Today’s Guest Post comes from reader Ken B. who wrote in to tell me how much he loved the blog as it has shown him a few ways to save money. He set up an ING account on my advice and is currently helping out other people to save money with the things that he learns here.
Ken offers the following tips on saving money on glasses for those of you who are not able to get LASIK for whatever reason so read up!!
Did you know that over 120 million people in America wear glasses? Did you also know that a glasses frame that costs less than $25 to make in Italy can retail for at least $150 at an optical shop in the United States?
Despite this markup, people still purchase eyewear at brick and mortar stores.
As the New York Times wrote “If ever there was a market ripe for the intervention of the Internet, which allowed consumers to find discounts on best-selling novels, digital cameras or Hawaiian vacations, eyeglasses would be it.”
I will not lie; until one year ago I also used to purchase glasses at brick and mortar stores.
Ever since I was 10 years old, I have had to wear glasses. Over the years, as my prescription got worse and my lenses grew thicker, a significant amount of money was invested in purchasing glasses. A new pair of eyeglasses could easily cost me $400 or more each year. Worst yet, I had been looking for ways to cut back on my expenses.
One night I thought about how I buy so many items online and I asked myself, why hadn’t I looked at purchasing glasses online? That’s when I found out that I could have bought the exact same pair of eyeglasses online I had just purchased for less than half the price.
Reading an article in the New York Times, I soon found that just about every single brand name sold at every single eyeglass center was available online – and always at a significant savings.
All that I needed to order online was a current prescription from a licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist along with my Pupil Distance (PD) measurement. If 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.
If you are honestly too intimidated to call your doctor and ask for your prescription, some of the companies will do it for you.
So there you go. Every year I have saved hundreds of dollars, and so could you. If you are looking for ways to save money, your eyewear is a great place to start. Here are some good resources for places to go if you want to take the next steps in saving money.
1. www.Eyeglasses.com: Website that sells glasses; received an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB)
2. www.eyebuydirect.com: Popular website for glasses
3. New York Times article about purchasing glasses online
4. Article from Slate.com about purchasing glasses online
Ken is currently a student but he is keen on saving money and is also thinking of starting a blog of his own sometime in the future. Any advice for Ken would be greatly appreciated.
I’ve considered buying glasses online but I always by them at brick and mortar stores. I don’t really trust online companies to make my glasses right, and I like trying on my glasses and having them fit on my face at the store when they come in. I’ve had glasses messed up when ordered in person before, but I could always go in and complain and get them fixed. I’m sure it would be a much bigger pain in the butt online. Plus, my glasses sometimes get scratched and I’ve had the lenses replaced for free at the local store… I don’t think the online stores would do this.
This is great! I’ll definitely have to check this out. For some odd reason, I’ve never really considered buying glasses online either but now I will check it out.
Sound Good! another way to save money online is getting discount and coupon, it is very helpful to reduce the price of products.i always use these service whenever i go for online or offline shopping.
Good article. I’ve considered buying online for a second pair which my insurance wouldn’t cover. I’ll have to try this route although I’d still be concerned if they fit comfortably on my face. There’s a lot of little adjustments an optometrist could make.
I find this interesting as I was under the impression that glasses and lenses could only be ordered through a licensed eye care practitioner. Having worn glasses or contacts my entire life as well, I’ve never purchased either online even though I consider myself a pretty savvy internet shopper (apparently not). I’m very curious to compare what I’ve been paying for glasses through my optometrist to the prices online? I’m sure the results will depress me.
I think you will be VERY surprised when you see how much cheaper it is. I used to wear glasses and contacts before I got my LASIK and started buying my contacts online first. The best two places I have found are VisionDirect.com and CoastalContacts.com. They are easy to use and offer discounts on return visits. Let me know how you your experience goes!!!!!
I purchased my current pair of glasses from Zenni Optical (zennioptical.com). I obtained my prescription with PD measurement from my eye doctor without any interrogation. My prescription isn’t conventional – astigmatism with bifocal. I priced out the same glasses at my eye doctor’s office and my out-of-pocket would have been $400 (after insurance!). At Zenni, my favorite frame was $26.95, and with progressive bifocal lenses, the total cost was $67.95 (with shipping). Forget the insurance! It would be cheaper for me to go to Costco or Walmart for an eye exam and then purchase my glasses online with Zenni! The website recently added a “try-on” feature, allowing me to upload my photo to “try-on” new frames! How do you know which frame will fit your face? If you check your current pair of glasses, you should find the measurements printed somewhere on the frame. Use that as a guideline to find other frames in the same size. Once you receive your order, all you have to do is have an optician do a minor adjustment to fit your new glasses to your face. Most optical shops will do this as a courtesy for you, regardless of whether or not you purchased them there.