Brace yourself, shoe lovers: I bring the kind of news that could do serious damage to your bank accounts.
This week, my favourite high street shoe brand, Kurt Geiger, launched Shoeaholics: a discount version of its online store. (Think of it as their version of The Outnet.) The shoes you’ll find here will probably be familiar to you if you’re a fan of Kurt Geiger and its associated brands: as well as the main line, you’ll find shoes by Carvela, Miss KG, and Fashionistas, as well a selection of brands like Nine West and Guess, which are sold by Kurt Geiger.
Oh, and they’re all heavily discounted, and I mean HEAVILY discounted. In the image above, for instance, you’ll see £150 shoes doen to £39, £110 shoes down to £9 (NINE! POUNDS! FOR! CARVELA!) and £95 shoes down to £19.
“But how on earth are they doing this, Shoeperwoman?” I hear you cry.
I wondered the same thing myself when I first looked at the site. In fact, I was so surprised by some of the prices that I actually hit the back button and re-checked my sources to make sure that these were, in fact, genuine shoes, and not some cheap copies. (Don’t worry, it’s the real thing.)
Well, they’re able to sell these shoes at such a discount because these are either old lines which didn’t sell well at the time, or they’re ex-display models. The majority of shoes I looked at on the site seemed to fall into the “ex-display” category and had disclaimers stating that they “WILL HAVE some minor cosmetic damage”. Ah. That explains the low prices, then.
Is it still worth a shot? Well, I, for one, am willing to give it a go. I placed an order with Shoeaholics this morning, and I will, of course, report back to you on what the shoes are like when they arrive, and whether the “minor cosmetic” damage they claim to have will be minor enough to be lived with or major enough to make me want to return them. I do this purely in the name of research, you understand. In fact, I do it FOR YOU, readers, like the true Shoeperhero I am. I buy shoes so you don’t have to!
Want to take a look for yourself? Click here to visit the Shoeaholics site – but before you do, let me just deliver the final piece of bad news: shipping is currently only available to the UK: please don’t hate me!
Really great news! In fact, I went yesterday to Kurt Geiger on Regent Street, and for a change I tried a pair of ballerinas on… but even reduced, they were £140… it’s so difficult to me to like ballerinas, and when I find a pair that I like, that price… (not a big deal, but I don’t think £140 for ballerinas are worth… at least for me, just my opinion.) So I hope I find them on the new site!!! Thanks for sharing, very very nice!
I’m the same – I can never bring myself to spend a lot on flats, because they just never seem “special” enough to warrant it, and also because I always seem to wear them out really quickly: I can have a pair of heels for years, but never flats!
I just bought the Kurt Geiger Jasmine shoes in red (the Dorothy-glitter ones), i’ve been drooling over them for ages! Fingers crossed they’re not too damaged…I didn’t want to wait until you got your pair as I’m a size 4 and they sell out so quickly!
What ones did you order? Or is it a surprise?
The same! I really regretted not buying them when they were in the sale at Christmas, so I figured this would be the last chance!
They should be fab (the glitter shoes) I ordered some a while ago and they were gorgeous! I only sent back because I was borderline with sizes and had ordered too big and they were £70 at the time!! But now they’re £29……hmmmm!?!? LOL!
I’m a bit worried that as they’re glitter they’ll have been more susceptible to store damage… I guess I’ll soon find out, though!
They seem to have a lot of sizes left so not all could be ex display surely?!
I do recall a lot of glitter so even if some has fallen off you’ll hopefully not notice!
Well, I wouldn’t think so – I’m hoping they’ve just added the disclaimer to everything just in case, but they have emphasised that the shoes “WILL HAVE some cosmetic damage”, so you never know: am keeping my expectations low so I’m not too dissapointed, lol!
I was wondering, did yours end up being a little damaged? it’s 2014 now, the ex display message reads ‘MAY HAVE’ not ‘WILL HAVE’, but I’m still a little restless :p I hate having to send stuff back, it’s such a hassle
I really hope you’ll reply! so I can rest easier until my KG by Kurt Geiger Lydia’s arrive ^^
Hi Inge!
I’ve only ever had good experiences with Shoeaholics – the only time I noticed damage was one shoe which had a small black mark on the heel, which came off with a bit of soap and water. All of my other orders have been fine – I wouldn’t have known they were ex-display. With that said, they’ll all have different degrees of wear and tear, but I don’t think they would sell anything that wasn’t in a pretty good condition, so fingers crossed yours will be fine too!
Oh, this would have been fabulous, if it weren’t for the fact that they don’t deliver outside the UK (just like the normal KG site). It’s so frustrating, since I saw a lot of pretty pairs that I’ve had my eye on.
PS: I own the red glitters, and they are spectacular! They always get a lot of compliments!
It’s heartbreaking!
I’d definitely try it out but they don’t ship to the Czech Rep., bummer.
HATE kurt geiger. they could ship in europe, at least! >.<
Exactly!! I hope they change their minds ASAP
I was so excited until that last sentence. No Kurt Geiger for me.
I think Kurt Geiger wants me to die of shoe deprivation. Not shipping overseas is unfair!
OKAY>>>> I only read a few lines of this post. BAD IDEA ANAY!! because after looking at the site for a while, picking my favorites… settles on the Minnie shoes you have but in pink… I come back and see they don’t ship outside of the UK!! OH EM GEE the expletives I spelled out. >.< I'm so heartbroken. I should have read everything but I was too excited. You should put no shipping outside the UK first for super excited people like myself HAHA lol
Ok, I have a plan… ship to you, you ship to me? Deal? lol
I don’t know whether to bless you or curse you, Shoeperwoman! I bought two pairs! (The Henrietta heels, and some Radley ‘Bell’ boots)
wow, definatly keeping my eye on that site 😀 thanks for the heads up 😛