Where to Buy Platforms

January 14, 2024
Me and my new platform loafers by Steve Madden.

I buy shoes very often. However, I do not often go into stores to do this. In fact, a few days ago I went to a store for the first time in many years to look for shoes. I hate the atmosphere in such stores, but I wanted to see if there was anything there that I couldn’t find online or that I had overlooked. That wasn’t the case and I would have been very surprised.

I buy shoes online far more often. It’s more convenient, you have a bigger selection and you can also shop in foreign stores. I would like to introduce you to where I get my shoes from and how I find them.

Search Engines

It sounds so obvious, but I want to mention it anyway, because through this I recently found some wonderful platform loafers from Steve Madden. Actually, the shoes are no longer in production and were sold out almost everywhere, but by luck I found a store by googling that had exactly one pair in the right size. I immediately ordered them from the store and they were delivered to me from Spain within four days. Of course, it’s important not to fall for scammers and to check out the store beforehand.

But search engines are not only useful if you have a pair of shoes in mind and are looking for where to buy them. Of course, you can also search for shoes in general. I usually search in several languages, i.e. German, English and Japanese. It’s also a good idea to search not only for text, but also for pictures or even videos. I may write a detailed description of how to search for platforms using search engines in the future.

Shops

I know my way around the shoe world pretty well by now. I know a few online stores that I visit regularly to see if there’s anything new. If you spend a lot of time looking at platforms like I do, you’ll eventually find some stores that have very good shoes on offer. I would like to introduce a few stores that I visit regularly.

Dolls Kill

One of the best places to go if you’re looking for unusual or stylish platform shoes. They have some of the best platforms I’ve seen so far. I haven’t shopped there that often, but I’ve always been very satisfied. I can particularly recommend the shoes from Current Mood, Window and Sugar Thrillz.

Zalando

Here you will find rather ordinary platforms, but that does not mean that there are no good shoes here. The selection is very large and is based on the latest shoe trends. I have bought a lot of platforms here, which I also wear in everyday life. I can recommend the following brands in particular:

  • PULL&BEAR
  • Madden Girl
  • Even&Odd
  • DeeZee
  • RAID

Amazon

Sometimes you can also find something here. However, you should make sure before buying that the products do not come from China.

eBay

It’s not just used shoes that are auctioned on eBay. Online stores also often sell shoes here. Here, too, you should pay attention to where the goods are sent from.

AliExpress

I have ordered here a few times and there has only been one problem so far, when the shoes shown online looked completely different to the shoes that were delivered. As I didn’t feel like sending the shoes back and because the shoes didn’t have the style I wanted but still looked nice, I kept the shoes anyway. There is always a risk when ordering here. What’s more, the quality tends to be poor. On the other hand, there are some brands that are originally from China, such as Antaina or Angelic Imprint, which you can buy cheaply here and are not so easy to get elsewhere anyway.

Brand Stores

Lamoda

The customer service is not that good, but the shoes are very nice. There are mainly platforms and high heels here.

Steve Madden

I haven’t ordered directly from here yet, but I often visit the store to see what’s new. I then usually buy the shoes from other stores. I particularly like the Madden Girls sub-brand.

Steve Madden Plateau Loafer My new platform loafers from Steve Madden

Jeffrey Campbell

The shoes here are very expensive, but also really nice. I’ve never ordered here because the shoes I want are unfortunately sold out. But I also visit here regularly. I still dream about the ROCKOFLOVE platform boots that I discovered there by chance. Unfortunately, they were pretty damn expensive back then. Too bad, because they have exactly the kogyaru style that I love so much.

Attention: I’ve seen a lot of scam stores that supposedly sell Jeffrey Campbell shoes!

UNIF

The shoes here are so cool. They specialize in 90s fashion and also have some really cool platforms. I ordered two pairs of shoes here for the first time a few days ago. I’ll report back when they arrive. Cannot wait for them to arrive!

Demonia

Gothic shoes. I’ve never ordered here before and I don’t know if I ever will, because I think the quality of Demonia’s shoes has declined a lot in recent years. But I still pop in from time to time.

Marketplaces

Vinted

You can sometimes get real bargains here.

eBay

If you filter for used shoes from your own country, there are sometimes good offers here too.

Mercari

For me, it’s more of a marketplace to see what’s available.

I hope you found a few useful tips here. In addition to the sites presented here, there are of course many more. You are welcome to let me know if you know of any other good sites