest I buy simply because I really like the shoe.

Personally I will buy lightly used of a very high quality maker. Well used is out for me. I don't know about the footbed issue personally. I just don't like dress shoes are looking old anyway. Casual shoes sure - but not dress shoes.

I will only buy shoes that have been worn a few times at most based on my impression of sole wear.

That said, I try to buy new shoes whenever possible.

Tried on a couple of times is the maximum I will consider. Anything more than that, the shoe has already started molding to another foot so what's the point?

iroh said:

so the way i see it is this, buying used leather footwear is not recommended because the insole of the shoe would have molded to the previous user(s) feet. so it is better to buy a new pair of shoes, or if you have to, buy a very slightly used pair, to minimize the feet imprint problem.
so do care about the imprint issue and you buy second hand shoes or not?

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Never buy used shoes. It is the sign of a complete loser, and before I read SF I never knew some people did this because I had not heard of it even among the lower classes. Perhaps bums are given free used shoes.Everyone else buys new shoes and if you're so destitute then go to the Salvation Army and they'll give you a $100 to buy some shoes.
The reason that the obviously poor boys buy used shoes on here is because they can't afford $1k so they buy some used Lobb believing that they can fool people into believing they are a higher class than they are. Doesn't work boys. No matter what you wear we can peg you in a minute.
This is why you get ignored at C&J or Saks by the salesmen no matter what you're wearing. They too can spot a poseur who is only going to waste their time

I love it when I see people buying/selling bespoke used shoes. That shoe was made for a particular foot and then was broken in on that foot. What makes you think that it could work for you?

There are some nasty foot and nail fungi that I would not want to risk.

Only entertain buying very high end shoes that have been worn a couple of times. This is pretty easy to determine based on the the sole and insole. All that said I have only bought one pair of "used" shoes. They were exotic skins, hardly worn and an incredible deal. And bought from a local consignment.

IME the majority of used shoes are bought online. For me, buying shoes online is enough of a risk. To add the element that the shoes used or already fit to another person's foot only makes the process that much more potentially disastrous.

I think if you're game to buy a used pair of really nice shoes for $500 you might as well just take one step down in "quality level" and get new ones for $500-$700.

Regarding the issue of "grossness" or molding to the prior owner's foot: Bear in mind that if they are high quality shoes (and what else would you be buying used?) they can be resoled/recrafted, albeit only so many times.

Patek said:

I don't buy second-hand shoes for a variety of reasons. One that it is gross. Would you lend your shoes to a random stranger on the street? Of course not! There is cheap and then there is taking it too far.
I consider myself cheap--so I buy 70% of my shoes on sale. The rest I buy simply because I really like the shoe.

Click to expand...

Yes, used shoes really are gross. I have a number of Church, AE and Ferrigamo etc that are all in ex cond. that I'm just going to throw away because I'd feel funny even giving them to a bum to wear. It's sort of insulting and degrading to him actually.
Shoes are a personal item and people don't share shoes.

Quote:

iroh said:

so the way i see it is this, buying used leather footwear is not recommended because the insole of the shoe would have molded to the previous user(s) feet. so it is better to buy a new pair of shoes, or if you have to, buy a very slightly used pair, to minimize the feet imprint problem.
so do care about the imprint issue and you buy second hand shoes or not?

Click to expand...

My problem with buying used shoes wouldn't be the same as yours. The foot imprint wouldn't bother me as much as the various fungi and other googlie bits that might be lurking there.

That being said, if they are in decent condition I would buy them, also if they are not sold any more or a great deal it is hard to say no.



Patek said:

I love it when I see people buying/selling bespoke used shoes. That shoe was made for a particular foot and then was broken in on that foot. What makes you think that it could work for you?

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Who cares who they were made for? RTW shoes weren't made for your feet either.

Patek said:

There are some nasty foot and nail fungi that I would not want to risk.

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Well that I can't really disagree with.



Aqualung said:

Yes, used shoes really are gross. I have a number of Church, AE and Ferrigamo etc that are all in ex cond. that I'm just going to throw away because I'd feel funny even giving them to a bum to wear. It's sort of insulting  and degrading to him actually.
Shoes are a personal item and people don't share shoes.

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You're going to throw away shoes that are still in excellent condition? At least take them to a Goodwill or something. When I first started upgrading my wardrobe a while ago I bought a few pairs of used shoes before I knew any better. I've since gotten rid of those, and now that I know what I like and what works best for me, I only buy new shoes. I'd rather save up and buy something that I can break in myself, that will mold to my foot, and that will have that new shoe smell through the first couple wearings.

Beatlegeuse said:

You're going to throw away shoes that are still in excellent condition? At least take them to a Goodwill or something. When I first started upgrading my wardrobe a while ago I bought a few pairs of used shoes before I knew any better. I've since gotten rid of those, and now that I know what I like and what works best for me, I only buy new shoes. I'd rather save up and buy something that I can break in myself, that will mold to my foot, and that will have that new shoe smell through the first couple wearings.

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I'm not upgrading anything because I've always worn these. I need a size larger because I need to put an arch in and they would be too tight and cause even bigger problems. Goodwill? These Goodwill bins are raided by creeps who then sell the stuff on ebay and the people who work in these Goodwill places pick out the good stuff and then sell it.
And aside from it being disgusting, people who buy these used shoes almost never are wearing the correct size which they usually don't even know. And for an able bodied 20yo to go around buying used shoes is just developing a bum's loser mentality in them. Work and make some money and buy a $100 shoe in your class.

Although there is a market for high quality used shoes, I am not a fan of buying it

I don't buy shoes frequently so when the time I need to buy shoes, I will just get the best one, save for incident of sales and bargains