Les Jones: Cheap Eyeglasses Online

April 02, 2008

Health Care > Cheap Eyeglasses Online

James Rummel posted a while back about a Web site selling eyeglasses for as little as $8 a pair. Now he links to Sevesteen's review of that Web site. It sounds like the biggest challenge is knowing what frames to get that will look good on you:

I also got a pair of sunglasses with memory temples and bridge, semi-rimmed (the string type) for $15--Wore those while driving to work, and the prescription seems fine, as are the $13 hingeless stainless steel semi-rim. Finally, I bought a $10 semi-rimmed that I'm wearing now. Also fine.
I will probably order from them again, but if I get something beyond the basic lens, I'll be more careful about width, and probably stick to a frame style I already have.

My wife tells me she worked part-time for an optometrist back in her twenties. She was shocked at the markup on eyeglasses. I believe it.

She and I got new glasses in December. The salesperson was happy to throw in anti-reflection coatings to our glasses, add polarization to my sunglasses, and even make new lenses for my old frames, all at no extra cost. This despite the fact that we were buying during a buy one pair get two pair free sale. We didn't even drive a hard bargain - we just mentioned those things and she happily gave them to us gratis. I realized then how much profit margin that store has on eyeglasses. I can only imagine how much profit margin my optometrist makes on eyeglasses during his buy one get nothing free sale.

Our optical plan will cover new eyeglasses on January 1, 2009, so we may give Zenni a try then. Most of the eyeglasses are in the $25-50 range, which our deductible will more than cover.

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Comments

If you've got Eyemed insurance, look at going to someone other than their preferred providers and being reimbursed. Most of their preferred providers are owned by the same parent, and your costs are based on full price, can't be combined with a sale. Before I got the Zenni glasses, I bought glasses from Walmart optical--I had to pay up front, but they did the paperwork and the reimbursement check came a few weeks later. My out of pocket was way less doing it that way.

Posted by: Sevesteen at April 02, 2008

My brother got glasses at Wal-Mart last year. The price was good and the turnaround was quick.

Posted by: Les Jones at April 02, 2008

I just ordered a pair with a few options... $35 total. I wear contacts about 99.8% of the time, so my glasses are about three prescriptions behind. I didn't want to drop $200 on a new pair, but I'll risk the $35 and follow up with my thoughts once they arrive. Thanks for the pointer!

Posted by: Dave Disney at April 04, 2008