Dance Shoes Pricing

DanceMentor

DanceMentor

Administrator
Just curious, these days are you still paying a premium for your dance shoes? Are the more expensive shoes the best quality?

I had been wearing the Tango by International for a long time and it was a little tight on my foot. I guess the price for these shoes is somewhere around $190 per pair.

After I injured my foot, it was basically an impossibility to continue to wear these shoes at least for several months. I ended up wearing some shoes that I got from Payless that look like a jazz sneaker and came from the lady's section and I believe cost me about $20. They aren't very formal looking but they actually work very well for me, because it's a very flat shoe.

So this was quite a jump from $190 to $20, and I don't think this would be a normal circumstance. Haha

But I'm just wondering if there is some other scenarios where you ended up paying a lot less for a shoe but you like the quality much better than the expensive counterpart.
 
When I first started, I had a pair of Capezio, which I liked. My teacher told me to get a "better" shoe, so I paid $160 for a pair of Supadance. The sole would not hold a nap and were constantly too slick. I paid $160 for another pair of Supadance and the leather upper separated from the sole in multiple places.

I then bought a pair of VeryFine for $70. They lasted 2 years of regular use. I got a distributor account with them, and now get them at a very reasonable price. I've had differing experiences with different models, but overall for a cheap shoe they're a great deal.

I haven't bought a more expensive shoe since then. YMMV.
 
Still paying for expensive dance shoes. Used to by from dance shoes online, and very fine, but they just couldn't keep up with the wear and tear. my problem now is that my feet seem to change unexpectedly and i'm constantly trying to find the right fit. Ray Rose kalahari's were fine, then wouldn't fit. Aida Karina's in wide were fine, then i couldn't get them on my foot. Switched to international flavia's in double wide and perfect. and then...my most recent replace of the int'l flavia and i can barely squeeze my foot in it. SAME ORDER. i don't get it. i'm over 40, why are my feet changing on a 6 mo basis?! SHOES ARE EXPENSIVE AND I HATE RETURNS TO OVERSEAS.

/rant over.
 
scullystwin42 said:
. i'm over 40, why are my feet changing on a 6 mo basis?! SHOES ARE EXPENSIVE AND I HATE RETURNS TO OVERSEAS.

/rant over.
Click to expand...
My feet change about every 6 months, too. It's part of my learning. I use them differently; they change. Time for new shoes! I tried less expensive shoes, but keep going back to Aida.
 
Ugh. I tried a pair of 4.5 international flavia’s yesterday and they were too long. Apparently I just need freaking QUADRUPLE WIDE size 4’s for my stupid feet. Just big ol’ pancake size toe box pls
 
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scullystwin42 said:
Still paying for expensive dance shoes. Used to by from dance shoes online, and very fine, but they just couldn't keep up with the wear and tear. my problem now is that my feet seem to change unexpectedly and i'm constantly trying to find the right fit. Ray Rose kalahari's were fine, then wouldn't fit. Aida Karina's in wide were fine, then i couldn't get them on my foot. Switched to international flavia's in double wide and perfect. and then...my most recent replace of the int'l flavia and i can barely squeeze my foot in it. SAME ORDER. i don't get it. i'm over 40, why are my feet changing on a 6 mo basis?! SHOES ARE EXPENSIVE AND I HATE RETURNS TO OVERSEAS.

/rant over.
Click to expand...
What they are doing on AliExpress now is local return. You just return them in new condition to a local address they provide, and you get a refund. Not all products offer local return, but many of the better sellers offer this.

I am happy with AliExpress right now, because I got a pair of prescription glasses for $30 that would have cost me $300 here in the US. Granted it does take something like 20-30 days to get your order.
 
Cherry said:
me too,but need take more times to choose good products
Click to expand...
Actually I started out by ordering a normal pair of Street shoes there. They have not arrived yet. I thought it would be good to check the measurements this way. I think I paid about $10 for the street shoes. Once I understand the measuring is accurate, I may order a pair of dance shoes next.
 
For men's shoes, it seems to me that the cost is relatively in line with other leather shoes, and based on my recollection (notoriously unreliable, my dance partner will tell you), thought I read once that something like half the cost of a shoe is the materials. Perhaps someone with more knowledge can confirm?

So is more expensive always better? For me, no, but I don't expect huge drops in price either.

I totally get the idea of the one time cost being a big deal, especially for the early years... I recently started another sport which requires specialized footwear, and I was hesitant to spend so much for a sport I wasn't sure if I was going to pursue seriously or not, and not knowing what I should be looking for when I'm in a store for the first time.

Still, if I try to budget out what I spend on dance, averaged over the years, shoes are probably on the same order of magnitude as water bottles for practice. (Feel free to judge me on that one, obviously.)
 
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