Perhaps, but that seems like a pretty low number to me. Also, by the time you wear out the soles, isn’t something else going to go wrong with the shoe, too? I’d lump myself into the people that love a pair of broken in shoes, but $50 is a lot of money.
I’m wearing a pair of Cole Haan loafers right now that I bought in 1998. They are, in fact, very comfortable, which is why I’m wearing them right now.
I have a small hole on the left sole. The top of the shoes look great, except that on the inside of the back, the leather has worn out and the thread has begun to show where I slip them on. Oh, wouldn’t I love to be able to repair these shoes! But the cost—oh the cost. It’s tragic.
I think you are overthinking this shoe repair “issue.” If the cost of repair is less than the cost of equivalent shoes and the shoe other than the sole is fine . . . repair makes sense. If you have a $100 pair of shoes and repair them for $50 . . . what is the issue? You’ve saved $50.