UKC

I have quite a big difference in shoe sizes due to having odd feet from being born with a Talipes foot.
After a couple of years of climbing I am starting to rack up a few odd shoes that are brand new. Would these be any use to anyone?

I have been told so many times to try and find other people with odd feet as it costs a fortune to buy 2 pairs every time and then you just end up throwing the brand new odd shoes away. Just wondering if anyone knows anyone or anyway of making use of these shoes or a way to get odd shoes from the manufacturer to save money and save wasting good shoes into the bin!!

If anyone has anything useful to input that would be great! Ideally someone with the same problem but opposite would be awesome then we can just trade odd shoes hahaha. Size 6-7 UK left foot (so my spares are 6-7 UK Right foot) and 9-10 UK Right foot (so spares are 9-10 UK Left foot) different shoes are slightly different sizes obviously

In reply to JoshRawson:
V12 in llanberis has a box of odd size shoes for sale.

In reply to JoshRawson:

Have the same problem/birth defect (although sadly not matching you and luckily for me to a lesser extent). I have had a couple of good experiences with getting odd shoes, but nothing consistent to be too excited about. I think Evolv have an odd-shoe policy (but direct from manufacturer in america I think).

I did once find my foot opposite on UKC, but I think his larger foot was due to injury and might now have gone down in size. I tend to buy pairs of shoes in sales mostly. Now the only time I try to get a deal is for mountain boots as they're so ridiculously expensive to buy 2 pairs of. I have had a manufacturer allow me to buy an odd pair (they said at 20% markup but actually just charged me RRP), but I had to go to the factory and pick them off the line, and wasn't sure if they'd do it again.

Sorry not to be of more help. I've often thought about starting a shoe buying syndicate (probably not the right word) where I'd pick say 3 shoes to start off with with different fitting and buy stock in all sizes and then sell on the correct pair for 25% markup, hoping that the deal I'd get on a bulk buy+markup would balance the inevitable loss of ending up with odd shoes (most likely at the extremes of the size range). But I don't think I'm organised enough. It'd also be a way of getting a database of people so that if it went under you could put people in contact with their shoe buddy.

If anyone's interested my spare shoes are ~8 right foot and ~6.5 left foot.

In reply to JoshRawson:

Like many people I've always had a 1/2 UK size difference between feet but this has increased with age and a bunion over last decade.
I did have a possible deal with a 30% reduction for a second larger pair of boots from one shop (should still leave them with a good profit for selling 2 pairs boots at one time). I did manage to just use much thicker socks in one boot, not much use for your wide variation though.
I believe there is a website in USA for people with this problem but can't remember details and it may not be specifically for climbers.
You could try advertising a list of what odd boots you have on UKC obviously with model and size. You would be very lucky to find a buddy with exactly the reverse problem AND wanting the same model of footwear!
It would be worth a try if anyone can be bothered to set up a UK website.

In reply to JoshRawson:
Following Alex Riley's post I'd perhaps contact V12 and ask if they might give you anything for them. I get the impression they're a little bit like an old school outdoor shop, that they'd be a bit more likely to than one of the chain shops would.

Or Needle Sports perhaps...?

In reply to JoshRawson:

Quickly googled "website for odd size shoes". There were several interesting sites but none I could see for climbers. There were a few sites for amputees...you need to find one legged climbers with appropriate size feet, if you find two you might get cheap boots for each foot . Not serious!

Below are some points from a USA(?) website a couple of years ago. Not sure its much use...they seem to suggest contacting manufacturers in first instance.

"Off the top of my head, I know that evolv has split sizing available on their site for a fee. I'm sure if you contact any of the other companies they would be willing to work with you."

"I am pretty sure for la sportiva and 5.10 shoes you would have to contact them and see if they can help you out. If you order a pair of evolvs you can specify split sizing right on their sire. I wear La Sportiva pythons and my right foot is a bit bigger then my left but I don't think it's nearly THAT much larger since I get away with the same on both feet."

"I've heard of it being done before, just not sure what companies did it, and it wouldn't hurt to ask."