I pulled them out of the envelope, yes they were sent to me in an envelope, and the smell was overwhelming! The shoe looked Ok at first, until further inspection I see the glue is all over the place and the smell did not go away. I kept thinking the smell would go away but it didn't. It was so overwhelming of rubber that I had 4 people ask me "what is that smell".

I guess the old saying is true... you get what you pay for. Lesson learned.