It was our second attempt at it, the first trip having ended in an argument.
My daughter is very strong willed and while I say that she gets that from her Dad, I know she gets it from me!
Anyway, I did some exploration online before we went and had money set aside for this purpose.
Sports shoes designed for the particular sport she plays and suitable for what she needed from a support / hard wearing point of view averaged about $150 for a basic shoe from a good brand.
When she was young, I bought cheap shoes and found that they generally fell apart by mid way through the season. She plays outdoor winter sports and is involved in training and extension activities associated with athletics and running. To make sure the shoes last, I now I invest in good quality shoes without buying top of the line. This time, she was pushing for shoes at the $300 plus price point, well above what I was prepared to pay and for no reason other than because she wanted a particular colour that was only available in the most expensive shoe. That's what caused the argument the first trip and why we didn't buy anything.
Before this trip I negotiated with her. She has a job and had birthday money to use. I said that I would buy shoes up to $150. If she wanted a more expensive pair, she could pay the difference.
She eventually settled on a pair at $237 and paid me the difference.
It was a good outcome I think - she got what she wanted and I spent what I had budgeted. She also chose a very slightly cheaper shoe than her original choice and we bought the shoes on sale saving a little more.
I felt good knowing that we'd been able to negotiate an outcome we were both happy with and which demonstrated to her that I wasn't prepared to spend excessive amounts purely for fashion.
She ended up spending only part of her birthday money (she got $200, spent $87). She's saving the rest.
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