Gargouillade 75 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 hi everyone i have been clearing out my possessions recently and have been listing items on eBay. one of the listings were for old pointe shoes as i thought someone might like to deshank them for demi pointes. however, i received a creepy message.. "mmm lovely pointes how long you had them and used them for thank you" i was wondering if that in listing the shoes i might have perhaps inadvertently advertised something else...? or to a community i didn't know existed on eBay...? if anyone has any experience with dealing with this sort of thing i would appreciate advice. thanks in advance Link to post Share on other sites
t_rose 53 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I think it's someone thinking of buying them to use - even if for use as Demi pointes most people probably don't want well used shoes 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Picturesinthefirelight 3,796 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Unfortunately it is quite common on eBay people with a fetish for used shoes. ???? Link to post Share on other sites
taxi4ballet 8,204 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Who cares - as long as they pay good money for them!!! 5 Link to post Share on other sites
Harwel 2,827 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Sorry, but that made me chuckle! ???? 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Moneypenny 478 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Weird! I remember when dd had some footwork vids on YouTube a few years ago, some of the viewers comments had absolutely nothing to do with any technical aspects of ballet whatsoever! And as for old pointe shoes ... Uuurrrggghhhh, they're simply horrible. Link to post Share on other sites
hopeforpointe 19 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I've seen them being sold on etsy to be used as house decorations, because they have the 'real, used' look, and unfortunately there is also the foot fetish thing, which is quite creepy. I've heard they can sell for as much as you originally paid for the pair, sometimes more, so depending how you feel about people's reasons for buying them, it could quite easily help you pay for new shoes! I've been thinking about selling my old ones, but was a little worried about getting such messages, and then I thought, well if it pays for the pair I recently bought that came in at £65, does it matter? I'm still making my decision. Link to post Share on other sites
taxi4ballet 8,204 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 This has got me thinking - there's a great pile of dead pointe shoes in dd's room...! 4 Link to post Share on other sites
Moneypenny 478 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Blimey, perhaps I should consider selling dd's old ones ... I've got over 60 pairs boxed up! 2 Link to post Share on other sites
sarahw 2,399 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Hi Moneypenny 60 pairs? Why have you kept them? But could bring a nice windfall from Ebay by the sounds of it! Link to post Share on other sites
balletqs 399 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Just check for weavels (if you find sawdust in the shoe they have an infestation). Bluergh! ☺️ Link to post Share on other sites
Moneypenny 478 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Sarahw, for some reason dd doesn't want to part with them, we have every pair since she started on pointe age 11! Better check for sawdust, don't want a weavel infestation (whatever a weavel is!). Link to post Share on other sites
JulieW 5,375 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I thought my no-longer-dancing-playing-rugby-instead-daughter (now 20) had only kept her first and last pairs, until I went looking in her room for a pair of ballet flats for me to wear to adult ballet and found a big box full of pointe shoes on top of her wardrobe. Link to post Share on other sites
balletqs 399 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I tried to paste a link but can't seem to but if you google 'weevils in pointe shoes' there are some highly entertaining articles (not for the squeamish!) 1 Link to post Share on other sites
taxi4ballet 8,204 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Duly Googled - well I never... excuse me for a moment while I just rummage around in dd's room for a bit!!! Link to post Share on other sites
sarahw 2,399 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 That must take a lot of space Moneypenny! And Julie as well. My dd is on her first pair - she can keep those (or I will.) But not sure beyond that. .... Link to post Share on other sites
taxi4ballet 8,204 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 All clear as far as I can tell! Link to post Share on other sites
sarahw 2,399 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 OMG what do we spend our evenings going on about? It's a great diversion from the ironing but not sure I could own up to it in public!! 2 Link to post Share on other sites
ZooZoo 282 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I saw some old point shoes on sale on Ebay once. They were dirty, battered and tatty and clearly not wearable. I wouldn't even have wanted them in my house. The bidding was up to £60 when I looked and the auction was not even over!!! I thought, who on earth would pay £60 for those? I think that there is a fetish thing for them clearly as the bidding was so high. Very odd. Link to post Share on other sites
Gargouillade 75 Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 hi everyone, i'm glad to find that this thread has given some of you laughs and others a new business plan! i was really freaked out when i got that message -- in the early hours of the morning -- and so have blocked that eBay buyer. (anyone interested in contacting him -- yes, him -- to get rid of pointe shoes is more than welcome to PM me...) i suspected that it might be a foot fetish thing and so thank you all for confirming those suspicions! if i didn't get that creepy message i would still be adopting the 'whatever makes me money' mentality but it's too weird for me now... 3 Link to post Share on other sites
JulieW 5,375 Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 It's the "mmm" at the start that's off-putting isn't it! 5 Link to post Share on other sites
ashiebashie 0 Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 I would love to buy some new/used pointe shoes for a decoration project for a little girl!! anyone in England?? Link to post Share on other sites
Cara in NZ 879 Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 I have sold almost all of DD's old pointe shoes on our equivalent of eBay (no creepiness in the ballet section, thank goodness). I just list them honestly as worn, broken in, but suitable for decoration or craft project. They always sell, usually for £5-10 (they cost at least £65 new here, although the Bloch ones say 'Made in Thailand' on the bottom, exactly the same as the ones I get from the UK when I have someone to bring them over). It's much harder to sell the unworn ones where DD has outgrown them or changed style, and you want to make some money back, but size/fit is so specific that it's rare to find a buyer! Link to post Share on other sites
Willow 5 Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 Ashiebashie, I’ve sent you a private message! Link to post Share on other sites
Jan McNulty 20,464 Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 Hello Ashiebashie and welcome to the Forum! Link to post Share on other sites
ScottishDancerMum 105 Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 We get them quite often on the FB selling page "Ballet Tutus and Dancewear secondhand and new". Lots of people buy old ones to decorate. Come join if you want to unload some Link to post Share on other sites
Peanut68 1,382 Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 My DD needs to raise some money to attend courses she has been offered places on....would love to see some of these craft ideas with old pointe shoes as am sure there must be a few pairs I can persuade her to part with (hoards them!!) and she (not I!) is pretty arty. Also be interested to get advice on how to/where to sell finished items & rough idea of how much they go for! I’m an eBay etc virgin.....😲 Link to post Share on other sites
AdageKitty 34 Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 Haha love this thread! My DD isn’t on pointe yet however we also have tonnes of used ballet shoes and was wondering what to do with them. I vaguely recall reading an article somewhere (BBC perhaps?) where disadvantaged children in Africa were donated old ballet slippers. Regarding where to sell “arty” items - Etsy is a fabulous place to buy and sell of sorts of wonderful items! Link to post Share on other sites
Kat09 1,139 Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 On 19/02/2015 at 16:49, hopeforpointe said: I've seen them being sold on etsy to be used as house decorations, because they have the 'real, used' look, and unfortunately there is also the foot fetish thing, which is quite creepy. I've heard they can sell for as much as you originally paid for the pair, sometimes more, so depending how you feel about people's reasons for buying them, it could quite easily help you pay for new shoes! I've been thinking about selling my old ones, but was a little worried about getting such messages, and then I thought, well if it pays for the pair I recently bought that came in at £65, does it matter? I'm still making my decision. Drat - I just put 50 pairs into the skip 😱 Link to post Share on other sites
Anon2 1,632 Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 5 hours ago, Kat09 said: Drat - I just put 50 pairs into the skip 😱 Not long since I put a similar amount in the bin. Dust man knocked on door to check I knew they were in bin. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now