Hey man don’t take it personal that we disagree with your original point…if you meant to say something else, fair enough, but we all posting / responding to the OP which was more broad than what you are saying now.

Additionally, my response was more about quality of materials which may incrue extra costs and had nothing to do with buying over priced designer stuff. I agree with your new point, but thats not what you said initially.

Yeah that’s a great way to get a quality pair of shoes! I’ve done similar… Or check out the lightly used rack at REI or something.

Agreed on point about special purpose footwear. However disagree with both you and OPs point about not investing in footwear and seemingly choosing options based at least mostly on cost.

Cheap footwear leads to a variety of other health / joint / posture issues that cost far more in the long run.

All new shoes are going to feel okay when you first get them. Something people forget is how a cheap shoe will degrade over time. Common example is soles wearing down unevenly because say the insole or outsole is made out of something cheap. Now you need to walk on a slightly uneven footing for months till you buy a new pair, thus furthering the damage created by ever other cheap pair of shoes you’ve bought over the years.

Shoes, tires, matress; dont skimp.

Little tip: use the edge of your counter to flatten it out nicely (just grab the bottom part and run it against the edge, both sides)