In 1999, I had Lasik surgery to correct my severe nearsightedness and astigmatism. At that time I was 32 years old, and I had been wearing prescription eyeglasses or contacts since I was 12. I have the ugly yearbook photos to prove it — just ask anyone who went to school with me in Eldorado. 😉
Because of my vision problems, it became a yearly ritual to go to an ophthalmologist or optometrist, have my eyes checked, get a prescription, and get a new pair of glasses; at best there may have been one or two years where I kept my old frames and only replaced the lenses. There wasn’t a single year that went by where my eyes didn’t get worse, although wearing contacts seemed to slow down my eyes’ decline.
Over the years, as my prescription got worse and my lenses grew thicker, a significant amount of money was invested in purchasing the thinnest and lightest lenses available. I also regularly upgraded with options such as anti-glare, UV protection, tinted or Transitions lenses, and for a brief awful while – progressive bifocals. A new pair of eyeglasses could easily cost $400 or more each year.
For the ten years since having Lasik surgery I have enjoyed nearly perfect vision, but as warned when I had the procedure – I’ve noticed some of the signs of nearsightedness sneaking in again: I have to move books a little closer, and things far away aren’t as clear as they once were. By no means is my eyesight anywhere near as bad as it was before Lasik, it’s just not as sharp as it was right after the surgery.
A few weeks ago I went to an optometrist to get my eyes checked. The results were as expected: I needed glasses. I picked out a moderately priced pair – $132 for the frames, and I chose polycarbonate lenses for $195. When I made a face about paying extra to have the lenses grooved for semi-rimless, the tech took pity on me and waived the additional $15 fee. I passed on the additional $40 for anti-glare because the lenses weren’t large, and I figured that it wouldn’t make that big of a difference. I walked out of the eyeglasses store thinking that I had been thrifty, because I had “only” spent $327 on a pair of glasses that would be ready in an hour.
And when I got home with my new glasses, the same ones I had proudly shown my mother and daughter at dinner that evening, I thought about how I buy everything else online … why hadn’t I even bothered to look?
And that’s when I found out that I could have bought the exact same pair of eyeglasses I had just purchased for $150 online. As an alternative, I could have purchased a stylish pair of generic eyeglasses with UV protection and antiglare lenses for under $50 complete.
Let’s just say that I wasn’t feeling quite so thrifty after that discovery.
Welcome to the world of online optical and buying prescription glasses online …
Doing research, I would soon find that just about every single brand name sold at every single eyeglass center is available online – and always at a significant savings when factoring in the frames and lens costs at brick & mortar eyeglass centers. I also learned that if you don’t care about designer names, prescription eyeglasses and frames can be purchased online for under $10 including lenses.
No, that was not a typo.
All that’s needed to order online is a current prescription from a licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist along with your Pupil Distance (PD) measurement.
You don’t happen to have a copy of your prescription? No problem – you can ask your eye doctor to fax or mail it to you.
Are you too chicken to call, because you went to an optometrist who gave you a discounted eye exam without handing you a prescription afterward, knowing that you would have to buy glasses from him or her? No problem – by law they have to give you a copy of your prescription.
But if you are honestly too intimidated to call your doctor and ask for your prescription, some of the companies will even do it for you.
So what’s in store for you if you when buying prescription glasses online?
Let me show you four pairs of glasses. Can you tell which ones were purchased at an eyeglass center for $300+? Can you tell which ones were purchased online for under $50?
Don’t feel bad if you can’t tell; Kevin and I certainly can’t when we are wearing them. Well, I take that back: the antiglare coating (on the pairs purchased online) makes a noticeable difference.
These two are the premium brand eyeglasses, weighing in at a combined total of well over $600.
And these are the glasses that we ordered for $96 (for both pair! delivered!) last week from EyeBuyDirect.com.
If you aren’t convinced that no-name glasses could possibly be just as good as the generic, let’s talk about the glasses I bought at the eyeglass center, the ones I overpaid for by 55%.
These are the Wildflower Wisteria semi-rimless glasses in “brown shadow”; mine are “black cherry”, which is also available.
As I noted above, they cost $327 complete at the eyeglass center. I found the same exact frames on FramesRx.com for $83.22; remember that I paid $132 for the frames alone! Basic plastic lenses start at $32 (including UV protection). I have a low enough prescription that I think I could get away with the basic plastic lens, but for the sake of direct comparison, I’ll go with the “Tough Rx” lenses (polycarbonate) for an additional $20. So let’s see: $83.22 for the frames, $52 for the lenses, and figuring $8 for shipping – the total comes to $150…for the same exact freaking pair I bought at $327!
Grrr. Just Grrr.
If you are worried about ordering glasses without trying them on first, there are a couple of things you can do. First, you can easily compare the numbers written on the arms of a pair of glasses you already own and like, to make sure that the glasses you order will have a similar fit. At the very least, all eyeglasses have numbers written inside them (usually on the arm or nose bridge) which represent the eye and bridge measurements. For instance, the Wildflower glasses I purchased have 52 and 17. The numbers are millimeters, and the first number is how wide a single lens is across, while the second is the distance across the bridge of the glasses’ nose. So I know that if I am happy with a particular set of numbers on one pair of glasses, I would probably be safe buying prescription glasses online as long as they are similarly sized. Another consideration would be the Temple measurement, which seems to run around 135 – 140mm on unisex frames. I think you should be safe ordering within those sizes, unless you have a very large or very petite face.
All sites have tips to help you order frames that will fit your face and its shape; some of the sites have virtual “dressing rooms” where you can upload a picture and “try on” frames until you find a pair that you love. Some of the sites have example pictures of men and women with differently shaped faces wearing the frames you are considering. At least one of the sites encourages customers to send in their pictures to be featured as an example on the particular eyeglass’ sale page.
Here are a list of just a few of the many online retailers I found for eyeglasses. Some carry designer frames and some generic. All glasses ordered online include a case and cleaning cloth, and all of the retailers offer a multitude of frame styles and lens options. All of these sites expect you to have a current prescription from which you’ll place your order; some will expect a scanned or faxed copy, and some may call your doctor to verify. All will walk you through the process of placing your order, explaining how to decipher the Rx and fill out the order form. All have toll-free numbers or online customer service reps to help you place your order.
I’ll just list the basics for each site that I’ve explored so far …EyeBuyDirect – Mostly generic, with prices as low as $7.95 – including single vision plastic lenses. They are currently running a buy one get one free sale, which runs through July 26th. According to their site, they use “lightweight CR39 and Polyxcarbonate plastic lenses. Our standard lens is 1.499 index. We also offer ‘thin-light’ and ‘super thin’ lens upgrades, which are 1.56 and 1.67 high-index lenses respectively. We especially recommend these upgrade if your sphere is +/-2.50 and above. [They] do not offer glass lenses or Ultra-Thin 1.71 high index. Furthermore, all our frames come with top quality, anti-scratch, single-vision lens. You may select from a variety of coatings such as UV-coating and Tint, each coatings for an additional charge of $4.95 and Anti-Reflective coating for $6.95. You may also choose bifocal lenses or progressive lenses for an additional cost of $19 and $39, respectively.”
Glasses USA – Mostly generic, with prices starting around $20 – including basic lenses composed of “recommended plastic lenses for low-to-moderate prescriptions shown on a prescription as +/- 0.25 to 2.00.”
39DollarGlasses.com – Mostly generic with some name brands. Prices start at $39 – including “light & thin Rx lenses, UV & Scratch coatings, and polished edges.”
Zenni Optical – Mostly generic with prices starting at $8.00 – including “standard single vision, lined bi-focal and progressive multi-focal lens [that] are produced with premium quality, high-index (1.57), polycarbonate composite, high-impact resistant lens with full UV protection and a strong anti-scratch coating. The US standard is CR-39 plastic, which is a 1.49 index lens.
FramesRx.com – This is the place where I found my Wildflower eyeglasses for so much less. They carry many designer names, and although the lenses aren’t free, they start at “cheap” and work their way up. Their basic plastic lens is $39, and for $20 more you can get polycarbonate.
FramesDirect.com – This online store is all about designer and popular brand frames. Their lenses start at $45.80 for plastic (polycarbonate is $78.75), and you can add a plethora of other options to create either a very nicely priced or completely loaded pair of prescription glasses for a still fair price. Worth noting is that UV protection is an extra $15 (if the chosen lenses don’t already include it).
The only online company I have personally ordered from so far is EyeBuyDirect, and I am very pleased with my purchase. Not only do the frames fit well, there is no noticeable difference – other than the antiglare treatment – in what I see when wearing the eyeglass center or online purchased pairs. It’s wonderful, but it is also disappointing; I feel scammed.
And just in case you think that I might have forgone some kind of special fitting that was available at the eyeglass center and that I didn’t receive by shopping online? Not so. At the eyeglass center, I was handed my glasses and I put them on. Nothing further was done. The glasses I ordered online fit just as well, but I have no doubt that if I ever need them adjusted I could take them into any eyeglass center and for a nominal fee (if any) I could have them adjusted.
I plan on eventually placing an order for a pair of Persols on FramesDirect.com. The same glasses configuration would cost over $500 at an eyeglass center; online I can get them for a substantial savings.
I can’t help but feel a little bit angry and taken advantage of, because I did overpay so badly. But hey, if my experience helps one of you, then I’ll consider it money well spent. 🙂
why you should consider buying your rx glasses online – http://tinyurl.com/nqvz8f
What a timely article!! Well, almost. Just last week I went to the eye doctor because my arms were no longer long enough for me to read… I went to a well-known national chain, not the one that gets you your glasses in about an hour, but another one. It turns out it’s my distance vision that’s the problem, so I got a prescription and filled it right there, ordering some nice Ray-Bans with anti-glare and Transition polycarbonate lenses. Even with my insurance helping out, I was hit for over $250. They haven’t arrived yet, but I hope to get them this week some time.
But I’m going to save this article and my next pair will definitely be ordered online!
@DarrenHumphries try this: http://bit.ly/2VuXR
RT @geardiary: why you should consider buying your rx glasses online – http://tinyurl.com/nqvz8f
This is really great. Thanks so much. I had the same irritated feeling last time I went to the optomitrist, but you did something really helpful about it, thanks!
Perry, did you price your glasses here –
http://www.framesdirect.com/framesfc/RayBan-lalhpi-slb-l.html
or here?
http://www.framesrx.com/eyeglasses/5801.htm
I’d just like to know what you would have saved versus what you just paid, as it’s kind of turning into a game for me… 🙂
Thanks Joe. :-))
I’m gonna check this out: http://tinyurl.com/nqvz8f why-you-should-consider-buying-prescription-eyeglasses-online
Judie,
Please keep us posted with your FramesDirect experience. Thank you for an excellent article. I think I am going to buy online now.
haivu, I ordered the less expensive Persols today from FramesDirect. The total came to $179 including shipping. I decided not to go too crazy on lens options, since I’ll now have three pairs of glasses.
I’ll let you know how they are when I get them, but I can tell you that so far their customer service has been very helpful. 🙂
I will be interested in seeing how this works with insurance … we have a nice plan, but because we want special stuff on the kids’ glasses, and because my wife was basically told ‘don’t bother’ on Lasik because of all the various special stuff she has … it still costs us a bunch.
… I had really hoped *one* of my kids would get my vision – heck, I see better than any of them even with their glasses …
Michael, that’s a good question. My insurance covers the ophthalmologist but not glasses or contacts, so I didn’t even worry about it. I am pretty sure that there is a way to work with insurance on these; it seems like there would have to be. 🙂
Thanks for the article Judie! BTW, you look GREAT in your new glasses! Just two weeks ago, I went to the optomotrist to be fitted for contacts. When I went back to ask for my prescription, they tried two or three times to sidetrack me and get me to order through them. I have been a LONG-term patient there (at least 10-12 years). The Dr. prescribed some “AquaClear” lenses for extended wear. When I tried to find them online, no one carried that brand! Then I found one “family doctor” website that offered them for $47 a box. I did a bit more research and found that this “brand” is really just a house brand produced by Cooper. The Cooper brand is “Biofinity” and they ARE available online. I ordered them online for $17 a box. A savings of $180 for six boxes. Plus, there is no tax and shipping is free.
I believe that it is DECEPTIVE for eye “professionals” to prescribe a “brand” that they KNOW is not generally available (except in their store) and not mention that it is actually the SAME as a major brand that is widely available.
Thanks for the article and bringing this subject up. I intend to publish a larger article on my experience on my own website .
I have been buying glasses online for several years.
My initial experience was with 39dollarglasses.com, and it was very positive. The glasses I bought for less than $75 were virtually indistinguishable from glasses I had bought from my eye doctor for hundreds of dollars more.
Unfortunately, the second time I used 39dollarglasses, the experience wasn’t so great. The earpieces were made of cheap, brittle plastic that snapped the first time I tried to adjust the fit. I asked 39dollarglasses to make another set in the style I had bought the first time I ordered from them, and they refused! I pointed out that they claimed to offer a “complete satisfaction guarantee” statement, but they said they’d only remake the glasses using the same cheap frames again. I had to go to a local vision center to get them repaired. Meanwhile, I also lodged a complaint through the BBB. After some negotiation, 39dollarglasses eventually agreed to make a free set of glasses in a different style…which they should have done from the beginning.
In May 2008, I purchased glasses from eyebuydirect.com. I’ve been very pleased with them. I ordered two frames for a total $78…one for distance and one for reading. That included their “thin and light” 1.57 lenses on the distance glasses, anti-scratch, glare, and UV protection.
I just had an eye exam this morning, and I placed my second order with eyebuydirect just a few minutes ago. I’m getting to that age where I have to switch from distance to reading glasses all the time, so this time I opted for progressive lenses…again with anti-scratch, glare, and UV protection. Since they are currently running a promotion on frames (second set free with single vision lenses included…extra for progressive), I ordered a single vision pair of distance glasses with 80% brown tint to use whenever I’m driving. Total cost for both pairs: $130.
Judie, I haven’t compared prices yet, but I will once I get mine. (I don’t recall exactly which model I ordered). I’m sure I will be disappointed at how much more I spent than I needed to.
Great article.I concluded about the same thing after my last purchase was $380. Next time I will buy the frames online and the lenses ar Costco. Thay are dirt cheap and in the end you will get glasses that Costco will fit to you.
About a million years ago I was an optometric assistant at an Optometrists office. I was happy to be getting glasses and contacts at the employee discount rate and was mortified to see how much the frames were marked up from the price the office paid for them.
Looking back now as a business owner, I think some of the reason for the steep mark-up is the fact that once the office buys they frames, they are stuck with them (whether a customer purchases them or not) so they can end up with a lot of inventory that becomes quickly dated (in the back of a drawer I found some vintage Ray Bans that were 30 years old and had never been sold.)
The online stores must be getting around this by moving enough product to secure preferred pricing from the manufacturers and limiting their mark-up.
I have been buying my glasses from Costco for the past few years and have been happy with the quality and the savings. When you pay less for glasses, you feel like you can afford more than one pair. I currently have four pair (and 2 pair of sunglasses!)
Certainly will give the online a try for comparison, although I do like the people at my Costco Optical department and might keep going there for that reason, even if they are a few dollars more.
I recently purchased a pair of glasses online and was disappointed. The no glare coating was sub-standard. If you look at the pictures above you will understand what I am talking about. You can see the reflections in those photos. Plus the coatings peeled.
The frame was cheaply made and bifocal was not at the correct height. I had to tilt my head way back to see the newspaper.
I am just not happy with my purchase and the company will not return my money. Their policy is to return half the money within 30 days and the glasses have to be in the exact same bag it was shipped to me which I threw away when I opened it. I guess you get what you pay for.
I’ve saved the link to this article for a while, and now I’m getting my frames from FramesRx.com.
Thanks for the tip and $$ savings.
I do have insurance, but the only frames they have (that are not old dork-ville glasses) are over $300.
So, I’m getting the frames at FramesRx.com (at the local place $290, online $171).
Then, I’ll take them to my eye doctor, and get the frames partially covered, for less that $100 more.
Last time I got glasses, they were way more than that, even with the insurance!!!!!!
@uzziah0 – Let me know how it goes. I’ve ordered several more pairs since this article ran from a couple of different suppliers, and I have to admit that any savings I may have seen has probably been eaten up in extra pairs of glasses. I love having several pair to choose from based on event or outfit — something I could never afford to do before. 😛
Zenni is great, but there are others who is located right here in the US, thereby allowing you to receive your glasses faster. Personally I have had great success with http://www.SaveMoneyOnGlasses.com. I ordered progressive sunglasses and I was very happy with the glasses I received. There are many more out there just google prescription glasses.
humm…. i think is worth considering.. i have purchase glasses few times from there..i find the process very simple, will also try some other sites to know more about others.
nice glasses
I prefer to purchase my glasses online from Visio-Rx.com. They have an online P.D meter which is a big help for me. Buying glasses online in general is fantastic, I just love saving money!
Judie,
I bought glasses from Zenni Optical several years ago after reading your article. Today I bought another couple pairs. They are a tremendous value. -Steve Laser
That makes me so happy to hear! We have ordered multiple times since I wrote this article, and as long as we have an accurate PD measurement, there has never been an issue.
Side note: We’ve run into an eye doctor giving us the Rx and trying to withhold the PD for some reason, but a bit of talking to them usually solves the problem. We’ve also had eye doctor’s try to charge us extra to give us the Rx. Seriously?!
But, seeing how so many optometrists have turned selling glasses into a lucrative side business, I guess I understand their trepidation about giving out Rxs, but it’s YOUR Rx! How can they withhold it from you? =P