Four of the best online shoe stores offering discounts or coupons

If you are shopping for a new pair of shoes and you want to get the best value for money, Internet shopping can make the process much easier because you can quickly compare several stores. Here some of the hard work has already been done for you. This report compares four online shoe stores that at the time of writing are offering an extra incentive to buy. The stores reviewed are shoebuy.com, Payless, Carlos shoes and Chinese Laundry. Read on for a guide to their pricing, pros, and cons. You will also find links to the coupon code or discount they are offering.

Payless sells their own range of shoes and several partner lines. They cater to women, men, girls and boys and also sell accessories and even some beauty products. They are offering free shipping. Click here to see if the deal is still valid.

Pricing

Payless is a well-known discount shoe store. A lot of their shoes are $30 or less, they do however have designer collections like Lela Rose for payless, that are a little more expensive, but still typically under $60. Even most boots tend to stay under $50. They focus more on great everyday prices than sales and offers, but they do still have some sales and offers. For example, seasonal styles get marked down at times, usually just $5-$10 off a style, but occasionally they get marked down 50%. When it comes to everyday value they have an everyday incredible value section, which includes shoes under $20. However Payless does charge sales tax on all US orders.

Pros

-They tend to get good reviews, like at makeup alley where they get a 4.2 out of 5 and 90% of people would buy again. With the general consensus being that they do provide value for money when it comes to quality.

-Good variety of shoes in every category including some more unusual finds like dance shoes, and safety shoes for work. They also provide Regular or wide widths sizes and sizes 5-13 for women, and 5-15 for men.

-You can return or exchange shoes purchased online at your local store. So no having to facilitate and pay for return shipping.

-You can sign up to be emailed offers. 

-Affordable shipping- Payless offers flat rate shipping for $5.95. Expedited is $11.95 and it is $17.95 for overnight. Alternatively pay no shipping fees when you order your shoes be delivered to a local Payless store where you can go and collect them. An associate will call you when they come in, this is within 17 days from the time you place your order.

-A nice clearly laid out website.

-Reasonably detailed product descriptions.

-They provide customer reviews.

-They sell shoes that are in touch with fashion trends.

-Good search capability-search by trend, style or brand, than further refine your search by style choices, size, price, width, heel height, and color.

-Their website gives you the ability to check availability in a store near you.

Cons

-No international shipping.

-Only a very small selection in wide widths unlike Shoebuy.com.

-Sales tax is charged.

Shoebuy.com is an online shoe store that sells women’s, men’s, girls, boys and infants footwear. They also sell bags, apparel and other accessories. They are currently offering $5 off a $50 spend. Click here to see if the deal is still active.

Pricing

Shoebuy.com sells over 1000 brands and has hundreds of thousands of products on their site at any one time. This means the price point varies quite a bit across the different brands and styles. In general however the pricing is mostly mid-range. You will find some real bargains and also some higher prices in what they refer to as their designer range. This range includes lower level designer brands like Gentle Souls.

Shoebuy.com offers to price match in many circumstances and also refunds the difference if they lower the price within a short space of time from your order. They also have a sale section where there are typically shoes reduced between 5-50% percent. At any one time they seem to have a fair bit of stock on sale.

When it comes to assessing the total price, you also need to consider sales tax. Unless your order is being shipped to New York State, you do not have to pay any sales tax.

Pros

-Always assured of a good price with the price match guarantee and willingness to refund the difference if they lower a price.

-They stock over 1000+ brands and virtually a million products at a given time so you are spoilt for choice. They also have many product categories like bridal shoes and prom shoes.

-No sales tax in virtually all states.

-Free Shipping on US orders and free return shipping. This is 3-10 business day shipping.

-They ship internationally. The costs are calculated at checkout based on weight and size of your order.

-Member benefits-sign up for email communication and you will receive several benefits. New customers get 5% off their first purchase. They email you offers from time to time and you are part of the frequent shopper program which gives you 5% off any purchase within 60 days of your prior purchase.

-A weekly prize draw to win a $100 voucher.

-The size and width alert-you can sign up for an alert to know when a product comes in, in your size and width.

-They have a great range of sizes and widths. For example, they stock women’s shoes in size 1-17 and widths from extra narrow, to narrow, wide and extra wide. If you have difficult to fit feet you can search by your size, width and one of three categories, dress, casual, and athletic.

-They provide a wish list tool to let you save your favorites for later viewing.

-You can sign up to be notified when new styles from a favorite brand are added.

-They provide good product descriptions and customer reviews.

Cons

-Unsatisfactory reviews- shoebuy.com tends to get many unsatisfactory reviews. Customers complain of poor product quality, shipping issues and a refusal to refund merchandise in many instances including poor customer service when contacting them. Check out reseller ratings to see these reviews.

-The website is a little cluttered and bargain basement looking.

Chinese Laundry sells their own line of women’s footwear. Their range includes a few different labels under the one umbrella like CL by laundry and Dirty laundry. CL laundry is a lower priced trend based range. Dirty Laundry is a more unique range. They are offering 20% off the price of your cart. Check here to see if this deal is still running.

Pricing

The pricing at Chinese Laundry is mid-range overall. Most shoes retail for somewhere between $69.95-$159.95 and many are under $100. The sale section typically has stock anywhere between 10-60% off, with 20-40% often the norm. They sometimes have coupon codes, but be aware that you can only apply one to an order. They do offer to price match and will do so within 14 days of your purchase. The other store selling the merchandise must have the shoe in stock for you to make a claim.

Pros

-Lots of styles that emulate the latest fashion trends.

-Clear website, with lots of shoe images provided.

-No sales tax in all states but California.

-Wish list function.

-Price match guarantee.

-Easy search ability- Filter by price, category like dress, new arrivals, wedges, size, heel height, color and material.

-A good range of women’s footwear, including bridal shoes.

-They ship internationally, International checkout handles international shipping.

Cons

-Sizes 5-11 medium width only.

-They do not accept returns to their retail store locations. You need to send items back at your expense.

-Standard US shipping is quite expensive compared to the other stores listed here. It is tiered based on your order total. Orders up to $50 are $9.50 regular post, $21.50 for 2^nd day air. Right through to orders over $350.01 are $16.00 regular and $27.50 for 2^nd day air. However at times there are free shipping offers.

Carlos shoes, is inspired by musician Carlos Santana, they specialize in fashionable women’s footwear. They are currently offering a 10% off coupon. Click here to see if the deal is still applicable.

Pricing

Carlos shoes are in the mid-range price bracket typically ranging from around $50-$199. The majority are under $99.99. From time to time they discount their shoes up to around 50% off. They also have offers every now and again like free shipping promotions and percentages off through offer codes. When it comes to sales tax it is charged on orders sent to California, New York, Missouri, Wisconsin and Illinois.

Pros

-Fashion forward styles based on the latest trends.

-Useful search function- narrow your results by size, color, sale or new items, price, category and heel height.

- Exclusive discount offers when you sign up by email

-Clearly laid out website, with lots of images for each shoe provided.

-Wish list function

-Bullet point product description with concise but useful details like heel height measurements

-They provide a shoe template you can print out to place your foot on to help you determine your appropriate size.

-No sales tax to many states.

Cons

- They don’t appear to ship internationally.

-They only sell regular widths and a fairly typical size range of 5-11.

When it comes to shipping it is neither a pro nor a con. It is somewhere in between the best and worst stores listed here. Standard US shipping for one pair of shoes is $6.50, additional pairs are $2.00 a pair. Standard shipping takes 5-7 days. 2^nd day delivery starts from $13.95 and next day delivery starts from $23.95 both for one pair of shoes. You have to pay for your own returns and facilitate them. They only charge sales tax for orders sent to California.

All of the stores have something to offer the buyer, so if you are searching for something specific it is probably worth checking them all out.

Payless has been rated highest, because of their value for money and reliable reputation.

Shoebuy.com is a great alternative because, they provide free shipping, a huge variety of shoes and do not charge sales tax to most states. You might like to take a look at some of the third party reviews before ordering from this site though.

Carlos shoes does not charge sales tax on orders sent to several states and have an easy to navigate website.

Chinese Laundry also doesn’t charge sales tax to most states, have an easy to use website  and ship internationally.