Like many, our family has vision insurance. And like many, we have to wait a certain amount of time before getting new eye wear. So my first thought was to visit one of the One Hour eye glass stores at the mall. They were advertising a special of a hundred bucks or so, which seemed like a good deal. I wasn’t surprised when the sales woman told me I would have to pick from a certain very small group of frames. And I wasn’t surprised when she told me there would be an additional cost for my prescription. I WAS surprised when she estimated my glasses would cost $500! Ouch!
With all these questions it made sense to do a test run with my daughter who was scheduled for an eye exam and wanted to get new contacts. (Our insurance covers glasses or contacts, not both.) Since she has minimal vision problems we decided to order a pair of glasses with her new prescription online.
And why not? At Coastal.com, they were advertising your first pair free!
We figured it was worth the gamble. When daughter was picking up her contacts she tried on several pair of glasses to see what style she liked. She also took note of the frame size (two little numbers on the arm–one for width of glasses, one for length of arm). She needed her prescription plus the pupillary distance (all exams include this information but not all list it on the prescription, you have to ask for it). As promised, the glasses were free, we only had to pay the shipping and handling charge of $11.58. They arrived as promised within a week my daughter found them comfortable, could see clearly and likes her new style.
Our insurance covers a new eye exam and a percentage of the frames and glasses. Because my prescription is complex and because I cannot see without glasses I opted to buy a pair of glasses through the optical store.
I go to Nationwide Vision. The reason I go there is because the last go around, someone had recommended trying Wal-mart’s optical center. Surprisingly, they had the exact same frame I found at Nationwide. But, though they also took my insurance, the total cost would have been $50 more.
After discussing the cost of all the add-on’s (like anti-glare and scratch coating)– passed on those, picked out a mid range pair of frames, and they tallied up the total. With insurance my copay was $229.99. Not exactly a deal, but I ordered them anyway.
Then, seeing how happy my daughter was with her glasses, I decided to try and order a second pair online. The website used for daughter’s glasses was still offering the same special.
BUT. My strength of prescription was an additional cost so the glasses would have been in the $180 price range.
I wasn’t quite willing to gamble on glasses at that price so I checked for other online eyeglass stores. This apparently is like a well kept secret (from me anyway) as I discovered there are many many online stores offering eye wear.
The store I settled on was Glassesshop.com. They were offering a 30% off special. There was not appear to be an extra charge for the prescription strength. And the price included anti-glare and scratch resistant coatings plus a happiness guarantee. My total, with the discount and shipping was $71.80.
Both my new glasses from the neighborhood store and the online shop took about 7 business days.
The results: I like both pair of glasses. I especially liked the savings with the online glasses.
I am excited for the chance to have glasses that I can change with my mood. Of course, my experience is mine alone. You might have a different outcome. But based on this, I would recommend trying an online order, especially if you are looking for a second pair or maybe sunglasses.
If you have suggestions to stretch your shopping dollar or questions please let me know.
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