At work I went from being on my feet about half the day and moving around, to all day with half of it standing in one place. I tried arch supports, I even bought a pair of Merrell trail running/hiking shoes because they had decent support and great soles that were softer than most. They helped a bit, but not alot. I have high arches.
I tried every Dr Scholes insert, one helped a bit more, but not nearly enough so I took the plunge and spent the $30 (incl shipping) for the Phase4Orthotics insert. The first few weeks of wearing them I couldn't the whole day. Since that point I won't wear shoes without them when going out of the house. I wear slipon boat-type shoes at home sometimes and if I do that two days in a row, I can tell I'm missing my support.
They are NOT an "arch support". They actually support the middle of the foot. It's weird and I was surprised when I got them. The instructions tell you that they'll be painful initially and they are, because it's essentially reshaping your foot to where it should be. After the first two weeks, perfectly comfortable. I found it best when you put your shoes on with them in it, but then sit at your computer for an hour first, or sit watching tv. Then go walking or to work or whatever. They feel totally wrong at first, give them a few weeks.
They're made out of hard rubbery plastic and have just a bit of flex, but not much. They have tiny holes in them for air circulation, but I had to put the inserts beneath my shoe insert because even with socks on my the bottom of my foot was "leaking" through the tiny holes and I'd have little "pimples" on the bottom of my foot. When I put the support underneath my shoe's insert, no problem.
I know this sounds like a "testemonial" (ICK!) but I'm telling you, they were a Godsend for me. I'm 270lbs and a postal worker. I walk on hard floors 8 hours/day. I do have one pair of cheap hiking boots that I stopped wearing because they never really fit right that I tried the supports in, it helped but my feet would still hurt using those boots. The supprts combined with my Merrill shoes are awesome. I haven't tried the supports in any other shoes, like my dress shoes yet. I've been using them for about 3 months. I did a little searching and found these on other websites, but not the same brand "Phase4Orthotics" so I guess they've been around for ahile, but I couldn't find a price better than the As Seen On Tv.
Oh, I have a friend at work, who isn't on his feet all day, who uses them for hiking. He has flat feet. When he bought his boots at the outdoor store 5+ years ago, they talked him into a pair of these supports and he loved them. He said they never hurt his feet starting out (when I was telling him they were hurting initially).