PlanetShoes.com

Full review
I love shoes. And boots. And …any sort of footwear available. And I love to shop at places that have new and different styles to choose from. Planet Shoes definitely has some different looking shoes, although I am not sure so this site will appeal to everyone considering many of the styles could be considered very “cloddy” or ugly even.

About Planet Shoes

This is their philosophy according to their “About Us” page:

The aim of Planet Shoes is to bring you shoes for today's lifestyles. Planet Shoes are both comfortable and modern: stressing the belief in comfortable shoes for the future. Using the latest technology Planet Shoes has been able to design footwear to be some of the most comfortable in the world. Design is a matter of good ideas of which Planet Shoes puts into everything from traditional to modern looks.

What Planet Shoes Sells

This site has a large variety of footwear for men, women, and kids. Most of the styles are very earth friendly and many are “vegan” in that they us no animal products in the making of the shoes. You won’t find any high heels on this site. All their offerings are low to no heeled and many look like the old “Earth Shoes” that were popular in the late 70’s and early 80’s. They carry their own brand of footwear as well as those from Tommy Bahama, Michelin, Propet, Sporto, and they have a line called Earth, which is the one that is all synthetic and natural footwear. They also carry a few T-Shirts but the emphasis is very much on footwear of all kinds.

Variety

There is a fairly large variety of different styles of casual and flat dress shoes, boots, and sandals on the site and some athletic shoes. The prices are high for the most part, in my opinion, but some shoes are worth the extra cost.

Navigation

The site is set up well with links to name brands or styles. You can choose to browse by gender or set up a special search by a combination of gender, size, and style and/or brand name. FAQs, Customer Service, and other informational links are prominently displayed for easy access.

Once you find a shoe you like, you click on that picture and a larger picture will appear with a description of the shoe and the price. You can enlarge the photo even more to get a good look as well. If you want to buy the item, you choose a size and add it to your cart.

Next to every item you put into your cart is a little shipping calculator. You input your zip code (or country if outside the US) and you will find out how much shipping for the item is for the PSPS and for UPS. That’s a handy feature but not needed for US customers apparently as shipping is now free for all l orders on the site.

Once you have finished shopping, you go to the checkout but not before you are given a bunch of other shoe choices similar to the ones you are trying to buy to lure you into picking up another pair or two of shoes before departing. If you choose to decline the offers, you move to payment area.

Once there, you will sign in if you are a returning customer or you will fill in the usual personal information on the checkout form and pay with a major credit card.

Your total (with expedited shipping if you chose it or if you’re an international customer) appears and if all looks well, you click submit and you get an order number. You also immediately get an email with the details of your order. Once the order ships you are notified and given a tracking number.

The order should arrive in seven to 10 days depending on your location.

My Shopping Experience

I have shopped at Planet Shoes a few times over the years. I usually head straight for the sales or clearance items because the regular prices are generally too steep for me.

Browsing was easy and I enjoyed looking at all the styles, many of which were too weird looking or expensive for me to actually purchase, but fun to look at.

I bought a few clearance items and all went very smoothly.

Once, however, I bought two pairs of sandals in different colors. For some reason, I was shipped a size eight and a size five although I ordered both in size eight.

I contacted customer service who said they were out of my size in the sandal that was sent to me in size five but would be happy to exchange (for something else) or refund me if I sent them back. These shoes come in a heavy box and inside the box, each shoe is in a material drawstring bag. Very cute but sending them back is expensive because of the box and extras. I had gotten these sandals for just $12.99 and, to ship them back would have cost me about half that. It wasn’t really worth it to me so I ended up keeping the sandals and getting an attitude because I felt the company should have issued me a return label considering the mix up was their mistake, not mine.

I haven’t shopped there since. However, it is worth noting the other orders I made went smoothly with no problems and the shoes fit fine and all went well. My shoes arrived in about 10-12 days after payment as I recall.

I have an issue with the prices on this site. They’re pretty high for non-designer brand shoes. Even sale prices are high. I’m an impulse shopper and I have been known to drop a bundle on a “gotta have em or I will die” pair of shoe or boot but none of these shoes give me that feeling. I suppose it is a personal preference. If you like somewhat odd, not very cool looking footwear, it’s all there on Planet Shoes. I saw a pair of vegan boots I liked, again, the price turned me off. For those who are adamant about wearing footwear that has no animal products in them, this site just might be your favorite one.

As far as my own personal experiences, two out three times, everything went smoothly. Once, I was sent the wrong size and wasn’t offered return shipping back which I felt I deserved since it was not my error. I soured on the site after that but I wouldn’t say this is a bad site or to avoid it.

Shipping and Returns

When I went to the site tonight to check on shipping prices, I saw that they now have free shipping to customers in the US. This is a change from when I shopped there last. I am not quite sure why they have a shipping calculator next to the items if they ship free but you can find out expedited shipping prices as well as international ones so it will help some people.

Here’s where we enter bizzaro word. I went to page that talks about their return policy (FAQs) and this is the info they give: Returns and exchanges are accepted within 30 says of purchase. They ask that you not wear the shoes outside and to only wear them on a carpeted surface before deciding if you are going to keep them. You must send the footwear back at your expense and will be refunded the price of the shoes but not your shipping to them or any expedited shipping you paid. You can also exchange items under the same rules as above. They will pay to ship your exchange back to you (and you pay to ship the originals to them). However, outside the US, they will not pay return shipping on an exchange so definitely check into that before purchasing items you’re not sure of.

They will not accept shoes that have been worn outside or are in otherwise worn condition.

Remember my problem with them shipping me the wrong size sandal? According to their FAQs page, they will not pay for shipping back under ANY condition, including them making a mistake and shipping the wrong size or shoe. Sheesh. That’s pretty unfair of them.

Then I went to their customer service page and they claim they will pay for return shipping for any reason if you provide a receipt to them for your shipping costs to send the footwear back to them. You must mail that receipt to: Planet Shoes, Returns, 135 Second Ave, Waltham, Ma 02451.

I highly suggest you call or email them before ordering and get it in writing exactly what their policies are. They have conflicting information and I don’t feel comfortable with that.

Email them at info@planetshoes.com or 1-888-818-SHOE (8:00 - 6:00 EST).

They also have a price matching policy and will match the price of any shoe found cheaper elsewhere with a valid URL sent to them. You must order the shoes from them first and they will credit you back the difference once they verify that the shoe is the exact same one you bought.

Conclusion

This site is popular with a certain sector who like the style of shoes offered but there are conflicts that make me uncomfortable shopping there. I don’t know if I can or cannot return shoes for free. I certainly was NOT given that option when I had my problem with them.

The shoes are pretty high priced so the shipping is built right into the price of them. Still free shipping is always a plus.

They do match prices but the shoes they carry are not very mainstream and I don’t know how many you would find elsewhere, which makes this site unique in that way.

I had one unpleasant experience and a couple of simple, easy ones. I don’t shop there because I find most of the shoes unappealing and too expensive. If the free returns policy is true, then it’s risk free to sink a larger amount of money into a pair of shoes or boots that you aren’t sure you will like or that will fit.

I give this site 3 stars. It’s got conflicting information and didn’t make good on an error it made with me. Still, If you like the style of shoes they carry and are cool with the prices, you may find this site to your liking. It’s an average site with unique looking footwear but with conflicting policies that make shopping there confusing.