Remember the days of going to the mall on the hunt for that perfect pair of pumps?  You would spend the whole day shopping and get so discouraged that you’d still leave empty handed.  Even worse, you find the right pair on sale but they don’t have your size.  Yet, you buy them anyways (because we all know that when it comes to the perfect pair of shoes a woman can make her foot miraculously shrink by a size or two if needed – think Chis Farley singing the “fat guy in a little coat” tune”), only to let them sit in your closet forever.  Sigh…

Zappos gets rid of that!  The only frustration I had with their site was having TOO MUCH to chose from.  It took me a long time to warm up to the idea of buying shoes online.  I had tried buying shoes online  a few times in the past and it always resulted in the wrong size shoe or worse;  footwear that looked really good in the virtual reality of my  computer screen looked hideous in the actual reality of my living room .  When  the day came when I was looking for a pair of winter boots, however, I decided to browse through Zappos website.  At a minimum they offer more of a boot selection than any store, department or otherwise, where I live.

When I found the perfect pair of boots (and it didn’t take long), I clicked…I ordered.  Seriously, it was that simple.  First of all, and much to my surprise, they immediately upgraded my shipping to next day air.  I thought maybe I was being offered this as an introductory thing because I was a new customer, but that wasn’t the case.  Turns out that your order almost always gets upgraded to next day air.  When that doesn’t happen, the order still comes in about 2 business days.  Zappos apparently understands that we girls don’t like to wait for our new shoes, and so they do a remarkable job of making sure we don’t have to.  Awesome.

So I got my boots the next day.  Unfortunately they were way too snug – think fat guy in a little coat, but …but leave it to Zappos to make the swap easy…you can register your return right on their site and print out a UPS return label in an instant.  Of course, Zappos covers shipping both ways, so you don’t have to pay a wrong-size penalty in the form of return shipping charges.  So I sent the first pair back and ordered the next size up.  Here is where the only minor, and I mean minor, annoyance comes in.

After placing my re-order, I realized that it was probably better if I try a 1/2 size up rather than making the leap to a full size.  When I attempted to cancel my order, I couldn’t just click on a cancel button.  On most sites this is an option that’s readily available when you have just placed an order.  Instead I had to login to a webchat thing and ask a rep to cancel it.  I would have preferred just being able to send an email or click on cancel, but perhaps that’s just me.

Regardless, once I made the request the order was immediately canceled.  I was then able to  place my order for the 1/2 size larger (yes, a full size up from where I started I know).  This time I had ordered them over a holiday weekend so it took me a bit longer to receive the package.  When all was said and done,  I had ordered three pairs of boots, and I returned each and every pair.  So even though I wasn’t able to find that perfect boot, I still recommend Zappos.  The customer service is extremely responsive and thorough.  Their return policy (free free free – need I say more?) is wonderful.  And the selection/price combination is out of this world.  I guess I don’t have to say that it was ultra convenient.

This online mega store is definitely a must for all of your footwear and accessory needs.  You literally have not one thing to lose by trying them out…except maybe your boyfriend after all of your Zappos orders start creeping into his side of the closet:).  The prices are so amazing, and if you know exactly what you are looking for then you can bet that you will find it cheaper on this site.  Take a gander and let us know what you think! www.zappos.com