Online specs: How I reframed the discussion





Perhaps you’re wondering why I didn’t listen to my eye doctor.








So I let my fingers do the walking – over my keyboard – to an online eyeglasses website,












The company I bought those from, <>, has a one-month satisfaction guarantee. Should have returned them, but I keep thinking the ill-fitting owl look will come into style, so I’ve held onto them. Haven’t worn them out in public yet, though.






Read more on: Buy Localeyecare


Very interesting. Never even thought about online glasses and lenses.

Having been scalped by local opticians as well, I might have to try this! Thanks!

Isn't that the way we all get started by buying cheep. Then we complain because of the trade imbalance and it is us buying cheep. So we have to look at this and make our own decisions remembering we live here and get paid for our work in this country.

So has it been just recently you found out that things could be cheaper on the internet? Pretty serious news scoop.

I still wonder how accurate bifocal and progressive lenses would be if you are not sitting in front of a optician measuring them. How does one really know how the frames are sitting on you?, Guessing especially with invisible bifocals were you have 3 area,s of vision should not be a hit & miss game.
When I have asked about this certain point I have not received very good answers from any of the online glasses companies, which leads me to believe they don,t really have a answer.
Maybe I should go to a optician and ask them to measure them for me so I can go somewhere else to buy them presuming I have the frames with me (not likely to happen)

jimi: Finding items somewhat cheaper on the Internet is not news to me. Finding prescription eyeglasses for a fraction of the price I'd previously paid was, indeed, news. While talking about this to other glasses-wearers, I have encountered astonishment that such a thing is possible, and disbelief that Internet lenses could be ground to the same level of precision as glasses bought through personal contact with an optician. (And these doubts are harbored by Internet-savvy people.) Shelling out hundreds of dollars every time your prescription changes (often annually) is a serious financial burden, especially if you have more than one person in your household who needs visual correction.

Bob Day: Why don't you measure your present glasses, and find a frame that's the same size online? They have instructions regarding how to measure the distance between your pupils. That measurement is crucial to preventing headaches from looking through lenses ground to the wrong pupil distance. Then, take a chance and order them! I just checked EyeBuyDirect,com, and they will give you a full refund if you return them within 7 days. (Each online company has a different return policy.) What have you got to lose?

BB: You're right. If the difference is around 20%, I can resist the temptation and buy locally. But $125 versus $450? My resolve buckles when the price difference is that big. But, again, you are right.

Janis, thank you, normally I am not. The big savings does give me pause to think but my prescription has not changed much in about 4 years so I am sticking with the expensive way.

You can have your optician measure the distance between pupils and include it on your prescription. I went to a pricey optician in DC and got my first set of frames from them (covered by insurance). I ordered a back-up pair online with Transitions lenses/glare coating using the same prescription/frame dimensions as the first pair.

If you find frames that you like and it's just your prescription that's changed, you can find online places that will take your old frames and pop in the new lenses.