# What do you pay for shoe repair?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-pay-for-shoe-repair/568503
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 21, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-pay-for-shoe-repair/568503 "2011-01-21T22:23:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-pay-for-shoe-repair/568503/1 "2011-01-21T22:23:23Z")
Men’s penny loafers, heel and half-sole, rubber (or tell me what you paid for leather, I got a quote for that too).
I live in San Francisco, for what that’s worth (i.e. everything costs more here, I guess).
I’ll tell what I paid after I hear from a few of you.
Roddy
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-pay-for-shoe-repair/568503/2 "2011-01-22T00:26:39Z")
I just paid $22 for new heels (and some stitching on one of the saddles) on a pair of loafers, and am feeling somewhat ripped off. Philadelphia.
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### Author:  [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-pay-for-shoe-repair/568503/3 "2011-01-22T01:17:51Z")
I don’t know if I’m weird or cheap or something (probably both), but I would never pay a cobbler to fix a shoe if it broke. I’d just buy a new pair of shoes. I’ve been wearing the same new balance tennis shoes for about 5 years now. I should probably get rid of them, but they’re so comfortable! And I can get away with tennis shoes at work.
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### Author:  [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2011, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-pay-for-shoe-repair/568503/4 "2011-01-22T05:41:21Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#):
>
> Men’s penny loafers, heel and half-sole, rubber (or tell me what you paid for leather, I got a quote for that too).
I think around $30 in rubber - did leather a few years ago, but forget what I paid. Seattle area.
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### Author:  [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2011, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-pay-for-shoe-repair/568503/5 "2011-01-22T05:41:27Z")
I would expect to pay between $20 to $30 for leather. My husband has boots re-soled every now and again.
I recently got a pair of my niece’s boots re-heeled for about $15, but the heels themselves were very small and there was no resoling done.
Oh yeah, central Mississippi.
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### Author:  [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2011, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-pay-for-shoe-repair/568503/6 "2011-01-22T07:07:01Z")
I recently paid $70 in Walnut Creek for new leather soles and rubber heels on a nice pair of men’s dress shoes that I bought 20 years ago for $300. I see I was paying too much.
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### Author:  [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-pay-for-shoe-repair/568503/7 "2011-01-22T15:10:27Z")
My most common cobbler purchase - $10-15 for new heel taps. Annoys me since they’re soooo tiny but still way cheaper than replacing my shoes every 6 months. - Toronto
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-pay-for-shoe-repair/568503/8 "2011-01-22T15:17:26Z")
I buy cheap shoes and wear them until the soles fall off. Then I just buy new ones.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-pay-for-shoe-repair/568503/9 "2011-01-22T15:24:16Z")
> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> I buy cheap shoes and wear them until the soles fall off. Then I just buy new ones.
Yep. I never realized there were still places that repaired shoes.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-pay-for-shoe-repair/568503/10 "2011-01-22T16:24:01Z")
I prefer paying for a decent pair of shoes ($100 or so) and reheeling a few times – much more economical in the long run, since they’ll last forever. Cheap cheap shoes only last a couple months; semi-cheap shoes ($30-40) last a year or so.
Glad to hear that $22 for new rubber heels wasn’t a rip-off, though!
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### Author:  [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-pay-for-shoe-repair/568503/11 "2011-01-22T19:03:01Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#):
>
> Men’s penny loafers, heel and half-sole, rubber (or tell me what you paid for leather, I got a quote for that too).
>
> I live in San Francisco, for what that’s worth (i.e. everything costs more here, I guess).
>
> I’ll tell what I paid after I hear from a few of you.
> Roddy
I live in New York, ad everything definitely costs more here.
Men’s penny loafers. Yes, I have a couple of pairs, and have them re-soled and heeled often enough. Rubber heels, leather half-soles. Runs $50-$60. Maybe more like $60 lately. Seems outrageous to me, but it’s way cheaper than new shoes.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-pay-for-shoe-repair/568503/12 "2011-01-22T19:08:51Z")
I think it’s been at least 40 years since I’ve had a shoe repaired. I occasionally buy new laces, but that’s about it.
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### Author:  [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-pay-for-shoe-repair/568503/13 "2011-01-23T01:10:20Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#):
>
> I recently paid $70 in Walnut Creek for new leather soles and rubber heels on a nice pair of men’s dress shoes that I bought 20 years ago for $300. I see I was paying too much.
Don’t feel too bad, the quote for leather heels and leather half soles in San Francisco (south of Market) was $65; I paid $52 for rubber. I realized after I left the shoes that I didn’t pay that much for the shoes the first time, and I think I could still get the same brand for less at DSW.
But in fact I like the rubber soles better than the original leather; I have slipped a couple of times in those shoes with leather soles, I don’t think the rubber will be as slippery.
Roddy