So my kid’s birthday was coming up, and he’d been begging for these flashy Pokemon shoes with Pikachu on the sides. I looked up the price online — whoa, nearly $100! Ain’t no way I’m spending that much on something he’ll outgrow in three months. Decided to hunt for deals like a crazy coupon lady. Here’s how it went down.
Method 1: Digging Through Outlet Stores
Grabbed my coffee and drove to the outlet mall outside town. Went straight to the sports shoe clearance section. Started flipping boxes like a raccoon digging through trash. Found Spiderman shoes, unicorn slippers — no Pokemon. Almost gave up until I spotted this crumpled red box behind some Crocs. Jackpot! Last pair, size fits my kid, even had Charizard on the tongue. Sticker price said $100, scanned it at the kiosk — boom, $37! Turns out they were a discontinued color. Messy process, but saved sixty bucks.
Method 2: The “Email Bomb” Trick
Signed up for newsletters from every shoe store in town using a junk email account. Got like 20% off coupons almost immediately, but mostly for boring adult shoes. Almost deleted everything when this popped up three days later:
- Kid shoe clearance at Shoe Carnival
- Extra 25% off with code CLEARANCEBUG
- Stacked with my new-user 15% code
Went bananas when the Poke ball design popped up for $45 originally. Codes stacked! Final price with tax? $31. But sizing was limited — got lucky his feet matched stock.
Method 3: Secondhand Swaps
Hit up local mom groups on Facebook. Posted “ISO Pokemon shoes size 9” with crying emojis. Got flooded with sketchy offers:
- Lady selling beat-up Squirtle slides for $5 (looked moldy in pics)
- Dude had Eevee ones but smelled like cigarettes
Finally found a mom two towns over selling near-new Ash Ketchum kicks for $20. Met her in the Target parking lot. Kid tried them on right there in the backseat. Bit worn near the toes, but sprayed ‘em with Lysol. Victory!
Ended up with three pairs for what one cost retail. My kid thinks I’m some kinda Poke-master now. Lesson? Cheap ain’t pretty — smelled like sweat, chased expired coupons, got my hands dirty. But worth it when the little dude hugged me wearing those dumb Charizard shoes.
