Save a Ton on Glasses: How to Buy Your Next Pair of Glasses Online

Here's a guest post courtesy of Get Better Glasses, a website that claims you can save a significant amount of money by buying glasses online.

The purpose of this article is to simply describe what you need to do to buy your first pair of glasses online. I will not recommend particular retailers, as you can find that info in several of my other articles and also check out the links on the right of this page.

Purchasing eyewear online seems daunting at first. If you’re like me, purchasing and fitting prescription glasses always seemed like a complex procedure best left to professionals. The truth is, if you know your prescription and have your existing rx glasses handy, it is really quite simple to purchase glasses online.

The Seven Critical Numbers

First, find your current prescription. I keep mine in the health file in my filing cabinet. If you can’t find your prescription, visit wherever you last had your eyes examined and request a copy. Your optician, optometrist, or ophthalmologist is required by law to release your eyewear prescription to you.

You now need to make note of a few critical pieces of information from your prescription (see example above--click to enlarge). Among other information, you should see three columns on your prescription--sphere, cylinder, and axis. In the example above, these are abbreviated SPH. CYL. and AXIS. These three columns will have two rows, Right and Left. In the prescription above, this is simply abbreviated R and L. Many doctors instead use the latin abbreviations, which are OD and OS. OD means right eye and OS means left eye. Jot down a quick copy of the six numbers or simply keep your prescription handy. These six critical numbers define how your lens will be carved. Any online eyewear retailer will ask for the input of these six numbers.

In addition to these six numbers, there is one more critical number, the Pupillary Distance, or PD. This is a measure, in millimeters, of the space between your eyes. In the example prescription above, you’ll see the Pupillary Distance of the patient is 62. Jot down this number also, it is the seventh of your seven critical numbers.

A Final Measurement

A somewhat less critical number is your temple length. If you’re lucky, you’ll also see a temple length and bridge size in your prescription. If not, don’t sweat it, you can figure it out yourself.

The temple length describes the length of the two bars that connect the glasses to your ears. It is measured from where the 90-degree curve from your lens structure to the side bars (temples) begins to the very end of the temple, including the curve. It is not measured from the flex point of the temples, because the “stub” between the flex point and lens structure is not a standard size (see this page for a visual description of this).

Now, take out some measuring tape (preferably the type of tape used for fitting clothes and sewing, as it is very flexible) and measure an existing pair of glasses that fit comfortably. An average temple length for men is 135mm or 145mm. For women, 130mm to 140mm is standard. If your tape only has inches, measure to the nearest eighth or sixteenth and multiply that number by 25.4 to get the measurement in millimeters. Temple lengths are generally available in 5mm increments, such as 130, 135, 140, 145, etc.

At most online eyeglasses stores, temple length is shown within a frame description and is not customizable. Therefore, you need to find a frame with an appropriate temple size. This sometimes varies if you are at a site specializing in designer glasses, where you have the option to input your own temple size.

Honestly, temple size is not a huge deal. I have one pair of glasses with 135mm temples and another with 140mm temples. Both pairs fit comfortably. If for some reason you can’t come up with a temple measurement, don’t let that stop you from making an eyewear purchase online. Instead, simply choose 140mm temples if you are a man and 135mm temples if you are a woman. Chances are, this length will fit comfortably.

What’s your Style?

Armed with your seven critical numbers and an idea on your temple length, start browsing the myriad of online retailers. Pick out some favorite frames and open the individual pages in separate tabs or windows of your web browser. Similar to trying on glasses at a standard retailer, you need to figure out if the frames you like are appropriate for your face. You might visit my earlier post on the topic of face shape. If you have a nice oval face, you’re in luck, most any pair will look on you. If you have strong, angular features, a rounded or rimless pair will look god on you. If you have a very round face, choose a rectangular or hexagonal pair of glasses. If you just want a basic pair of professional glasses, go with titanium rimless.

Using your trusty measuring tape, you can compare other measurements of your existing glasses with what you are looking at online. The bridge measurement describes the distance between lenses, the height describes the distance from the lowest point on the front of the frame to the highest point, and the lens describes the distance between the end of the bridge and the beginning of the temple.

Some retailers also offer free virtual try-on. This service, which I describe in this post will allow you to upload a picture and place a variety of frame types on your face.

Place Your Order

So you’ve found the perfect pair of frames. Begin the checkout process. You should see boxes where you can enter your prescription information (the seven critical numbers). This will sometimes be in a table format similar to your prescription, or it may be a simple list. You’ll also have the option to choose from a variety of coatings and add-ons. If you will be wearing your glasses day-in and day-out, I recommend choosing the anti-scratch and anti-reflective coatings. These really do make a difference and ease night driving (anti-reflective) and the longevity of being able to see clearly through your lens (anti-scratch). You can add on the UV coating if you wish, though it isn’t critical. Photochromatic tinting (aka “transition lens”) is also an option. Personally, I prefer buying a separate pair of prescription sunglasses, but that is up to you.

If you only wear glasses occasionally (maybe as a supplement to contact lenses), or are just purchasing a pair of Rx sunglasses that won’t be worn every waking hour, you might choose to save money by skipping on the extras. If you are buying a pair for your accident-prone child, skimping on the extras might not be such a bad idea either. Avoid coatings and other add-ons will also allow you to get a great pair of prescription glasses for well under $40.

After you’ve placed your order, you’ll typically wait about 2-to-3 weeks for your glasses to be custom carved and delivered. The finished product will typically include a hard case and a soft cloth for lens cleaning. In my first ever post, I show a video of the exact product received from a popular online eyewear retailer.

Side Note One: “Help, I don’t have a prescription!”

If it has been a long time since your eyes have been examined, or if you just can’t get a hold of your prescription, it’s time to go visit an optometrist. While your neighborhood optometrist may charge $100 or more for a simple examination, discount stores like Wal-Mart, or optometrists in working-class neighborhoods will often offer an eye exam for $40 or less. Grab your yellow pages and start making phone calls. Chances are, you’ll get the best price if you find an optometrist who has many customers without vision insurance.

Side Note Two: “How can it be so cheap?”

The price difference between online eyewear and glasses bought from a traditional retailer, or even Wal-Mart or Costco, is startling. An identical pair of titanium frames might cost $60 online and $220 at Wal-Mart. How can this be? What about the quality? I will categorically state that the quality of glasses received from the majority of online retailers is equal to or exceeds the quality found at your neighborhood eyewear shop or optometrist. The price differential comes from a number of factors, including the relative obscurity of online eyewear purchases, the fact that highly paid optometrists do not spend one-on-one time with the eyewear purchaser, and the fact that insurance companies are typically not involved with online eyewear purchases, thereby discouraging inflated prices.

Give it a try. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied with your online eyewear purchase if you follow the steps outlined in this article.

Comments

[F. Morana]

Yes, with a little initiative you can avoid all sorts of scams -- and a "scam" is exactly what the optician-optometrist racket is!

A hundred years ago, people bought glasses from a vendor on a truck, and occasionally, the choice was incorrect or injurious.

A group of schemers sought to capitalize on this, and successfully lobbied, in all the United States, to prevent the dispensing of eyeglasses by anyone other than state-licensed practitioners, who called themselves "optometrists."

As the name implies, these practitioners are "metricians" only, that is, their job is to take measurements. They are not physicians, but merely paraprofessionals, with minimal standing in the medical community. Yet they successfully convinced state legislatures to allow them to adopt the title of "doctor," which is totally misleading, especially among people who are poor and ignorant.

As time went on, these paraprofessionals were able to enforce a virtual monopoly on the dispensement of eyeglasses, and in 20th-century America, the price of a pair of eyeglasses became inflated to 100-200 times beyond its value, and most people became reduced to owning only one or two pairs.

This was only eased in more recent times, when it has become possible to purchase a limited number of strengths (+1.00 thru +3.00), over-the-counter, for as little as a dollar. Naturally, this has aroused the greatest objections from the optometry industry.

A dollar, in my estimation, is just about what a pair of eyeglasses is physically worth. All the rest is frills, and there is no reason today why one should not own dozens of pairs of eyeglasses, of many different styles, and several different strengths, for various occasions.

The work of the optometrist consists of nothing more than common sense in sitting a customer down -- in a specially appointed, pseudo-medical-office environment -- and in approximating the customer's own responses as to "which is better, A or B; which is better, B or C?" As a true paraprofessional, the optometrist is also trained to be watchful for signs of eye disease, but if any such sign is apparent, there is absolutely no recourse other than to enlist the help of the professional, namely, the opthalmologist.

In every case, however, the optometrist parades around like a doctor, ripping-off customers for hundreds and hundreds of dollars for services which have more to do with decor and demeanor than anything else. The only reason they get away with it is because of the state-legislative regulations which were enacted a century ago.

[Adam]

Optometrists do help people see, which is incredibly helpful. They operate fancy equipment, something I couldn't do. They charge for these services and then charge again in the form of overpriced glasses.

I don't mind being charged for having my degree of blindness measured, but it needs to be seen as a totally separate purchase than that of the prescription glasses themselves. We're beginning to learn the true cost of manufacturing RX glasses thanks to the emerging market of online eyewear retailers.

I'm not anti-optometrist, I'm just pro-consumer.

[Andy2]

I got a pair from zennioptical.com for $8. Great glasses, incredibly cheap. I may get another pair soon. If anyone is looking, I'd check them out.

[Tony]

What a timely article. I just placed an order with bestbuyeyeglasses.com today; their customer service was great and I easily saved $200 armed with my prescription and the size of my current glasses.

[Jeremy]

Unlike Tony, my wife just recently bought glasses from a chain store (Pearlevision) and I won't even till you the price because I am embarrassed how much we paid now. This article is very useful and will be using it in the future. Thanks.

[Adam]

Better to know late over never! I used to pay well over $200 for my frames, and one time I chose a top-of-the-line model which hit almost $450. Yikes. No more, though. Here's to the informed consumer!

[Mark Framness]

Hmm,

No doubt the Freemasons and The Bohemian Club are in on this too.

I'll continue seeing the eye guy annually, but am finished buying my contacts & glasses through eye doctors and similar.

I bought a pair of name brand glasses and saved over $200 easily on go-optic.com. Make sure you have all the measurements, I had to call my last optician to get my pupil spacing, something I never heard of before.

[Ron]

I've purchased four pair online for about $60. I have no complaints and will never purchase from a brick and mortor ever again.

What I did do, however, was visit my local Lens Crafters (and another, the name of which escapes me now) and spied their selection of frames. That gave me the opportunity to try a few on to see if I liked them.

Take your time with the measurements and you won't be disappointed.

[wendy steffenhagen]

I have purchased many times from Zenni Optical and have been more than happy! I recommend them to anyone!
But not bestbuyeyeglasses! I placed an order with them and have not even received a shipping confirmation or any response to my e-mails.
Don't go there!!