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Buying prescription glasses online

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Snkfanatic

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In the next month or so I plan to get my eyes checked and finally get some new glasses. I have never tried buying glasses online and have read a lot of mixed results online. Two sites have caught my attention.

http://www.zennioptical.com/

This site was introduced to me through GAF. Someone made a thread about it and the price really has my attention. Reading about their Customer Support has me a little worried though. Some people were having a hard time getting them to accept a return or even adjust the glasses.

http://www.bonlook.com/

A friend showed me this place, she got her recent pair from there and likes them. They don't have a lot of great styles though that I would really want to try. One pair does have my attention but not actually trying them on my face has given me pause.

Just looking for thoughts or experiences people had when ordering glasses online. Any sites out there you may suggest if you have?
 
I've ordered a half-dozen pairs of glasses over the years through Zenni - no complaints so far, and the prices are stupid cheap.
 
I have 6 pairs from Zenni Optical. My brother and his wife have maybe like 20 pairs from them.. We also buy glasses for friends from Zenni.

Its really great to have glasses and not be too worried if they get destroyed or not. And the price is GREAT.

Before Zenni i would pay 200-400 for a pair.. now i pay 10-30 for a pair of glasses. Its ridiculous.

DO IT AND NEVER LOOK BACK

For what its worth for the price... you shouldn't even bother with Customer Support. Just buy another pair.
My first pair also came wrong, but thats because my pescription is in dutch and i translated it wrong. So i just went ahead and bought 3 more with the proper prescription. $10 wasted on a useless pair.. but yeah... thats nothing compared to buying from an optician.
 
MisterNoisy said:
I've ordered a half-dozen pairs of glasses over the years through Zenni - no complaints so far, and the prices are stupid cheap.
Click to expand...

Same here. I've never had to adjust or return anything though. Their site is easy to use, prices are great and shipping is relatively fast considering you're getting customized prescription glasses.
 
I bought my last pair of glasses and my Rx sunglasses from Warby Parker. Excellent quality glasses, the home try on stuff is incredibly convenient too. I have five frames at my house right now that I am picking from for when I order my next pair of glasses.
 
I recently bought my glasses through clearlycontacts.ca (I'm in Canada, i think the us site is costal.com), and they had a promo where you could get the lenses and frame for free.

The eye-exam cost close to $100 dollars, and it was annoying to get the pupillary distance, but it the glasses surprisingly fit right out the box, so I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
 
I've ordered 2 pairs from clearly contacts, 1 for free, 1 for 38 bucks

The prescription was right but the frames weren't the greatest, I use them both as backups
 
A lot of love for Warby in here, tonight I will really dive into the site and check them out. Thanks for the replies so far everyone. I am a lot more confident about buying online now.
 
Bought a pair from Zenni for the first time about four months ago. They're really nice and sturdy. Went with a circle frame. My nephew and nieces say I look like a black Harry Potter. Other than that, no complaints.
 
Some of those Warby Parker frames look awesome but I'd be worried they wouldn't suit me. When I get new glasses I end up trying about a million pairs on and the vast majority look awful on me, I can't imagine buying a pair without trying them first. But spending £300 on one pair is a kick in the baws so I can totally see the appeal.
 
I need to follow this thread.

I bought some uber-expensive glasses already, but I want to get a cheap pair that I won't care about getting all sweaty or scratched up.
 
doctorcdcs said:
I recently bought my glasses through clearlycontacts.ca (I'm in Canada, i think the us site is costal.com), and they had a promo where you could get the lenses and frame for free.

The eye-exam cost close to $100 dollars, and it was annoying to get the pupillary distance, but it the glasses surprisingly fit right out the box, so I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
Click to expand...

I bought four pairs from clearlycontacts.ca a few months back and have been really happy with them - barring my second pair, which fit a lot smaller than the sizes would indicate. I won't bother returning them, though, they still fit and they were intended only as a backup pair anyway (plus they cost $35 on promo, which was nuts).

Their sale prices were crazy, especially the final day of their boxing week event. I got my second pair for $35, and picked up my girlfriend some nice frames with transitions lenses for $70. Our first pairs (with the free frame promo) were still only $65, which was crazy cheap too.

Having being conditioned to pay $400+ in any optical store, originally the thought paying a fraction of that took me to too good to be true territory.

I'll never buy in a store again.
 
electricshake said:
Some of those Warby Parker frames look awesome but I'd be worried they wouldn't suit me. When I get new glasses I end up trying about a million pairs on and the vast majority look awful on me, I can't imagine buying a pair without trying them first. But spending £300 on one pair is a kick in the baws so I can totally see the appeal.
Click to expand...
If you're in the US they have home try on, which is awesome. They also have 'digital' try on, and I think if you send a pic to them on Twitter/Facebook they'll help you pick out frames that suit your face.
 
Yeah, the industry for eyeglasses is a pretty huge scam. The markups are ridiculous, probably higher than those of Monster cables.

Have any Canadians with insurance claimed optical purchases through ClearlyContacts and the like? I go to a local mall full of opticians who sell "oem" designer frames and while not a dime comes from my own pocket, I would like to maximize my health benefits all the same.
 
Funny how this thread came up. I'm in the process of ordering glasses online but always been worried. For those of you who have, do you just go get a normal eye exam but make sure you take the prescription with you? Don't most places hate that you do this?
 
Chuckl3s said:
Funny how this thread came up. I'm in the process of ordering glasses online but always been worried. For those of you who have, do you just go get a normal eye exam but make sure you take the prescription with you? Don't most places hate that you do this?
Click to expand...

I've never had that problem. Just tell them you would like to keep the prescription on you in case there's an emergency when you need something quick.

They probably won't give you the PD though.
 
Chuckl3s said:
Funny how this thread came up. I'm in the process of ordering glasses online but always been worried. For those of you who have, do you just go get a normal eye exam but make sure you take the prescription with you? Don't most places hate that you do this?
Click to expand...

An optometrist will give you a paper that says your prescription on it so you can either get frames there in their office or elsewhere.
 
I actually just did the Try at Home from Warby Parker myself. Should arrive in the next day or so. Should be interesting.

I may turn to them for some Rx sunglasses. But they have a much wider variety of their regular glasses.
 
Zoe said:
I've never had that problem. Just tell them you would like to keep the prescription on you in case there's an emergency when you need something quick.

They probably won't give you the PD though.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I had to measure my own PD in the mirror with a ruler because it wasn't on the prescription.
 
Nevasleep said:
That's expensive.
Click to expand...

It is, though not ridiculous in parts of Canada. I think I paid $85 for my exam last year. Most places will not tell you your PD, unfortunately, either because they're part of an optical store or they earn referrals from one, which is a bit annoying.

Takuan said:
Yeah, the industry for eyeglasses is a pretty huge scam. The markups are ridiculous, probably higher than those of Monster cables.

Have any Canadians with insurance claimed optical purchases through ClearlyContacts and the like? I go to a local mall full of opticians who sell "oem" designer frames and while not a dime comes from my own pocket, I would like to maximize my health benefits all the same.
Click to expand...

I claimed my clearlycontacts purchase through my insurance. It was nice as I had only started a few months prior and had a prorated health benefits package. If I have some left this year after claiming bits of dental vists and the like I'll definitely order some more glasses to use up the benefits.
 
Coastal.com (better reviews than zenni and much faster shipping)

Search google for "coastal first pair free" since they don't always advertise it on their site and you will get a list of their coupon eligible glasses.

First pair is free, so it comes out to about $15 with shipping.

- when you get your prescription make sure you get the distance between your pupils measured (PD - pupil distance)

- try glasses on at the store. find a style you like, find the right dimensions that feel comfortable and write down the sizes and then find something comparable online
 
DJ_Lae said:
Most places will not tell you your PD, unfortunately, either because they're part of an optical store or they earn referrals from one, which is a bit annoying.
Click to expand...

Well, also because it's typically not the optometrist who measures it. The onus is on the store.
 
Zoe said:
Well, also because it's typically not the optometrist who measures it. The onus is on the store.
Click to expand...

Ah, that makes sense, then.

I guess they've just put up little signs saying they don't measure it because so many people have been asking recently.
 
Zoe said:
I've never had that problem. Just tell them you would like to keep the prescription on you in case there's an emergency when you need something quick.

They probably won't give you the PD though.
Click to expand...

If they won't give you the PD, just stop by a Wal-Mart with an optical department in there - they were more than happy to give me mine. Also, Zenni now includes the little PD ruler with every shipment.
 
Zoe said:
I've never had that problem. Just tell them you would like to keep the prescription on you in case there's an emergency when you need something quick.

They probably won't give you the PD though.
Click to expand...

King Mystery said:
Yeah. I had to measure my own PD in the mirror with a ruler because it wasn't on the prescription.
Click to expand...

MisterNoisy said:
If they won't give you the PD, just stop by a Wal-Mart with an optical department in there - they were more than happy to give me mine. Also, Zenni now includes the little PD ruler with every shipment.
Click to expand...

I just came across this on Warby Parker's site.

http://pd.warbyparker.com/
 
I had heard of some places refusing to give you the PD, hopefully the people that are doing my exam won't give me to much of a hassle. Also since I don't have insurance it is crazy to see that my exam is 80 which will be almost as much as the glasses themselves.
 
I really like this idea of Warby sending me 5 frames to look at. Going to do that today and hopefully find a frame that looks good.
 
I love Warby Parker. I have a pair of black plastic frames. Thinking about picking up one from their their titanium line.

Oh they have great customer service as well.
 
StriKeVillain said:
I love Warby Parker. I have a pair of black plastic frames. Thinking about picking up one from their their titanium line.

Oh they have great customer service as well.
Click to expand...

Awesome to hear, I may get some sunglasses from them as well.

Welp I have 5 frames on the way to try at home, pretty excited to see them.
 
i used zenniopticals. didnt' like them. the frame i had snapped in about 2 months.

bought a pair from warbyparker and have been using it since. love them.
 
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