Last Year's Running Shoes: How Much Do You Save?
Every running shoe gets replaced eventually, and the old one doesn’t vanish. It hangs around at a few stores for a while, usually for less money, which raises an obvious question for anyone who isn’t fussy about the latest foam: how much less? Most of the advice on this comes down to “wait for a sale.” We track prices on about 2,000 shoes, so I figured we could just count.
I compared the current prices of 52 pairs of running shoes, each one a new version against the version before it. The older shoe was cheaper in 49 of them, by a median of 29%, or about $45.
How I counted
For each shoe line, I took the newest version in our database and the one just before it, like the Clifton 11 and the Clifton 10. I kept a pair only when both versions have a current price at two or more retailers, so one strange listing can’t skew a result. Then I compared the lowest current price for each version. The savings number is how much cheaper the older shoe is than the newer one. Men’s and women’s versions are counted separately.
I started with 159 pairs, and 52 made it through. In the rest, one of the two versions was at only one store, so there was nothing to compare. The previous version is last year’s shoe for most lines and older than that for a few, since not every shoe gets updated annually. Prices change constantly with sales and stock, so these numbers are meant to show typical savings, not real-time data. All of them are from October 17, 2026.
The short version
Half the pairs landed between 21% and 40% cheaper, and the median was 29%, about $45. Twenty-three of the 52 were 30% or more cheaper, 13 were 40% or more, and only 7 were under 10%. In 3 of the 52 pairs the older shoe wasn’t cheaper at all, which I’ll get to.
The biggest discounts
The discount is how much cheaper last year’s shoe is than this year’s. Lines are sorted by the average discount. To keep the table readable, it lists only the lines where last year’s shoe is at least 25% cheaper and at least three retailers carry this year’s shoe, so the smaller discounts are in the numbers above but not in the table. We couldn’t always find last year’s shoe in stock in both men’s and women’s, so some lines show only one.
Prices as of October 17, 2026.
What about supershoes?
The carbon-plated racers, the ones we wrote about in The Great Supershoe Arms Race, are the most expensive shoes on the shelf, so the dollar gap between this year’s and last year’s is bigger here than anywhere else. I pulled every one I could find with both versions priced. They’re sold at fewer stores, so I allowed pairs where a version is at only one retailer, which means a few rows rest on a single listing. These pairs are also separate from the 52 above. Treat the table as a rough guide.
| This year | Last year | Discount |
|---|---|---|
| New Balance SuperComp Elite 6 | New Balance FuelCell SuperComp Elite 5 | Men’s (57%) / Women’s (44%) |
| Saucony Endorphin Elite 3 | Saucony Endorphin Elite 2 | Men’s (45%) |
| Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 5 | Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 4 | Men’s (45%) |
| Nike Alphafly 4 | Nike Alphafly 3 | Men’s (36%) |
| Brooks Hyperion Elite 6 | Brooks Hyperion Elite 5 | Men’s (35%) |
| Altra Vanish Carbon 3 | Altra Vanish Carbon 2 | Men’s (44%) / Women’s (25%) |
| Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 | Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2 | Men’s (30%) |
| On Cloudboom Strike 2 | On Cloudboom Strike | Men’s (20%) |
| Saucony Endorphin Pro 5 | Saucony Endorphin Pro 4 | Men’s (25%) / Women’s (10%) |
The standout is the New Balance SuperComp Elite, where last year’s Elite 5 is about 57% cheaper in the men’s version, a difference of $156. Several others are $100 or more. Not every super gets marked down that far, though, and whether last year’s is worth it depends on how much the new one improved on it, which a price table can’t tell you.
The pricier the shoe, the bigger the gap
I also sorted the pairs by the price of the newer version. Under $130 (7 pairs), the older shoe was a median 2% cheaper, about $3. From $130 to $160 (25 pairs), it was 27% cheaper, about $40. At $160 and up (20 pairs), it was 35% cheaper, about $67.
So cheap shoes barely move when they get replaced, and the expensive ones are where last year’s model pays off. The biggest dollar gap among those 52 pairs is the men’s Adizero Adios Pro 5 against the Adios Pro 4, 45%, or $125. The women’s Saucony Hurricane shows the other side of it: 50%, $85.
So cheap shoes barely move when they get replaced, and the expensive ones are where last year’s model pays off.
Brand by brand
The brand numbers are rough, because most brands only have a handful of pairs. Among the brands with at least five: Altra has a median 45% across five pairs, Saucony 32% across nine, ASICS 27% across eight, Brooks 26% across eight, and Hoka 23% across seven. New Balance comes in at about 6% across six, and that’s a split decision. The 860 and the FuelCell Rebel are around 40% cheaper, while the 880, 1080 and More are close to even or reversed.
Nike barely shows up. Only one line, the Quest, had both versions at two or more stores.
When last year’s shoe isn’t cheaper
Three pairs went the other way: the men’s Nike Quest 7 against the Quest 6 (the older one cost about 4% more), the men’s New Balance 880 v15 against v14 (22% more for the older one), and the women’s New Balance 1080 v14 against v13 (38% more). I can’t tell from prices alone why. My guess is that the newer shoe is on sale or the older one is down to a few stores and a few sizes.
Buying last year’s shoe
If you know how a shoe feels in your size, the previous version is usually a safe bet. Sometimes a new version changes the fit or the foam, though, so read up on what changed before you assume it’s the same shoe. Older versions are also often at fewer stores in fewer sizes and colors, so check that yours is actually there before you get excited about the price.
To watch for a drop, set a price alert on the older version’s page. The price drops and deals pages show what’s moving right now.
Lowest current price across the retailers we track, as of October 17, 2026. Product photos are retailer images.
