Returns and Exchanges on Pre-Loved Shoes
You have 7 days from delivery. Where second-hand footwear differs from new is not the length of the window but the yardstick: a used pair is judged against the condition grade it was sold under, not against a box-fresh shoe. This page explains what that means for you in practice, so you know before you order rather than after.
The short version
| What happened | What you get | Who pays return shipping |
|---|---|---|
| The pair is not authentic | Full refund | Us |
| It arrived damaged | Full refund | Us |
| Wrong item or wrong size sent | Full refund or the correct pair | Us |
| Condition is worse than the grade stated | Full refund | Us |
| It does not fit | Refund, or exchange if your size exists | You |
| You changed your mind | Refund less shipping | You |
Why the grade is the yardstick
Every pair here is sold under a published grade with a stated percentage band — Premium at 90–100%, Excellent at 80–89%, Very Good at 70–79%, Good at 60–69%. That grade is a promise about how much wear the shoe carries, and it is the thing a return is assessed against.
So the question is never "is this shoe worn?" — it is second-hand, of course it is. The question is whether it is worn more than the grade said. A Very Good pair arriving with a creased toe box and a slightly yellowed midsole is exactly what Very Good describes, and the photographs will have shown it. The same shoe sold to you as Premium would not be, and that is a legitimate return.
If you are unsure which band you are looking at, the condition grading standard sets out each one in detail, and how we clean and check every pair covers what survives cleaning and therefore what you should expect to see.
Sizing, and why it is the most common reason for a return
Fit is the one thing photographs cannot settle, and used footwear makes it harder in two ways. Sizes run differently between brands — an Adidas 42 and a New Balance 42 are not the same shoe on your foot — and a worn upper has already moulded slightly to somebody else's foot, which can make a borderline size feel more borderline.
Three things cut this down considerably, and all three take less time than a return does:
- Measure your foot in centimetres rather than trusting the size you usually buy: how to measure your foot size.
- Check the conversion for the brand you are looking at, not a generic chart: shoe brand sizing differences.
- If you are between sizes, decide deliberately rather than rounding by instinct: half sizes and between sizes.
Every product page also carries the pair's own size in PK, UK, US, EU and centimetres, transcribed from the shoe itself rather than converted from a chart. Where the label and a chart disagree, trust the label.
Exchanges work differently here
In a shop selling new stock, an exchange is routine: the same model exists in every size on a shelf. Here it does not. Each listing is a single physical pair in a single size, so an exchange is only possible if the size you need happens to be in stock as a separate item.
When it is, we will arrange it. When it is not — which is often — we process the request as a return instead, and you are free to order the pair you want. Contact us within the 7 days either way and we will tell you which of the two applies before you send anything back.
How to start one
1. Email us within 7 days
Write to orders@buyoriginal.pk with your order number and, if the issue is condition-related, a photograph of what you are seeing. We confirm the return address by reply. Please do not send a parcel back before you have that confirmation — returns that arrive unannounced cannot be accepted.
2. Send the pair back unworn outdoors
Try the shoes on indoors as much as you like. Once a sole has been walked on outside it carries marks that were not there when we graded it, and at that point we can no longer resell it at the grade you bought it at. Keep the packaging we sent.
3. We inspect and refund
We check the pair against the grade it went out under and confirm the outcome by email. Refunds are issued within 10 business days of approval. If you paid cash on delivery there is no card to reverse, so we refund by bank transfer and will ask for the account details at that point — the account needs to be in the name of the person who placed the order.
What is not returnable
- Shoes worn outdoors. See above — this is the one that matters, because it is the only condition genuinely within your control.
- Requests made after the 7 days. The window runs from delivery, not from dispatch.
- Gift cards.
Normal wear consistent with the stated grade is not a defect and is not grounds for a full-refund-plus-shipping return. It is what you were shown and what you paid a reduced price for.
If something is genuinely wrong
Tell us immediately rather than waiting. A pair that is not authentic, arrives damaged, or is materially worse than its grade is our error, and we would rather fix it quickly than have you living with it. Authenticity in particular is not negotiable here — it is the single claim the whole business rests on, so a challenge to it gets dealt with straight away.