Glasses for Less Than $50
You can save hundreds, but these cut-rate specs come with some caveats.
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, January 2009
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More than a year has passed since your last eye exam, so you drop by your local boutique for a quick checkup. An hour later -- and $500 poorer -- you're out the door, wondering how a simple prescription framed in a piece of plastic stamped "Made in China" could cost so much. But thanks to some online retailers, getting a new pair of specs doesn't have to break the bank.
The savings can be dramatic. These factory-direct glasses run from about $8 to $50 for both frames and lenses -- but they come with two caveats. First, you'll need to do a little work to put in an order. Second, the quality ranges from pretty good to flimsy, more or less in proportion to the price you pay. Charles Bailey, an associate clinical professor at the University of California-Berkeley optometry school, says the frames may have shoddy hinges, or the protective lens coatings may be of lesser quality than in pricier eyeglasses. However, they're worth considering, especially to use as a backup pair or to expand your eyeglass wardrobe on the cheap.
The Web sites themselves also vary in quality. The best -- 39DollarGlasses.com and EyeBuyDirect.com -- offer a big selection and an easy-to-use, uncluttered interface. But others, such as Optical4Less.com, can be tricky to navigate. And some, such as ZenniOptical.com, are usable but downright eyesores.
For advice on getting the best fit for the best price, we checked with Ira Mitchell, who runs a Web site on the online eyewear industry, GlassyEyes.com. Mitchell, a software developer in St. Paul, says he owns 18 pairs of glasses from various online retailers. "Of the 18 pairs that I've gotten, 17 have been great."
Proper fit
Make sure you have an accurate, updated prescription, Mitchell says. By law, your ophthalmologist or optometrist is required to give it to you. You'll also need to know your pupillary distance (PD), which is the distance between the centers of your pupils, to ensure a proper fit.
Your optometrist should be able to give you that number, but most online retailers also provide instructions for measuring it yourself. Because calculating your own PD can be tricky and imprecise, ask a friend for help to save you the trouble of fumbling with a ruler in front of the mirror.
Next, look at an old pair of frames and jot down the measurements -- they're usually on the inside of the frames. If you can't find the size, try on a few pairs with clearly marked sizes at an optometrist's office.
Armed with that information, shopping for glasses online is as straightforward as buying anything else. Most retailers let you filter their inventories by style and frame size, so you don't have to sort through countless frames. Some even let you upload a picture of your face so you can virtually see yourself in different styles.
After "trying on" dozens of pairs, I settled on $19 plastic frames from Zenni Optical. I opted for high-index lenses with anti-glare coating -- a $20 upgrade, but the total was still hundreds less than I would pay in stores. Similar designer glasses by Oliver Peoples cost about $530. My pair was not as sturdy as the Peoples pair, but they looked just as sharp, and I could see just fine. The glasses, along with a case and cleaning cloth, arrived in two weeks.
If you have bifocals or a strong prescription, says Bailey, be certain your measurements are accurate (especially the PD). If there's an error, your glasses may cause eye fatigue or double vision.
If the prescription is wrong or your frames don't fit properly, most online retailers have flexible return policies. Zenni Optical, for example, offers a 50% refund within four weeks, and EyeBuyDirect.com gives a full, no-questions-asked refund within seven days.
Reader Comments (13)
Posted by: rdzins at 12/11/2008 08:43:22 AM
I have bought from Zenni Optical and I was impressed with what I received, especially for the money. Last time I went to Sears and they had a buy-one-get-one-free sale, what a joke, there definitely was nothing free there and 400.00 dollars later I walked out with a prescription and 1 pair of glasses, no free pairs, the wording and so called "sale" price or free is so deceptive, I have bought my last pair of glasses from a ophthalmologist and from now on will be ordering everything online.
Posted by: Bob at 12/11/2008 09:31:15 AM
Why pay $50 or even $19? Some of our local dollar stores sell reading glasses at various strengths for as little as $1. I have expensive reading glasses but wear them only for reading. I end up leaving them in the other room,out in the car,or in a coat pocket. I bought five pair of the dollar glasses and leave one pair in each room and an extra pair in the car. They work quite well and there is always a pair within reach. They are cheaply made and they scratch easily but are cheap enough to be considered disposable. Before buying, I always try each pair on and make sure I have clear sharp vision. The time I save looking for a pair of glasses more than pays for many pairs. I even keep an extra strong pair to use as a magnifying glass when working up close on tiny parts. However,if you wear your glasses all the time or need something other than a standard reading prescription, these are not for you but an extra pair could be used in an emergency. $1 insurance is a pretty good deal.
Posted by: Photon at 12/11/2008 01:51:39 PM
I'm now on my sixth pair of glasses from ZenniOptical.com and couldn't be happier. My $8 frames look identical to the $184 ones at my optometrist's office in every respect, except without the brand name. I've gotten them in single vision sunglasses, bifocals, tints and antiglare -- everything is great. I can't imagine buying anywhere else.
Posted by: lukega at 12/11/2008 11:09:59 PM
I too have bought 3 pairs from Zenni Optical and concur with the other posters that the quality is as good as what I have purchased from my opthalmologist. I like to have people try and guess what I paid - they are always way off. They sometimes make jokes but usually ask for the website in the end.
Posted by: Keith at 12/12/2008 01:38:10 AM
My wife has bought several pairs from selectspecs.com in England and has always been very happy with everything about their products, prices and communication including speed of delivery to Australia. She even told them and they put her letter as a testimonial on their website (they asked first). We were quite surprised a few months later to discover her testimonial being quoted by an ebay seller who was onselling from selecspecs (without their knowledge) at double the price, triple the postage and delivery time. The ebay "re-sellers" had even corrected typos in the testimonials! We eventually got them shutdown.
Posted by: Dianne at 12/12/2008 06:43:08 AM
I own two pair of glasses purchased through Zennioptical and love them. I found that the optometrists office was reluctance to give me my PD - I'm sure they knew I was going elsewhere. If only they knew! The glasses from Zenni are of great quality and in this day and age, this is a HUGE savings. Many of my friends are ordering from them as well.
Posted by: Matt at 12/12/2008 02:13:02 PM
You get what you pay for. Thats the bottom line. And go ahead and support a business where lenses are made in Pakistan and perpetuate the loss of more American jobs. The WalMart mentality is slowly but surely destroying the middle class in America. Look at the statistics. People want quality and they want it reasonable. That is attainable form your local Opticians.
Posted by: vision? at 12/14/2008 07:33:37 PM
...I personally don't mind spending for quality and service to see the world in front of me. Most people wear the same pair of glasses for 2-4 years, every single day, all day. Does 500$ to have a trained optician fit you with the right frame and lenses still seem expensive? People own dozens of shoes that get worn once a week and most people don't notice, but people want to skimp on something that everyone sees when they look at you?!?!
Posted by: Eyecare at 12/15/2008 02:29:30 PM
These are great alternatives to consider and some even offer reasonable return policies. In general you will get what you pay for but there's a large mark-up on these products at most local optical dispensaries and the quality offered by online vendors can be equivalent to what you find at your neighborhood optician. As always, caveat emphor; it's your money. Incidentally, there are members of "optician guilds" who are specially trained to provide the best service and product, often at a premium prices. You won't find this level of service at your local "glasses 'r us" store...let alone from an online store. So it becomes a question of how comfortable you feel with the prescription you received and how comfortable you are with ordering the product online. You can also consider the surgical (lasik/prk) alternatives although if you're older you may still need reading glasses for close work. If you don't require glasses for clear distance vision though presbyopes can very often get by with over-the-counter reading glasses that only cost around $15 or so.
Posted by: Jenn at 01/05/2009 10:21:08 AM
I recently ordered a pair of glasses from goggles4u.com. While the interface isn't particularly great, the price and the quality are. I couldn't be happier -- $25 for a pair of trendy glasses. I'm glad to see this finally getting more press (my original purchase followed an article at slate.com).
Posted by: seriously? at 02/20/2009 11:42:00 AM
I cannot believe that Kiplinger's would wwrite such an article in the first place. First of all the glasses on these sites are all discontinued or defects. So odds are the frames are a couple of bucks in addition to being unreturnable, unfixable and not guaranteed. The lenses are the bigger issue. They are not being fit for you and are stock cheap lenses. I mean they are only your eyes, heaven forbid you actually see correctly out of them. Also don't forget the service, in which it seems has disappeared lately. You have a person fitting you and answering your questions and helping you...not a computer screen. Bottom line you get what you pay for.
Posted by: James Holleran at 02/24/2009 12:55:38 PM
After reading the article I was willing to give it a try. I ordered my glasses the last week of January and was supposed to get a delivery in approx. 10 days. Well, today I received an email responding to my inquiry and it reads as follows: "We have to tell you that the delivery of your order of eyeglasses we remade has been temporarily delayed, due to a Customs' inspection. Currently, we do not have a release date." It goes on further stating they would reorder them and expect delivery shortly. Now I cannot judge the quality as of yet, but this kind of service makes me quite curious not to mention annoyed. Luckily, I could go to nearest store for a throwaway set. JH
Posted by: eyeoptix at 11/12/2009 02:06:30 PM
It's not all doom and gloom for budget shoppers. For those who want to save money on eyeglasses but still prefer them be quite high in quality, you might also want to check out BestBuyEyeglasses.com - the site features designer eyeglasses, sunglasses, frames and lenses at deep discount prices. When ordering prescription eyeglasses online, you just need to make sure your eye doctor writes your Pupillary Distance (PD) measurement on your prescription. Without an accurate PD, you may find that your glasses may cause blurring or headaches.