Call it advertisement, spam, or whatever... but stop paying a fortune for glasses!

[wolfwings]

Whenever I see multiple friends suddenly bitch at once about this time of year about the price of glasses (why does everyone get glasses just after Labor Day? *shrug*) I realize I've missed telling someone else something: Glasses are a rip-off on the magnitude of thousands of percent. Yes, for every dollar you spend nine or more can end up being profit for the vendor.

How'd you like to be able to afford to get a bi-yearly eye exam, and regularly buy three to five pairs of glasses a year, and still pay less than $200 a year? Sure, won't work for some ultra-extreme cases, but here's how for the majority:

1. Wal-Mart charges $50 for an eye exam at locations so equipped. If you just need a basic exam, they're perfect. That's between $50 and $100/year. Make sure to ask for your "PD Number" which usually isn't filled out on the prescription sheet unless you remind them. It's how far apart your eyeballs are.
2. GlassyEyes is the central blog that links to all major internet eyeware vendors that don't ass-rape you. $8 for a pair of prescription glasses? Ding, look here. There's plenty more up to around $60/pair for hingeless memory-titanium ones w/ ultra-ultra-light lenses and sillyness like that.
3. Order from one of those sub-sites, no wierd voodoo, no insurance claims, just pay about what you would for a couple pizza's, and wait anywhere from a week to a couple months. Yes, months in some cases for some of the on-line vendors. One sub-vendor that comes and goes due to their long shipping delays but incredibly low prices is Zenni Optical. They're the one I've personally bought stuff for others from, and most of my friends have personally ended up using them with great success, but their shipping times vary across the full gammut from 2 weeks to the full 2 months. They DO eventually ship though!

So who can't do this? Those that need a new pair of glasses in the next 24-48 hours. That's pretty much it. If you can be patient, you can order a half-dozen pairs ranging from cheap $8 ones to keep as spares in the glove-boxes and night-stands of your life and for going swimming in (yes, you can get a pair of solid-plastic corrosion-proof prescription eyeglasses w/ tinting just for poolside/beachside use, huzzah, now we're talking civilized living!) and still have one or two pairs of really nice day-use glasses.

Comments

[lironess.livejournal.com]

Zennioptical.com....same MO but may have a different selection..Got three pairs with high index 1.67 and anti reflective for less than 200.00.

[steeleheart.livejournal.com]

I have had good dealings with Zenni... Albeit their shipping times, as you said, are a little long... But otherwise the service I received from them was great. I would recommend them to anyone.

[catwoman69y2k.insanejournal.com (from livejournal.com)]

Thanks for the links. Ill keep my eyes open (no pun intended) for deals at these places during the next time I need to buy glasses. Sadly I have to go with polycarbonate lenses due to the severe vision difference between the right and left eye.

I also have a stigmatism in the eye that is not the lazy eye. Plus, doublehyperphoria to go with it. Need transitions because Im light sensitive. :( yeah...

[cassen-grrrl.livejournal.com]

Most people only have 1 pair of glasses and they don't get new ones unless theirs are lost or broken. Then they can't see, so they need new glasses ASAP! That is why places like LensCrafters and other places can "ass-rape" customers because of the supply vs. demand concept of economics. The more something is "needed" the more people will pay for it. If people are smart enough to think ahead and get glasses more frequently and buy 2 pairs instead of one (if they use the services you listed they can because now the glasses have become affordable) they wouldn't be in the DIRE NEED category. I bet most people didn't knowh about these services. It's good that you list them. People can order glasses ahead of time and it won't be a problem if they have to wait a couple of months for them to ship.

Its the same thing with plane tickets. If you buy them early enough you can get a good deal. If you have to fly for an emergency and you NEED TO GET ON THE NEXT FLIGHT you will PAY THROUGH THE NOSE!

[uplinktruck.livejournal.com]

Good things to know. Thanks.

[buran.livejournal.com]

I just got a cheap (comparatively, since I need UV-reactive darkening) pair from 39dollarglasses, but I'm hesitant to recommend them since the first pair they sent was wrong and unusable. So much for their QA process. I got the replacement pair yesterday and they're fine, but sending me unusable glasses, making me pay to ship them back, "inspecting" them even though I included SIGNED, RX-PAD PROOF from my optician that EXPLAINED THEIR MISTAKE and thus sitting on them for an unacceptable amount of time, then finally getting around to remaking them ... means right now, I say "go elsewhere".

From what I've heard, Costco has the same pricing, or close, and if they're wrong you'll find out on the spot and you can complain on the spot. So next time I'm going to just join up with Costco and go through them.

But if I had actually not needed UV-reactive lenses, I would have indeed only spent $39 plus shipping. Still, the $110 or so shipped that I paid is a LOT less than what Lenscrafters wants... they wanted $300+ just to re-lens my existing frames, and the $110 INCLUDED frames!

I'm going to be looking into who can best re-lens the Lenscrafters frame that is now my spare. It's a great frame and it's lightweight and comfortable and I like the bendy stems (whatever those are called), but it won't be 39dollarglasses' re-lensing service.

Anyone, any recommendations for who can do it for a reasonable price? It's a Luxxotica-brand frame but I can't imagine that being a problem. I initially used Lenscrafters because at the time they were the best option for my situation but now that I can wait, and I know that I can get a better value, no more LC for me (especially now that I do have two glasses made to my prescription).

[genericvox.livejournal.com]

Hello wise owl.

I just randomly came across this journal and was wondering if this glasses thing applies to people with really bad astigmatism... any details? :) either way, id like to favorite this and share with some other "four-eyed friends", if that's okay!