Nothing beats the feeling of a new pair of shoes, but how quickly this can turn into heartache if they get scuffed the first time you wear them. So why not save yourself the misery (and some dosh) with a pair that isn’t quite immaculate in the first place?
High street chains Office and Schuh each have a website – separate from their normal online store – where you can pick up some mega-reduced, ex-display shoes that may have suffered some minor wear-and-tear after being tried on in store.
Office Offcuts and Schuh Imperfects have been kicking around on social media for a while, and lots of people rave about them.
How do they work?
Think of these websites as a kind of online jumble sale where each pair of shoes is listed individually – a bit like eBay or Facebook Marketplace – along with a clear photo of the exact pair you’ll get, and with any defects mentioned in the description.
Offcuts says it only sells “end of line, ex-display and last pairs of shoes” and all stock is brand new, but may have some marks or fading.
Similarly, Schuh Imperfects says shoes may have scuffs, discolouration or other “individual quirks”.
Both sites are regularly updated with new stock – so there’s no rush to grab yourself a pair straight away.
How to find cheap shoes
Simply go to Schuh Imperfects or Offcuts (or both) and start browsing. To narrow it down, you can filter the shoes by type, brand, size, colour etc. It’s then just a case of scrolling through and finding a pair you like (remember, there’s often just one pair in each style).
There are pictures of each pair of shoes and the retailer briefly describes what the flaw is. From what we’ve seen this is often discolouration of one of the shoes, which has probably been left out in a window display, a scuff or a mark that can’t be removed.
Prices do vary depending on how noticeable the flaw is, but typically you’ll save about 30% on the normal full price – sometimes less, sometimes more.
Returns?
Both sites let you return the shoes if you’re not happy with them, however, you can’t return them into a store – instead they have to be sent back to head office.
Schuh has a 365-day return policy and for Office it’s 28 days.
