Frequently asked questions

No. ShoeMatch does not sell, stock, package, ship or deliver shoes and never takes payment for a pair. Every purchase happens on the brand or retailer's own website, and they handle payment, shipping, returns and support. We are an independent discovery layer — we help you find and compare basketball shoes, then send you straight to the retailer.

Every one of the 828 listings was read from a retailer's own live product page, with the date it was checked and a link so you can confirm it yourself. Photos are shown from the retailer's servers to identify the exact item linked to. We do not create or illustrate product images. How we verify.

They were correct when the listing was last checked, and retailers can change a price or sell out minutes later. Always confirm on the retailer's page before you buy. We date every claim so you know how fresh it is.

We have no verified source for star ratings, scores, review counts or performance grades, so we publish none of them. Anything we cannot verify is left blank rather than invented. The order you see in search or match results comes from relevance, your filters, or our scoring engine — not from a paid or editorial ranking.

You answer a few questions about position, playstyle, court, fit and budget, and Shoe Match scores the verified catalog against those answers.

Here is exactly what happens under the hood:

• Hard filters first. The engine only looks at basketball shoes, then removes anything outside your budget, brand list, size, or stock preference.
• Position and style set the weights. A guard gets more credit for grip, court feel and low weight; a center gets more credit for cushioning, support and impact protection. Your play style fine-tunes those weights.
• Your priorities double the weight. If you mark something as most important, it counts roughly twice as much in the final score.
• Every trait must be proved by the retailer's own copy. We scan the product title and description for specific phrases like "herringbone", "full-length Zoom", "heel counter" or "XDR". If the listing never mentions a trait, it is scored as unknown — never as a zero and never as a match.
• Confirmed specs override wording. When we have a verified spec record for the exact model, that data is used instead of the retailer's wording.
• It explains every pick. Each result shows why it was chosen and what its drawbacks are, with a quote from the retailer when available.

The engine loosens the least important filters first — for example, it may include out-of-stock listings, drop the sale-only requirement, or stretch the budget by 25% — and it always tells you which rule was relaxed. If nothing survives even a fully relaxed search, it says so plainly instead of inventing results.

ShoeScan identifies a basketball shoe from photos. It requires four required angles — front, back, left side and right side — because one photo alone is rarely enough. You can add optional evidence photos, such as a size tag or style-code label, to make the identification more accurate.

ShoeScan reads all the photos together, checks the result against our catalog of verified basketball shoes, and reports a confidence level. When it is unsure, it says so instead of guessing. It also links to external marketplaces so you can compare prices and availability.

We keep one small thumbnail per scan so you can see it in your history. The full photos are not retained permanently. You can delete individual scans from your account history at any time.

Men's, women's, big kids (GS), little kids (PS) and toddler (TD). Size filters match the sizes the retailer actually published for that listing. If a listing only shows a bare number without saying whether it is men's, women's or kids', we flag it and tell you to confirm before buying.

Yes — everything, including ShoeScan, Shoe Match, alerts and comparisons, with no plans, limits or paywalls.

Only to keep favorites, match history, recently viewed, ShoeScan history and price alerts across devices. Browsing, searching and matching work signed out.

Some outbound links may be affiliate links, which can pay a commission at no extra cost to you and never change what we show or how shoes are ordered. We do not have exclusive deals with any brand or retailer, and we do not let affiliate status place a shoe higher in results. Full disclosure.

The catalog is rebuilt from live retailer pages, and every listing carries the date it was last checked. We do not guess when a price or stock status changes — we re-read the retailer's page. Because retailers change prices and stock constantly, treat every figure as a snapshot and confirm on the retailer's site before buying.

Please report it. Contact us with the page and what the retailer actually shows, and rights holders can request removal of any listing or image.