Zappos, you know I love you, but we've gotta talk

I've been doing lots and lots of shoe shopping lately - online by necessity since I have a toddler who is not fond of shopping expeditions.

In at least a half-dozen instances, I've used Zappo's excellent search functionality to narrow my search to a few candidates, then (having learned my lesson), I run a quick Google search to check competitor pricing. In many cases, Amazon's pricing is much, much lower and since I'm an Amazon Prime member, shipping and returns are free (as with Zappos).

For examples, I am considering these booties, priced at $219 on Zappos (http://www.zappos.com/dolce-vita-jamala-black) and only $142 at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Dolce-Vi.....B0083G68IG).
I noticed the same thing with the "Sam Edelman Maddie" bootie ($120 on Zappos and $69 on Amazon).

Now, I'm willing to pay a bit more for the great customer service and the wonderful search function on the website at Zappos, but Amazon has been good to me in the past as well. And I'm certainly not willing to pay 50% more.

OK, rant over. Has anyone else noticed this?

11 years ago

(website)

Veteran

My best boot prices have all been at Amazon. Miz Mooz Gayle's for $78, Santana Canada Penny's for $72, Frye Julia Lace ups for $235. Can't beat it.

catgirl

Yes, true - although Zappos customer service is the best around.

Kari

Yeah, I've seen that a lot-but Amazon's search tools are far inferior to Zappos. I miss Endless (now rolled into Amazon) because the prices were low and the search tools were excellent too, plus great customer service and return policies to boot.

bj1111

i really liked endless because i felt i got the same customer service as with zappos but with cheaper prices. like kari, i miss endless since its roll into amazon. their search engines were much better than amazon's.

annagybe

Another who misses Endless. They had a better selection of higher end shoes.
Amazon's search function is pretty horrible.
Nordstrom also often doesn't have the best prices, but they have the service. Plus I'm not sure Amazon offers the extended return window that Zappos' offers.

marianna

Agreed. I love Zappos so much, but they are not inexpensive, and they don't price match (I've tried). I truly dislike shopping on Amazon, though, so it's a difficult decision.

Diana

Agree on all counts. The best thing Amazon ever did for their business was to finally start offering free shipping and returns on shoes and clothes. The shorter return window doesn't bug me because, with a few exceptions, I know within minutes or at most days (if I decide to post a K/R here or something) whether I'll keep something.

Sometimes I do feel bad about using Zappos to search for things, and then googling for better prices, but the better prices are SO MUCH BETTER. Even things that are full price everywhere generally can be found with a 20% off coupon or something on sites like Shoebuy or Planet Shoes.

Zappos does have a discount site, 6pm.com; however, I don't use them nearly as much because they don't have the one thing that I want from all sites, the free shipping and returns.

I miss Endless too! It had the best search options. I find Zappos searches both too narrow and too broad somehow.

Echo

It seems that no matter when or where I find an item on sale, though, some other site has it at a higher price, though, and it isn't always Zappos. Zappos does have sales , and they also sell discounted through 6 pm (though many items are on both sites). So sometimes Zappos is higher and sometimes they are lower for me.

And their shipping can't be beat. If I need something within a certain window of time, I can't risk the shipping from other vendors. Zappos gets it to me in one day, so sometimes I choose to pay a premium so it gets here in time.

Sylvie

Joining the "endless" love train. I bought so many of my shoes during their excellent Black Friday + ebates cash back.

With the amazon.com/endless merge, they averaged the prices (lower on amazon, higher on endless) and went to free (but slow) shipping. Lose-lose situation for me.

I like 6pm.com but *only* for shoes I've already tried on. The cost of shipping them back is ridiculous.

cheryle (Dianthus)

I always thought zappos had really good prices but have compared and they seem as high as most B&M stores. I am in Canada and usually drive over the border to take advantage of free shipping so the slow shipping at amazon doesn't bother me. I am usually waiting for two or three packages to arrive before I go anyway.

It is hard to beat the prices and selection on amazon.

Ann in New England

Active Member

It's especially odd since Amazon owns Zappos. However, I know that Amazon "price scrapes" -- meaning that they check competitors' websites constantly and will adjust prices accordingly. Maybe they feel that Zappos has such mindshare that people don't bother to comparison shop.

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