When you find a perfect product, buy more of it

Pretty much everyone has experienced the joy of a product that exceeds their expectations, does everything they hoped and more, and is used until it is worn out.  And when that happens, we experience the disappointment of not being able to find that exact product again, instead having to settle for something inferior.  I have had a pair of Crocs for about four years that I have literally worn a hold in the bottom of.

I wore these Crocs everywhere.  They were my casual shoes, my garden shoes, my stepping out to the mailbox shoes, my 'I'm in a hurry and need to throw something on quick' shoes.  In the winter I wore them with socks.  When they got dirty I gave them a wash in the sink.  As long as they were clean they even passed as casual dress shoes.  I loved these shoes.  And I was seriously bummed when they finally wore out.

With low expectations, I began my search for a replacement pair.  A couple years ago, unable to find an exact match, I had bought a similar pair that I intended to be a replacement when my old pair started to wear. The old pair was supposed to be downgraded to yard and garden duties only.  But the new ones just didn't fit quite right, and just didn't have the same versatility in style.  So despite the unlikelihood of finding the same style again, I figured it was worth looking.  After all, 4 years of use out of a relatively inexpensive shoe is a pretty decent value.

Imagine my surprise when I found the exact same style, in my size, and the color I wanted, for only $10 with free shipping!  I was ecstatic!  I ordered 2 pairs, figuring if they really truly were the exact same style, I might order a couple more.  On the one hand it seemed a little silly to plan on buying 4 pairs of the exact same shoe, but for $40 I could expect as much as 16 years of use of these shoes.  Sounds like a deal to me.

The shoes arrive, and they were indeed exactly the same as my old pair, excepting of course they had a lot more tread on the sole.

They totally look way different in size, but it's just the way the shoe moulded to my foot over time.

I was kind of shocked at how much difference there was in thickness of the sole, even though of course it makes sense that new shoes wouldn't be paper thin on the bottom. I was impressed by how decent the tops of the old ones still looked, even when compared to the new shoe (this confirms in my mind that I wasn't deluding myself that they were nicer looking than they actually were).

Left: New shoe.  Right: Old Shoe.  Ok, maybe they were a little worse for wear.

 Anyways, I was so thrilled I immediately went online to order 2 more pairs.  Alas, it seemed not meant to be.  The shoes had jumped in price to $30 a pair.  Now, $30 a pair is still not a terrible price for a pair of shoes you expect to get 4 years of wear out of, but it is just a little rich for me for shoes that are intended as "back ups" of a sort, to just sit in a box until each successive pair wears out.

I'm a little sad the price went up, but I am absolutely thrilled to have 2 more pairs of a shoe style I love and had previously had little success finding.  And it only secures in my mind that if you find something you love, buy more of it, because in the long run it will be money well spent.  And you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be watching those shoes like a hawk, waiting for them to go on sale so I can get more.