How does this work for shoes?

[MO6]

When you buy new shoes from the store, are those shoes when they are all packaged up, actually new in the sense nobody has tried them on at the store besides you? Or, do loads of people try shoes on at the store and decide not to buy them but when you buy those shoes, it would have been tried on by someone else for a couple of minutes?

Both could be true. Someone could have tried them on and changed their mind so the go back to the store room. Or your feet could be the first in them and you either buy or decide not to and they go back to the store room for the next customer.

I don't think shops are going to refuse to sell any shoes that have ever been tried on. I would always assume that any shoes I might buy have been tried on by one or more people.

As above. Might be tried on by others or might not. If someone tries them on in store and decides not to buy them, they go back into the stock room along with all the other new shoes.

So, you’re thinking that every time someone tries on shoes that don’t fit, then those shoes are taken out of stock? What do you think happens to them?

I worked in a shoe shop for several years.

If someone tries a pair of shoes on and then choses not to buy them, they get put back in the box and back in the store room. So yes, there is a likelihood that the pair of shoes you buy has been been tried on by someone else before.

However, sometimes a shop will have more than one pair of the same size in their store room, so if you are really bothered by this, you could ask if they have a pair that hasn't been unboxed before. You might be lucky and get a 'fresh' pair.

Depends on how stock is stored at the shop surely. Is this your first time in a shoe shop?