Months ago, I made a comment about how buying eyeglasses online could be a major moneysaver. A couple of people asked me to turn it into a diary. I don't usually write diaries, but in the interest of helping people who may be struggling financially and need eyeglasses for themselves or their children, or know someone who does, I'm making an exception.
Even if you're not struggling financially, I suggest you give online buying a try if you wear glasses. I got the glasses I've used for the last year for less than I've spent on a pair of socks.
You can buy glasses online even if you have a strong prescription or astigmatism, or if you wear bifocals or progressives.
There are various online eyeglass stores out there, but I'm not going to recommend any particular one. Instead I'm linking you to the best place to start looking (and get discounts), a blog called GlassyEyes.com.
There, you can find a step-by-step guide for buying online eyeglasses. It explains how to get and read your prescription, and how to pick frames.
It also gives detailed reviews of the various eyeglasses retailers. Different sites have different base lenses, different prices for thinner lenses, for progressive lenses, for photochromatic lenses, for tints, for coatings, for shipping, etc. Rather than looking at each site yourself and doing the math, you can use the reviews to compare them -- including their warranties. And the sites he considers not worth buying from, he just doesn't link.
I used to try on dozens of pairs of frames at the eye doctor's before choosing, because I never knew by looking at them on the rack what they'd look like on my face. I wondered how I'd possibly be able to choose frames online. But it turns out that most online eyeglass stores let you upload a photo of yourself to virtually "try on" the glasses. All of them list the dimensions of the frames. If you have a pair of glasses that fit you, you can measure and compare them to the listing of the frames you like, or read the measurements off the inside of the earpiece.
It's also a lot less of a commitment, buying a complete pair of glasses for under $40 or $60 or $100, than when they cost $150-$800, as they almost certainly will if you let an optician sell you. I caught a sale, and the pair I bought online totaled less than $10, shipping included.
I've had no problems with my glasses, but if you don't trust an online store to fill your prescription, you can double check the accuracy with your optometrist after you get them, or order frames with blank lenses and let your optician fill the prescription. Or, if you don't trust yourself to pick frames online, you can send a pair of your own glasses away (if you can do without them) to get them re-lensed for a lot less than your optician would charge you.
There are some drawbacks to buying online. Although some sites offer express or next-day shipping, if you need glasses today or tomorrow, you're out of luck. You do have to take a chance on liking the frame. But personally, after just one purchase, I'd no longer even consider buying glasses where I get my eyes checked.
For contact lens wearers, there's a companion blog, LensPundit.com. My contacts didn't happen to be ones included in the price comparison chart, but the links and reviews made me feel more secure about ordering, and I saved nearly 40% on them.
I hope some of you find this information useful.
Much belated UPDATE 1/27/2011 , in case anyone might still be using this diary. Another way to get discounts on glasses or contacts is to use RetailMeNot.com. RetailMeNot compiles coupon codes from online retailers of all descriptions. These vary from dollar amount discounts and percentages off to free shipping codes. It's worth checking RetailMeNot pretty much whenever you're ordering anything online.
© cai