Eyeglasses advice - looking for CHEAP

DisruptedCapitalist

The eyeglass industry is such a rip off. I keep hearing that online deals are the place to find something reasonable, but a Google search has failed me (just too many options! Who do I trust?)

So what are people around here using these days? What's your experience?

Seems to me the biggest issue is measuring my face properly. I've got a big head and I've known that my glasses frames have had to be different from the norm--whatever that means. So if I order online, is there a convenient way to try on glasses before you buy? Or something?

Also, what's the baseline price these days for the US? In my mind, I think that frames should be around 70 and lenses should be around 200 (I've got a reaallly bad prescription.)

djmitchella

I've bought a bunch of glasses from zenni optical; their cheapest frame+lens combo is, let's see, $6.95 for standard lenses (plus shipping but that's reasonable). They do have an online "compare these to your face" tool but I don't find it super useful, it's been more helpful to measure existing glasses that that I know fit and compare those to the dimensions of frames on the website.

Optically, they're fine for matching my (fairly mild) prescription, the frames are reasonable quality, that's all okay.

Downsides: Compared to glasses from an optician, even with their 'anti scratch coating', their lenses get scratched a lot more easily than the last pair of 'real' glasses I got which had nikon lenses (or some other name brand, I forget exactly which). They're cheap enough that this doesn't cost too much to replace them, but it does mean that I wind up with scratched-lens vision for longer than I'd like.

Also, while the glasses are generally the right size for my head, that doesn't mean they quite look the way I want them to when I actually try them on, even with the 'upload a picture of your face' tool.

Oh, and this all assumes that you know your prescription and IPD, of course.

beecg

I'm pretty happy with the two pairs I recently bought from eyebuydirect.com
They've got a good selection of affordable frames, generally $10-80, unless you go for the name brands. The lenses range from $19-80, at least for standard prescriptions.
You can filter your search based on the measurements of each part of the frame. Also, their virtual try-on tool is pretty good as long as you enter your actual IPD.

Peen

KITS.com will just give you your first pair free, I got a pair from them and I'm pretty happy with them.

Standard go-to is definitely Zenni, they're on the cheap side but you can get 5 pairs for what you used to pay for one so if you rotate them you can be fashionable and still relatively scratch free.

spool32

zenni - the gold standard for bronze tier frames. Reliable, usually adequate, delivers what they say - no more no less. Cheap as fuck.
eyebuydirect - the burger king of budget frame shops - not your first choice but they're still in the game.
eyeconic - it's like lenscrafters but without the upselling. if you have insurance, they take basically all of it - you can get name brands for $20. If you don't, it's forty million dollars a pair.

honovere

Get some glasses for a free try out (also could do that at a store, depending on the whole covid situation) and look what measurements fit your face, then look for more glasses that have similar measurements.
https://www.allaboutvision.com/eyeglasses/faq/eyeglass-frame-size.htm

Also consider the shape of your nose, especially for plastic/acetate solid rim frames without adjustable pads in the bridge. Like for example I prefer keyhole style bridges on those as I don't like the pressure of the bridge on top of my nose

zepherin

If you have a costco membership, costco glasses are very affordable as well. I know you asked for online, but that is a reasonable option as well.

Also if you don't have vision insurance but you have health insurance, very often your health insurance will cover the optometrist visit (just checking vision not the glasses).

ArmsForPeace84

This caught me eye (ducks hail of peanuts) because the place I used to go for eyewear has drastically raised their prices and started deploying high-pressure sales tactics. I've recently been flanked by timeshare hucksters, and even THEY took the hint and backed off faster than these people.

For now, I'm just wearing my updated contacts, and bought a cheap pair of reading glasses (and a card-sized wallet magnifier) for really up close situations that would otherwise call for progressive lenses. But I'll probably reactivate my dormant Costco subscription and give them a try. Thanks for the tip.

dispatch.o

Costco has lots of frames for $49-59 and lenses with every coating and transitions are $99 and you can usually get $50 off a second pair, or sometimes half-price. So it's not dirt cheap but it's a hell of a lot better than most places and the quality is still good.

Artereis

You could look into something like Taobao or a Taobao reseller, too. My wife bought some spare glasses there and they are cheap.