A GUIDE TO BUYING WHOLESALE SHOES + SHOE WISHLIST

WHITE THIGH HIGHS// PINK BROUGES// UNIF-ESQUE PLATFORMS// THIGH HIGH LACE UP PLATFORMS

Do any of you guys ever lust over the mega cheap Chinese wholesale shoes available on eBay or Wholesale websites, but are never too sure whether you should purchase or not? Over the past five years I have come to love a good cheap wholesale shoe from eBay, I can rarely afford the real deal so instead I head to eBay to find something very similar, they often do extremely good copies or different versions of shoes you've already seen and over the years, and I have learnt a few tricks to avoid disappointment after the 30 day delivery wait!

1.
Always size up! I'm a UK 5 so I always go for a UK size 6 due to disappointments in the past, for some reason they run extremely small. I read on a Chinese wholesale website that they run small because Asians have ~generally~ smaller feet than the rest of the world. If you're a size 6+ then you probably wont find anything I'm very sorry to say :( Although its better than buying something and being disappointed that your toes are squished. There are occasional styles in bigger sizes though so just make sure you check the size box when searching!!

2.
They will never actually look as good on the photo as they do in real life, but what do you expect for £10-£30 with free postage? Normally the fabric is a bit thinner and they're slightly more dainty (I like a clumpy shoe) I've had buckles break in the past after wearing multiple times but I've never had a problem with zips. Saying this, I've got multiple pairs of creepers and platform boots which look amazing and are still going strong after 3+ years of wear. Especially my platform Dr Marten-eqsue boots, which you can see here, I've worn them to multiple festivals and they're still going strong! I mean I'd love some real ones, but not only are they mega expensive but whenever I even consider buying them they go out of stock immediately (sad)!

3.
You have to wait up to 30 days for them to arrive, and sometimes it can be more, so you can't really buy them for a specific event unless its way in the future. I've had shoes arrive within 14 days in the past though so you never know! 3. If you want multiple pairs of different shoes, you can often negotiate shipping with the seller, and they always seem eager to please (in my experience)!

4.
I would never buy from an eBayer with under 98% positive feedback. I noticed a lot of eBay stores, especially wholesale, have a lot of bad feedback and sometimes that puts me off, but then when I look at their score and realise that actually 10,000 of their items safely reached their customers and only 2% of those items went wrong, and then I feel a bit better. If anything goes wrong you can message the seller who (should) refund and if not you can always open a case with eBay. If you're really worried, you could even copy the title of the listing, go onto the negative feedback page, and then use the Find tool in your menu bar (usually Edit--Find) to search for negative feedback for that item ^_^ (or is that just me being over cautious haha)

5.
Sometimes, but only sometimes, you can find shoes (and clothes) which a few months later appear in high street stores at ridiculous markup. Once I bought a beautiful tapestry skirt from Wholesale7 for $5 and a year later the exact same skirt (I kid you not, it was identical) was in Topshop for £45, the only difference was it had Topshop labels in. (View post!)

6.
Always search for free shipping, the same shoe is often listed multiple times with various different postage options and prices.

7.
If your purchase is over £15 you may have to pay VAT before you're allowed to receive your parcel, I've actually never had to pay VAT on any shoes which I've purchased off eBay however I've had to pay VAT on other items I've imported. I guess its just down to chance and whether your parcel gets stopped at customs.


Here are a few (a lot!) of my favourites that I've found on eBay recently! If I could, I would buy them all but I think that defeats the object of this money saving post. There are so many 90's replicas coming onto the market which I am very excited about! Happy shoe shopping my friends!



1. UNIF-ESQUE PLATFORM BOOTS £21.29
2. LEOPARD PRINT CHELSEA BOOT £13.78
3. DR MARTEN-ESQUE STUDDED PLATFORM BOOTS £15.67
4. SUEDETTE PLATFORM BOOT £15.19
5. HOLOGRAPHIC WHITE SOLE PLATFORM BOOTS £21.27
6. PLATFORM CONVERSE (BLACK OR WHITE) £11.79
7. BUCKLE PLATFORM BOOTS £22.79
8. BUFFALO-ESQUE BLACK (OR PINK) PLATFORM TRAINERS £22.11
9. PLATFORM BROUGE WITH BUCKLE (BLACK OR WHITE) £18.43
10. LACE UP PLATFORM HEEL BROUGES WITH TARTAN DETAIL £30.19
11. THIGH HIGH PLATFORM LACE UP BOOTS £64.33
12. BUFFALO-ESQUE WHITE (OR BLACK) PLATFORM TRAINERS WITH RAINBOW DETAIL £30.99

I hope you've all enjoyed this post, if you have any questions please do let me know and I will try my best to answer them!!