I'm impressed so far with shoes.com, although I don't know how they make money.

Over the last few years, I have had continuous bad luck with shopping for sneakers. It doesn't matter what day or time it is, or what store: whatever kind I want, the store doesn't have it in my size (12, which is a mainstream size).

Last week I tried shoes.com and found it to be a pleasant experience. Since I have looked around so much for sneakers, I pretty much know how they will look when they arrive, so I was comfortable selecting them online. I ordered a couple of pairs and enjoyed free shipping. I returned the pair I didn't want using the prepaid postage label and the original box.

I'd prefer to support the nice people at Tip Top Shoes, my local shoe store, but I've had bad luck there just one too many times. This seems better for now.