Ignoring the incurable itch

*

The problem with being a shopaholic is you always manage to convince yourself you simply don't have enough of whatever it is you already have. So what if you've got closets bursting with stuff you fell madly in lust with once upon a time but have since forgotten? Shopaholism defies logic, closet space, and financial constraints. I've had people laugh at me when I tell them this, but I swear: I am addicted to shopping.

*

So it was that I found myself believing that yes, I needed another pair of shoes. It didn't matter I'd gotten four pairs since the start of the year, plus another three from December that I hadn't even worn yet (who's counting, anyway?). I wanted a new pair of shoes, dammit!

*

*

Gathered Slingback Stilettos, Clothesbucket

*
*

In a bid to satiate my burning (albeit irrational) desire, I decided to look around online. And oh my, I was not disappointed.

*
*

Bradshaw in Dark Red Phyton, Clothesbucket

*
*

There was a catch, though. I discovered - to my dismay - that some local shoe shop blogs don't have ready stock with them. Instead, they order batches from wholesalers overseas. But to do that, they need a guarantee that there's a ready buyer for each size of a particular design they're about to order. And how do they get this guarantee? You pay upfront - either a deposit (if they're nice) or a lump sum.
*

*

Qupid System Oxford Pumps, Urban Original

*
*

It sounded reasonable enough when the shop blog owner I dealt with explained it to me. But then she said something that made me realise perhaps buying shoes online wasn't for me after all.

*

"The best thing to do is to transfer the money to me ASAP, and when i reach the minimum total set by the suppliers i will send the orders over, probably by next week," the blog shop owner said. "The heels will most likely arrive by the end of February," she concluded brightly.

*

So maybe I'm a little old-fashioned about these things. And I'm sure it doesn't help that I spent six months in the Complaints Department of a regulatory body, perennially wading through horror stories of people getting ripped off online. Whatever it was, I was not - and am not - cool with the idea of giving someone my money and waiting a month for a pair of shoes, all the more if I have no way of checking the authenticity of the seller in question. (This particular seller hadn't had the foresight to include feedback from previous customers on her shop blog. Prospective buyers are expected to contact her privately via her mobile phone number and/or personal email address.)

*

Suffice it to say I didn't go through with it. Oh well, I guess it's time to go back to shoe shopping the old school way - in a physical store, just as the gods of consumerism intended.

*