<p>I have relatively little experience with glasses, but find I now need them – bifocals or progressive ones. Looked at a pair at optometrist’s office, but sticker shock knocked me out: $750+ for a pair with Silhouette frames. (The Silhouette frames are very light, but I don’t know if they are worth that kind of cash.)</p>
<p>I have the prescription, and have looked at the online eyeglass stores, but don’t know if I would be getting an inferior pair of glasses/lenses. Your experience, or words of wisdom, anyone?</p>
<p>Consider looking at Costco Optical. If the price difference is significant, the $50 club membership fee might be worth it. Be careful with online stores - some do their work outside the US and there are no refunds. A couple of coworkers bought their glasses online, and the glasses do look flimsy and cheap. Costco will take anything back if you are not happy with it.</p>
<p>I have worn progressives for years. Progressives need to be properly fitted. The optician will take eye measurements, etc. I don’t think you could get a good product online. Single vision lenses would probably be ok. You could look for a less expensive frame.</p>
<p>I would also recommend Costco. Their prices are significantly lower (sometimes a third of the cost) of prices at an optometrist. Like BB said, you can take anything back, you can go in for adjustments, and the glasses are of good quality. They sometimes have good sales on top of already low prices. I would also stay away from on-line stores for glasses.</p>
<p>I am the only person in our family who doesn’t wear eye glasses, but my H has purchased pairs online for both the kids and himself. Much less expensive and they have been happy with the glasses. Son got a new pair in December and likes them so much he’s been wearing them instead of his contacts - I think the many girls who have complimented him on the new glasses has something to do with that. He used Zenni Optical. With shipping and handling, the frames, lenses, anti-reflection coating, etc. son’s glasses came to a grand total of $22.85.</p>
<p>I have vision insurance so, when needing glasses 10 years after Lasik, got my first pair but realized it’d be nice to have a second pair for the car. Had sticker shock when I asked about a second pair so tried online. I just looked quickly to see if I could find the name of the vendor I used but don’t see it (sorry) so I’d google ‘review prescription glasses’ or something like that and do a little research. I know the issue has been discussed on slickdeals.net as well if you want to look there. </p>
<p>The pair I got are perfect–can’t tell the difference between the ones from the shop that, I believe, were over $300 although I just had a modest copay. Make sure you have your pupil distance from the place that did your exam. You can measure it yourself but I’m assuming there’s less room for error if you have it from the dr (mine wasn’t on my rx so I had to call and ask for it). To me, the hardest part was guessing which frames would look good so I just tried to match the original pair. I think mine cost under $15, shipping and all. The risk is low–you could always give it a try, knowing you could be wasting a small amount of money.</p>
<p>S has had considerable success buying on-line. Our family has been purchasing regularly at Costco Optical & are very pleased with the price. Bought D two pairs (regular & sunglasses) for under $300 and bought S a pair for about $130. The customer service is great!</p>
<p>Have read good things about Zenni Optical as well & meant to try it but haven’t gotten around to it yet.</p>
<p>what about buying contact lenses online? have any of you done it? my contacts are bifocals, would that make a difference? </p>
<p>i’m running out of my disposables, but my eye dr. won’t renew order unless i undergo an eye exam, which i’d rather not have to pay for right now.</p>
<p>I tried an online site last year more then anything to see how it was. I ordered Progressive lenses with frameless frames, Anti glare and the grand total came to $66 delivered. I brought them to my optomatrist before even trying them and he checked them out and said the prescription was perfect. I have since then purchased 2 more pairs, one pair of sunglasses and a pair of computer glasses. 3 pairs of glasses and I have not yet spent $200. This is my experience only and I have no problems.</p>
<p>A few months ago, someone posted a scathing story from either the NYT or the WSJ about some crazy guy who runs an online optical shop. Really scary stuff. Find out that name and avoid them.</p>
<p>My daughter bought her latest pair online (designer) and she loves them. Son also bought his glasses online; he’s so cheap he bought the mil-spec ones with the heavy plastic black frames. Ugly. But they were cheap.</p>
<p>S got a pair that he’s been wearing for a while that was free as a promo. They look fine to us but he doesn’t really like them. He ordered a pair from Costco to replace the free ones for about $130–it’s the same frame he had 6 years ago that he prefers over the rest of their frames & he was glad it was in stock again. He’s not that thrilled with the frame selection for men at Costco, since he’s been buying from them regularly since he was 8 or 10 years old.</p>
<p>I’ve thought about buying glasses online or other discounters, but I wonder what you do when you need a repair on them, an adjustment or when you walk into a door and mess them up big time. (Guess who’s done that!) How do you get them fixed? My local guy seems to offer lifetime service to me for free.</p>
<p>I have ordered contacts online for years and never had any problems. If bifocal prescriptions are a set prescription I don’t see how they would have problems either.</p>
<p>I was pretty sure contact prescriptions are good for one year, so if the time is less than that, then your eye dr. should not be giving you a hassle. The online places I have used contact the dr. to verify the prescription after one orders, so I didn’t even have to call the dr.'s office.</p>
<p>The prices posted above for glasses sound incredibly cheaper, but I would be reluctant to try, only because I have a strange nose where all glasses look bad and I try to pick the least worst :)</p>
<p>I have had my current glasses for a bit over 3 years and I think it is soon time to go get my eyes checked and get a new pair. When I got these, I broke my last ones in half accidently. I wound up going to lens crafters. They did a great job and they were ready in an hour, but boy did I pay. Even with my insurance I paid 80 dollars for my exam and over 300 for the glasses. At that price, I figured they better last me a few years. My insurance now includes a free eye exam so I know I don’t have to worry about that this time but I’m not sure where I’m going to go. I may wind up going back to lens crafters. Expensive but they did a great job. They measured my face and everything and adjusted the glasses accordingly to make sure they fit right. If anything is wrong or if you don’t like your frames after you get home, you can go back and they will let you exchange them and make you new ones free of charge. I may have them turn my existing pair into sun glasses. I’m very picky so I wind up trying them on for 5345 hours so I don’t think the online thing would work. I need to see them on my face and I need to see how they feel on me.</p>
<p>My S once lost a pair of $400 glasses (I was ready to kill DW for getting a kid $400 glasses, but that’s a different story), and I replaced them using Zenni. Cost about $50, and $35 of that was the photo-chromatic darkening.</p>
<p>I’ve since used them a few more times with good results.</p>
<p>When you think about the amount of materials that go into a frame (which was probably made in China), paying hundreds of dollars is a complete rip-off. I think lenses are all ground by machine these days, what difference does it make what country the machine is in?</p>
<p>As for minor adjustments, almost every place I’ve gone into will make quick adjustments for free regardless of where you bought them.</p>
<p>Zenni also has a feature where you can upload a picture of your face and put different frames on the picture.</p>
<p>I highly recommend coastalcontacts.com. I buy my contacts from them (they have a price match guarantee, and will match any lower price on the internet). Also, they periodically run a promo where glasses frames with basic lenses are free and you just pay shipping and handling…I got a pair of Nicole Miller glasses for $12. Considering I wear contacts most of the time, it was a lot better than going to the optometrist and spending $200+ on glasses that I barely wear.</p>