Off the shelf true skates have been just as comfortable for me as custom true skates. That's just me though. For people who have different size feet that's 1/2 a size or more, it's definitely beneficial for custom. I used to be fine with off the shelf Bauer. I would still be if I never got trues. Ever since I got trues my feet became desensitized to certain pressure points etc. Now if I wear old skates I used to have they feel like crap. Almost wish I never tried trues so I had way more options at the retail level 😂