We got these shoes for my son's 5th birthday.  I am a bit of a bargain shopper, so most of his shoes were always from the $10-$15 stand at Walmart or whatnot.  I always figured since my children grow so fast, it wouldn't matter if they wore them out fast.  This time, I decided to buy a higher quality pair of shoes for him and see how it goes.  I picked the 0.5 size up from what he needed, and he's worn them practically every day for the last two and a half months.  They are still in excellent shape and barely show any wear on them, if at all.  I haven't really "inspected" them in that much detail but they're definitely holding.  I expect he'll have these for at least a full year before we need another pair, and that is a long time for a pair of shoes for my kids!