It can be a problem if the shoes are worn down. But so many shoes for young kids are barely worn that I wouldn't hesitate to use them in general. My own ds never wore shoes for very long stretch, either, so I figure they couldn't cause a problem, anyway.

 

I don't do used shoes. My kids typically wear DC shoes or Etnies which work well for their wide, thick feet. But depending on where I get them, they're about $50 a pair.

 

We do use them and as pp said, they are barely used when we get them.

 

Every pair my son has are used. I can not afford $50-$60 a pair for really good shoes. I shop second hand and Baby Bargain sales and find great shoes that aren't worn at all.

Recently I got him a pair of Stride Rite leather shoes and an awesome pair of Lands End shoes for two bucks each and neither pair had been taken out of the box.

So many people buy way too much stuff for their kids and I am always just waiting around to snap up the cast offs.

 

I don't do used shoes for the reason stated above, that the patterns of the previous user are imprinted on the shoe and may affect the development of my child's pattern.

DH, on the other hand, thinks it's ok for the reasons stated above as well... that kids typically grow out of shoes quickly and therefore don't imprint as much as an adult does and that kids are way less heavier than adults so he does not see how much "wearing down" it will take.

We love KEENs too and I usually buy them when on sale at REI. The last pair that I bought for my son (4y.o.) was about $23.

 

We buy used Keens. Also wide feet, low arches, buy on e-bay. I've been nothing but happy with my purchases. My daughter loves Keens, she literally starts prancing around when she gets them.

Most people don't sell very used shoes on e-bay. Good sellers take pictures of the tread, the tops, you can tell they're hardly worn (by our standards... if you have two pairs of shoes, they get worn a lot, LOL!).

My thing is, a pair of used Keens is still WAY more supportive than most of the shoes we could afford. I've paid an average, including shipping, of $25/pair and now we have them in every size and DD2 wears her big sister's.

Sadly now that big sister's getting older, the wear is way more noticeable and I think I won't be able to hand down shoes from this year to little one. I didn't anticipate that, but they're really worn at the heel and I can't see any child wearing them for anything other than dress up.

 

pretty much all my kid's shoes are used (mine too). ds also has probably 5-10 pairs of shoes at any given time (the thrift store near us has them often for less than $2) I figure he wears lots of shoes, he's barefoot in the house, I'm not worried about the former wearer's foot imprints.

 

I'll buy anything used except socks, underwear, and shoes.

 

My dd wears a mix of new and used shoes. I like to have several pairs that fit her so none are excessively worn. I have heard that about not buying used shoes and figure dd goes barefoot enough to offset any random shoe imprinting. I have several pairs of used shoes myself. We also get hand me downs every year to add to the mix. I wouldn't buy or wear really cheap used shoes like plastic flip flops or rain boots. Those are gross after dirty feet have been in them. Expensive shoes seem to fit and wear so well that they are frequently a great bargain gently used on ebay or at consignment stores. Sometimes they have been worn only once or twice.

 

We buy used shoes as long as they're lightly used.

I would rather buy quality used shoes than brand new and inferior shoes, JMO. My kids are also really hard on shoes and the cheap ones don't hold up very well.

 

Agree - way better to buy used Keens or another good quality brand (and seriously, how long do kids really use shoes anyway) than to buy cheapy shoes. A lot of the nicer shoes last really well anyway and I've seen some practically new ones in thrift and consignment stores. We always buy shoes secondhand.

 

We don't buy used, I don't want to risk it, as I have really bad feet and a lot of issues with them (and I only wore used shoes as a small child).

We've got Bobux I-Walk (and still use Bobux soft eco-leather shoes as slippers), as they are the bes you can get here. We actually had a pair sent to us when we were in Sweden last year, as Swedish children's shoes are considered to be better the harder they are. Anyway, we are very pleased with Bobux I-Walk. And we've just got two pairs, sneakers and sandals (as we have spring here now), on sale, 2 for NZD100, which at the moment converts to USD76. They usually retail for NZD69 or 75 a pair.

 

I've never bought used shoes, but we have had gently worn hand-me-downs. I don't think they've caused problems. If the shoes had a distinctive wear pattern like run down heels or broken down insteps, I wouldn't accept them. Kids outgrow shoes really quickly and I don't find wear patterns like those in adult shoes.

My kids always had a variety of shoes too, a couple of pairs of sneakers, some loafers, sandals etc., so no single pair would get worn everyday. I also encouraged going barefoot - no shoes at all allowed in the house, and often they went barefoot in the yard too. Neither of them had shoes until they were about 20 months old and had been walking for quite awhile by then. I think minimizing shoe wear and switching up shoes avoids some of the problems you may be worried about.

 

We do a mix of used and new--for me and dd. Dh always gets new, but 1. he's on his feet A LOT more than us, 2. used men's shoes are nearly impossible to find except loafers and such.

DD isn't in shoes enough of the time for me to worry that a shoe some other kid wore for 3 months is going to hurt her in the 3 months she wears it. Especially since we can't always find used shoes that I think are reasonable.

The person I know with the worst feet ever always wore new shoes--but high heels. So I'm more worried about getting the nice flexy soles than anything else.

 

As long as they are lightly used, like most kid's shoes, I don't think it is a problem. As they get older and the shoes get more wear, then I see it as a problem.

 

I have absolutely no problem with lightly used shoes. I wouldn't buy somethign that's obviously worn, and worn down. But all the used shoes I've bought have had little to no wear. I don't know if they were part of someone huuuuuge shoe collection for their kid or what, but I often find shoes that might as well be brand new, at thrift stores. Dress shoes are even better, as they're often only worn once or twice before the kid outgrows them.

 

We've bought 3 pairs of my DDs shoes on ebay. They were SKR shoes which scuff easily. One pair looked completely new the other two were a little scuffed on the toe but wore just fine. Even the new looking pair was about $20 instead of $40. We've bought on sale clearance styles of SKR on their website and some stride rite at an outlet store. I think I've only paid full price once, twice if you count snow boots. We have a family member who has a DD who is one year younger than our DD so she gets most of DDs hand me downs. We've only had 3 pairs of shoes that were too worn to give away. The leather stride rite ones seem to show the least wear.

 

DS1 has had a handful of new and lots of used shoes. Often I can find him nearly-new shoes for just a few dollars ($3-6, generally), and I'm totaly OK with that. When he gets bigger and actually wears them for more than a couple months maybe I'll rethink that idea. But for now? Who cares. And DS2 has had almost exclusively Ds1 handme-downs so far

 

I hand down wellies, as my kids wear them only occasionally and well padded with lots of socks, or dressing up shoes that only ever stay on for a few minutes anyway, but generally I'm wary of used shoes.

 

Someone must be buying them because I've sold a LOT of used shoes at consignment - but they are so lightly used they look new and sometimes they still have tags. I think the "used" shoes that get sold are shoes that were almost never worn. You can pretty much tell by looking at them if they have a lot of wear, and I assume you wouldn't buy shoes that LOOK used so while it's not something I do (I only get to consignment twice a year and both times I'm dropping off), I can't see the problem with if it you use common sense.

 

We buy used cars, furniture, clothes for ds, toys.....but never socks, undies, or shoes (except rubber boots).
DS still fits his shoes from spring but the velcro doesn't work now. I always buy shoes just slightly big and they last quite a while. I figure I save buying 90% of his clothes used so I can put that money to getting a good pair of StrideRite or Geox or the like.
Really 6months of wear is ok in my mind as for myself and hubby usually annually we get new shoes for ourselves.

 

The only new shoes my younger kids have ever had were their first pair of Robeez (the next sizes up I bought used) and their cheapo dollar store knock off crocs.
All the rest have been used. Bought at yard sales and thrift stores, some in perfect shape, some pretty ratty (which suits 6 y/o DS just fine as he wears the carp out of anything he owns pretty quickly. Seriously, this kid can LOOK pair of pants and they'll rip!) Two summers ago I bought four pairs of sneaks for DD at a yard sale for 50 cents apiece, they were all brand name, in very good condition, their were two size 11's and two 12's, she's gone through the 11's and I freecycled them, and now she's on to the 12's. So that's $1 per year in sneakers for her

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I found a pair of Geox for $4 for DS and assorted pairs of LL Bean hiking boots and loafers for them and me for a few dollars a pair.
Now, my oldest DS gets new shoes which he helps pay for, but I buy his football cleats new so it probably works out money wise in the end.

 

I buy shoes on sale whenever I can. Our kids wear a mix of new and used. Used shoes are very lightly worn, and handed down from family. Often they are dress shoes, or shoes that match a particular outfit, and they aren't worn a lot.

I can't imagine that a used shoe in a quality brand with no visible wear is worse for a child's feet than a pair of $3 flip flops from Old Navy.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by childsplay I found a pair of Geox for $4 for DS and assorted pairs of LL Bean hiking boots and loafers for them and me for a few dollars a pair.

This reminds me to mention warehouse sales. I've gone to Geox warehouse sales and found really great deals. You have to be patient and willing to hunt, and get your elbows out to deal with the crowds though. The shoes are all new though, and though the prices aren't as good as $4 per pair, they are very reasonable compared to retail. They are held about once a year and I've seen them advertised in our local community newspaper.

 

I'll get used shoes for Ellie as long as they aren't too worn.