Ha! Yeah, I've never liked the Dharma look too much, although I've considered getting them. But I'm really happy with the Jays. They're extremely comfortable and well-crafted, and they don't look any different than any other loafer. And I'm a big fan of laceless shoes, because I tend to want to take my shoes off at the first opportunity. So when I'm out and about, getting in and out of my car, or just going to the bathroom at my office, I'm taking my shoes on and off a lot.
I got my Jays for 69 dollars, but 11 dollars off was store credit I had forgotten about (my older brother gave us a gift card a couple of years ago). If you go to the Zappos website, you'll see the brown ones are $105. Then if you apply for their credit card (the offer is kind of hard to see on the page, but should be around somewhere), and use it to buy the Jays, you get another 25 dollars off on your next purchase. OK, so technically it's not a discount on the Jays, but if there's anything else you wanted on Zappos, it's still a good deal, essentially $80 dollars, or $50 dollars off the list price.
Yah, I'm not really a loafter guy either, aesthetically, but functionally, I love the slip-on shoe. They are hot though, and I have hot foot. Once I'm inside my office I take them off right away. All in all, if you want a minimalist shoe that looks halfway normal, the Jays are a good bet.
For quackery, I would say the wide-toed Dharmas emulate the duck look better.would you say they look good enough for a wanna be quack like me?
I don't have the Ras so I can't compare the two. My Jays are "D - medium width," and that works fine for me, but my feet, as seen in my avatar framing my Jesus-wife walking on water, aren't particularly wide.
I haven't shopped much at Zappos, but my understanding is that their return policy is topnotch: http://www.zappos.com/c/shipping-and-returns-popup
