Okay, picture this: Lela Rose, Alice+Olivia, Isabel Toledo, Christian Siriano footwear, all in one place and at affordable prices. Plus a whole bunch of other cute, sexy and trendy shoes at even more affordable prices. See it? Yep, us too — ahhh, Payless.

Yes, we know Payless isn’t perfect – occasionally you really do get what you pay for (Angela knew those powder blue peep toe platform pumps were on clearance for $5 for a reason!). But all in all, a savvy budget shoe shopper can walk out of Payless (or complete their online checkout) with a chic pair that will have random strangers calling out ‘girl, I loooove your shoes!’ on the street. Seriously. Some tips:

In Store Vs. Online. Though we’ve certainly purchased our share of footwear online, we’re really big fans of actually trying shoes on before we buy them. We can’t tell you how many times we’ve seen an ad for a to-die-for pair of sexy heels only to rush to the store and be crazy disappointed when, upon trying them on, we discover that sometimes beauty really IS pain. And with plenty of other stylish options out there, we’re not willing to make that trade-off, and the fact of the matter is the Payless online shopping experience is pretty basic. Whenever possible, shop in store.

Free In-Store Shipping. One of the drawbacks of shopping in store at Payless is that popular sizes of any given style (or unpopular sizes for that matter) are frequently in short supply. If you found the shoe of your dreams (this week) but they don’t have your size, Payless will a) check other area stores for your size, and have them shipped to the store most convenient for you, or b) order them online and have them shipped to the store, at no cost. NOTE: We can’t guarantee your Payless will do this, but we’ve even had them do this for us on one item of a BOGO. Nice.

Email Alerts. No it’s not terribly new or innovative, but if you love Payless and don’t mind a few more retailer emails in your inbox, sign up for email sale alerts, get the occasional coupon, and know when BOGO starts about, well, 7.2 seconds before they advertise it on TV.

Read the Feedback. Seems like Payless shoppers are pretty vocal and totally willing to help out their fellow bargain shoe shopper – because we’ve found lots of useful ratings and feedback on the site. Want to start with the best? Sort by “Top Rated” and get a selection of those shoes other shoppers like the most. Seriously, when shopping for shoes online, reading a few reviews can save you all that hassle of the return, as well as the pain of both blisters AND shoe-lover’s heartbreak.