The Boots On This Site Are Much Better Looking Than The Site Itself.
Boots for Less
Rarely have I seen a website with such nice looking boots that is so ugly. The site is, not the boots. Boots for Less is poorly designed and not very inviting but, If you can get past that, they have some decent prices.
What the Site Sells
They sell boots. For less, even! They sell Justin, Tony Lama, and Chippewa boots for youths, men, and women in a variety of styles from Western, Work, Packer, Lacers, and Ropers and in a variety of styles and leathers.
Navigation
The home page is the blandest page you'll see on the net I think. It's essentially white with a boot on it and a green block down the right side with links to search the catalog and contact and other information links. Click the Home Page link (which it seems like you are on when you go to the link) and you go to the ... uh same exact page you were on. Unnecessary link there.
Once you get past that page and click on a link to actually shop, things are even worse as far as navigation goes. When you click to see the catalog, you are taken to a stark white page with a green top border asking you to chose a men's, women's or youth's category to browse. Once you do that, you're taken to another page with a list of brand names and styles with links. You click the brand name and style and you get a listing of all the boots in that category.
This site has frames so, on one side you will see thumbnails of the boots along with a short description and the price and on the other side is a window where you can view the boot of your choice in a larger format.
Inside the right frame, you will see a larger photo with a longer description. If you like the boot and price, you can choose your size and add it to your cart. There is only one view of the boot — no side views or revolving photos on this site. The photos are far from great but if you know the name or the style, you can get a fairly good idea of the boot by the one photo.
There is a sizing chart available for people to determine the correct size for them in each boot which really just says to drop down ½ a size from your usual size for every boot on the site. Not real helpful but at least it does give that info.
Once you are finished shopping, you will head to the checkout. The checkout is straightforward. The boots are $10.00 per pair to ship in the US with two expedited shipping options. A click of the shipping option fills in the total shipping costs and gives you a grand total. From there, you fill out your usual personal info and email address and provide a major credit card and expiry.
And that's that! You will get a confirmation email and then a shipping one with tracking info.
The site is really not hard to navigate, just poorly designed and does an injustice to the great boots selling on the site.
The boots come to you in the designated time you choose (either in about a week to nine days, two days or overnight), boxed and looking good.
My Experience
I love cowboy/Western Boots and I do a lot of looking and a lot of buying. I found this site quite by accident when looking for a pair of Tony Lama Western Boots quite a while ago. I was turned off by the bland look of the site and what looked like the amateurish set up but curiosity got the better of me and I took a look at the Tony Lama boots for women. The variety was decent and the prices were pretty good. There's nothing very fancy on the site, most of the boots are standard black, tan, brown or a variation of those colors and most are pretty simple. On the day I was shopping, I was looking for a pair of simple black Tony Lama Western Boots and I found them for what was a decent price at the time. They were about $30.00 less than I had found them elsewhere so I checked out their returns policy before I ordered to be sure, if the boots didn't fit or didn't look as pictured, I could return them for a refund.
They do accept returns and exchanges as long as the boots aren't obviously worn so, on that promise, I went ahead and ordered a pair of the boots in one half size down from my usual size.
The checkout was painless and I had the confirmation email in my inbox in minutes.
They charged me no tax. Only those in Texas are stuck with that. Shipping was $10.00 which I think is reasonable for heavy boots.
It did take about nine days, with weekends included, to get the boots but they came to me double boxed and perfect.
But ...
Too small.
The whole order a half size smaller thing didn't fly for me.
I ended up sending the boots back and getting them at Sheplers.
Still there was no problem with the return and I did get a refund minus my $10.00 shipping. I had to pay to return the boots too so I was out over $15.00 because I paid attention to their sizing guideline. Hmpf.
I just didn't want to chance another mix up with them and I knew Sheplers had what I wanted at a comparable price and, at the time, free shipping, which was obviously to my advantage.
Shipping and Return InfoShipping is a flat $10.00 per pair of boots in the US for UPS Ground. There are two other options if you want to expedite shipping. These options cost more, obviously, than standard shipping.
You can return or exchange boots as long as they are not worn or scuffed. You must pay return shipping. I assume that the site pays shipping back for exchanges but I simply returned mine for a refund so I can't be 100% sure of that.
Contact Info
There is an online contact form or you can use the following contact information:
By Mail:
Boots for Less
2461 North Stemmons Freeway
Dallas, Texas 75207
By E-mail: customerservice@bootsforless.com
By Telephone:
1-800-292-2668
Conclusion
The site is really not very pretty and the frames make it all the more annoying but, getting past that, the boots are priced fairly well and the selection is OK. If you know what you want, you can search for them and see if they are less expensive than at other sites. Shipping isn't exorbitant and they do accept returns and exchanges.
This isn't a bad site for specialized boots but the sizing chart could throw you off. It did me. In general, Western boots run small not big, at least on me. If you know your size in a certain style, then you may get a good deal on this site.
Customer service is decent and I had no problems with my return.
Still, overall the site is average. You probably won't have any major problems but you can also find the same boots for comparable prices at other websites that may have shipping specials or other perks if you do a little comparison shopping.
I give this site 3 stars based on design, ease of use, and the sizing chart that did me wrong.
Recommended:
Yes
