The Toms Outlet--my experience

So the other day I ran across a pin touting Toms shoes at outlet prices.  If you don't already know, I am cheap.  And sometimes it shows.  So the thought of paying $40+ for a pair of shoes that look kinda like something like what my high school Geometry teacher wore (every day because she had a pair in every color) makes me a little nauseous.  I actually scored a pair or glitter Toms for like $20 back at the beginning of Spring on Zulily and I should have left well enough alone, but the durn things are crazy comfortable.  I digress.

So I got all excited about buying a pair of Toms for less than $20 a pair and I started thinking of who needed a pair of Toms from me for a little present and so it went.  My cheap got ahead of my brain.  The kicker is that when I found out that the shipping was $15 for one pair, I got to thinking that ordering two made the shipping per pair even less.  Yes, they sucked me in.

The website in question is http://tomsoutletshoesale.com/.  In the upper right corner of the site there is a currency converter but I didn't even let that bother me. The website advertised that they accepted PayPal, which is my preferred method of payment, but when it came time, that wasn't an option.  Still I was undeterred.  I clicked the button and parted with $49.66 of my hard earned cash.  And then I waited.  And waited.  And waited.

My credit card statement came in with a payment of $50.15 to a www.sohotrade.net in Beijing with an additional fee for a payment in a foreign currency and an exchange rate that made my Toms slightly higher (by about $2, but remember, I'm cheap).  So then I started to get worried.  How was I going to tell my hubs that a) I spent $50 on shoes that kinda look like they came from the Dollar Tree and b) that I spent $50 on something that may very well be a scam.

I went back and looked at my emails.

So I knew back when I was on my 2-pairs-of-Toms-for-less-than-$50-shipped high that I had used a 3rd party vendor as a payment service.  I vaguely remember clicking the buttons and there didn't seem anything hanky, but I was high on a deal, so forgive me.  I may have signed away my 4th kid, but who knows (no, there's not a 4th kid, nor are there plans for one).

Then I logged back into the website and looked at my account.

So a few days ago during naptime the doorbell rang, inciting running and a few choice words.  God help the unwitting solicitor that wakes the baby trying to sell me something.  Wouldn't you know it, it was the nice postman, wanting me to sign for a package.  What?  and then it hit me.  I scribbled something on his paper work and slammed the front door, forgetting the sleeping baby and everything but the fear of what lurked within the package.  Sorry, I ripped it open before I got a good picture.

Yup, that is authentic Chinese writing on that customs form.

It looked like an elephant sat on it.  Literally.  What was inside wasn't any better.

 In my disgust I didn't take a picture of the inside.  I don't remember what the inside of the box looked like with my glitter Toms, but the iconic flag was in there and some other things.  This box from the outlet held a pair of shoes and a sheet of tissue paper.  One pair had a tag on them, but that's it.  Let me speak a little bit to one last thing.  I have the nose of a bloodhound.  I can smell things long after they've been discarded.  So when I opened the outer shipping wrapper I knew something was amiss.  But when I opened the box, I thought that I had buried my nose in shoes that really came from the Dollar Tree.  It's a smell you probably know from inexpensive Keds your mom may have made you wear as a kid.  (don't even deny it).

It got worse.

I ordered a 7.5.  I got an 8

The outlet shoes have a cheap Euro size tag sewn in the side seam.  The non-outlet shoes do not.

A big difference is the insole.  The outlet shoes have no arch support.  The non-outlet shoes have a cushy arch.

From the outside, they look okay.

The back tags are identical.  The teal ones with dirt on them are my 'real' Toms.

Side tag and sole are fine.

I had packed up the camera when the ultimate betrayal caught my eye.

They didn't attach the insole piece to the doggone shoe.  UGH!!!!

As I sit here typing this post, I have these gray shoes on my feet with a band-aid on my heel from the blister they've rubbed.  So, here' the thing.  If you are strapped for cash, just dying to have the look of Toms, and can wait 3 stinkin' weeks for your shoes to arrive, go for it.  But if you want the comfort and quality of the expensive Toms, better take a pass on the Toms outlet experience. I am not saying that www.tomsoutletshoesale.com does not sell real Toms.  I am saying that they are not like my other Toms.

****I could have returned these shoes for a refund, but would have had to pay the postage back to China.  I opted to keep the shoes because on the outside they look the same.  I may never wear them again.  Who knows if I'll actually give the other pair as the gift I planned.

PS.  I am pinning this post in the hopes that others will be informed consumers, unlike me.