Would you risk it? The Startup $79 Shoe Purchase

Beckett Simonon Shoes:  $79.00 when you pre-order

Many thanks to Ed, Efoi, and others who sent in a style tip about this new shoe brand.

Beckett Simonon is the newest outfit who wants to produce a piece of your outfit at a price low enough it shimmies the needle on the “this too good to be true?” meter.

The now familiar model of We don’t buy advertising!  There’s no middlemen!  We ship direct to you!  is how they explain the low prices.  But saying “by skipping the middlemen we can offer $300+ shoes at $79” is going to get a healthy side-eye from plenty.

They’re getting a Hostess-goes-bankrupt-level of coverage right now… at least in the men’s style web-community.  Here are what most would consider the known knowns at post time:

• Style: They’re offering four basic styles (Chukka, wingtip, longwing, basic derby) in a few different colors for each.  Any of these pairs costs $79.  They’re basic, but for eighty bucks there’s some solid potential here.  Leather on the longwings looks… interesting.
• Timeline: This is a pre-order.  Earliest they’ll ship is January 15th 2013.
• Shipping: It’s free in the U.S. and apparently so are U.S. returns.
• Substance: They state their shoes are made from ” 100% genuine full-grain” leather.  No word on how the sole of the shoe is attached to the top, but at this price, c’mon…
• Location: They say they’re incorporated in Miami, logistics and the warehouse are in LA, and manufacturing is happening at least in part (if not all?) in Colombia.

So there’s a good batch of “known knowns”.  The monetary risk seems relatively low thanks to the free shipping & returns, but hanging $79 out in late November for shoes that’ll show in mid to late January seems like a long time.

So would you?  Or are those sneaky unknowns going to keep you away?  Got a pair of the Bailey Chukka’s in brown Nubuck on the way for testing.  But again… ETA isn’t till after the holidays.  Leave your take in the comments below.

Brown Nubuck chukkas for $79?  The Achilles strip won’t appeal to all, but they’re on the way for an in-person.