I’ve been going to VisionWorks but I want to shop around this time. I don’t want to go to any Luxottica store.
I’ve never bought online. Is that a good option now? How do you know how the glasses are going to look on you?
Thanks for any ideas.
ETA: Thanks everyone. Great tips and info!
ZenniOptical. My prescription is pretty strong (-6) but they manage to make the lenses pretty thin. I think a usual pair costs me $50 versus $500 at the optician’s store.
Thirding the Zenni recommendation. I have bought 3 pair from them now, both regular Rx and sunglass Rx and they are always fast, cheap, and well made.
Been using Zenni for years. Hell of a lot cheaper than any brick and mortar and I’ve never had any issues.
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How do they deal with progressive lenses, like top top is for long distance gradually further down is for closeup like reading?
I think that is what had prevented me from trying the online stores. Has that been addressed?
IIRC, my dad bought progressives from Zenni and said they were as good as the ones he got from an optician.
I mean, they need to measure where your eyeball lands on the glass when looking straight ahead. This isn’t part of the prescription, from what I understand. Usually, a salesperson will do the measuring. In light of this, do you have any further information as to how your father obtained that information and how he provided it to the online store?
Do you mean pupillary distance? It isn’t part of the written prescription when I get my exam, but if you ask they usually don’t have a problem giving it to you. When you’re ordering Zenni just has a field where you enter the number they give you for PD. They also have instructions for DIY PD measuring, but that seemed too error-prone to me.
No, it isn’t PD.
I’m hoping someone answers you. I need progressives too.
Used Zenni for years. Cheap enough that I can even have sunglasses! I did Warby Parker one year and the try-on experience and quality was good. But Zenni price wins the day.
Bought a couple of pairs from Costco.
Costco is amazing. Even my optometrist agrees that their quality is great. He said if I wasn’t going to buy from him, then go to Costco
Came here to say Costco, too.
I didn’t want to prompt this but I was thinking about going this route. I’ll check them out, thanks.
Costco really is the best
Got two pairs from Costco recently. Definitely impressed with how quickly they were ready and the overall quality.
Zenni has really good prices. I bought some prescription sunglasses from them for about $50. The site suggested I spend an extra $70 on high-index lenses but I ignored it. Glasses work great.
I know people who have good luck shopping online because of the price and variety, but I prefer in person because I’m so incredibly picky about my glasses.
Bought a pair from Zenni some 3 years ago for literally pennies (15$ for the frames, 10 for lenses). I have since carelessly snapped them (but keep elongating their lifespan unnaturally with super glue). Gonna buy my next pair from Zenni. I swear by them now for how cheap and durable these are, rarely had a pair of glasses survive 2 years before, and these were so much cheaper.
They also have regular people levels of quality, but I’m poor so it’s nice they have shit for people like me too.
EyeBuyDirect and Firmoo.
Eyebuydirect is my go to also. I am very picky about glasses and they have better variety than most in person stores. And if you don’t like them you can swap
My last ones are from Zenni. No complaints.
In fairness, my optometrist has reasonable prices and good selection. And I’ve had good luck at Walmart in the past.
I use EyeBuyDirect. The only thing I don’t like about them is that it’s kinda hard to get a refund from them
Eyebuydirect.
Online you have to know sizes and what not, you can get a vague idea what it will look like on you, they let you use your phone camera or webcam to get a better idea. But you can’t beat the prices, glasses in the US are ridiculously priced.
I’ve used eyebuydirect they are good
Bought my current pair from Zenni. Getting the pupilary distance was a bit of a pain, but I’ve been happy with them. And the price was much better than the wallet rape by Luxottica.
A bit pricier than the other options listed in this thread but I’m really happy with my glasses from warby Parker. I like having an in person store to try on frames and the customer service is pretty great
Ditto. I used Zenni for a few pairs but the frame quality is noticeably better on my Warby pairs. That said, I have a very high prescription, and Zenni did a better job on a lightweight high-index pair of prescription sunglasses than Warby did. The highest index sunglass option from Warby Parker still came out fairly hefty.
Had amazing luck with Warby Parker. Way cheaper than Walmart out of pocket for much, much higher quality than any of the vision stores I’ve been to
I’ve been going with EyeBuyDirect the last few times I’ve gotten new glasses. I’ve used Zenni a few times, and they’re definitely on the list of places I check, but EBD has a better selection. I save so much money on frames I can afford better lenses, and they run 2 for 1 deals pretty often. So I get a pair of regulars and a pair of polarized sunglasses.
You can upload a picture and then try on the glasses virtually and judge that way.
For frames, check out the brand Silhouette. They’re so lightweight you can’t feel them.
Zenni Optical. I get progressive lenses with anti-reflective coating and a nice frame for a little more than $60 US. That’s probably ten percent of what I’d pay at a mall store.
