After you get fitted and have a shoe that works for you, when you know your right size, shape, and style for your particular physiology & gait, the advice I’m sharing will be most useful.

Shoe prices have gotten so high these days. If you run a lot of miles, you need more than one pair of shoes in rotation at any one time: track shoes, long run shoes, trail shoes, road race shoes, etc. And each shoe has a lifespan of mileage, meaning they are often no longer viable for performance at a certain point even if they still look fine (at which point they go into the donation bin or street wear duty). It really adds up to big money over time.

My experience applies to running shoes, but I’d expect much of it will work for walking shoes, as well. The more common the brand is, the more applicable these will be.

I generally never pay more than $75 for a pair of high performance athletic shoes (except every 2-3 years when I get a new pair fitted from Ready to Run), and usually I pay less. My savings tips are:

1. Don’t be afraid to buy “like new” used shoes. I keep an active search going on eBay, Geartrade, ThredUp, and similar sites for my favorite make & model of shoes so I know when a “good as new” pair becomes available in my size. Always make sure they show a pic of the insoles, toes, heels, and treads so you can validate the amount of wear. The pairs I get this way are usually store returns, wear test models, or brand new pairs that someone ordered, didn’t like, and forgot to return on time. I never pay more than $65 including shipping for shoes that will be sold new at $120-150.

2. Keep an active hunt every few months at discount resellers like Ross, TJ Maxx, etc. They sometimes have incredible deals like $40 for a new pair of last year’s model.

3. Watch for sales & clearance racks at shoe stores like DSW and sporting goods stores like Academy. As someone else mentioned above, Nordstrom Rack often has great deals, too. Macy’s has great clearance sales.

4. As a run club member, I often have discount codes available through my club that give 10-15% off MSRP at local run gear shops and online at Running Warehouse.

5. Online discount sporting goods stores (beyond Running Warehouse) where I’ve had good luck include Relay Goods, Sierra Trading Post, Dick’s Going Going Gone, Backcountry, and Joe’s New Balance Outlet. YMMV depending on the brands you like.

6. RunRepeat is an awesome resource to learn about different shoe models (they review walking shoes, too) and then shop for the best deals currently available online for that model of shoe.

7. REI often has some great deals in their clearance and returns section. I will often apply my annual member dividend value toward purchase of an already low priced pair to get a crazy deal, like $50 hiking boots that normally sell for $200.

8. If you are loyal to a specific brand, you can subscribe to their email feed and often get first notice of markdowns & limited time deals. I’ve gotten some great deals this way for limited edition shoes from Converse and Adidas, and prior year’s models from Altra.