Eye glasses wearers in the US, where do you buy your glasses from these days?
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.
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.
How are they still only $50 for you at Zenni despite having a higher prescription? My prescription wavers back and forth in the -7 to -7.5 range and it's always way more money than their average price to get high index lenses. I think the last time I tried plugging in my prescription it was more like $100, but I can't recall exactly.
Because of my strong prescription, I'm also wary of using a place like Zenni because if the lenses are made slightly imprecisely or if they don't get the PD just right or have it fitted to my face correctly, it's significantly more noticeable and impactful for me. Have you noticed any issues with your relatively higher prescription and buying online?
To me, while I pay more like $300 at the optician, at least I know they will be correct as opposed to gambling with $100. If my prescription wasn't as strong and the price was lower, I'd probably be more inclined to try Zenni.
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.
Costco really is the best
I didn't want to prompt this but I was thinking about going this route. I'll check them out, thanks.
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 $70 on high-index lenses but I ignored it. Glasses work great.
My last ones are from Zenni. No complaints.
In fairness, my optometrist has reasonable prices and good selection. And I’ve had good luck at Walmart in the past.
I've gotten my glasses at Walmart for years.
May not be as cheap as those online places, but at least they have glasses that dont look like they belong on a chainsmoking grandmother in the 1970s, lol.
Also, what really sold me on Walmart is that a couple times while traveling I had an accident with my glasses..took them to the local wal-mart and they fixed them without issue, just asked "You got these from walmart?" and "Would you say you got them in the past few years?"
Yep to both, and they go into the back, fix them, give'm back, no charge and i go about my business being able to see again.
Either Zenni or EyeBuyDirect.
I know people who have good luck shopping online because of the price and variety, but I prefer in person because I'm so incredibly picky about my glasses.
I use EyeBuyDirect. The only thing I don't like about them is that it's kinda hard to get a refund from them
Bought a pair from Zenni some 3 years ago for literally pennies (15$ 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.
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.
Did you measure your own pupillary distance?
Ya, and I'm not entirely certain I got it right. My optometrist provides the prescription, but not the PD measurement.
Zenni is pretty good. My current pair is from Firmoo and is also pretty good. Goggles4u has also worked fine for me, but they took ages to ship.
Eye Buy Direct was half the cost of even the cheapest store bought glasses in our case, and I really like their order status tracking! Don't sign up for their emails though, you'll get like five a day 😳
Depending on how picky you are about how glasses frames might look or feel, you may want to consider finding frames separately and mailing them in to get lenses added. It will still save you money! But if you're less picky they do have both virtual try one and measure your pupil distance so your chances of liking them seem good!
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
I've been buying from Zenni for the past few years. You can't beat the prices for prescription glasses.
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
I keep meaning to take a look into Warby Parker. Them having physical stores is just so much less risky with a strong prescription.
Edit: Never mind...for my prescription, Warby is basically the same price as the optometrist. Did they go up in price recently? I don't remember that being the case prior.
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.
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.
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.
Zenni as well here. Overall I'm happy. To answer your question: the website has a semi-functional "virtual try-on" that works well enough for checking the look of glasses. I only used to it gauge the size of them, because I have a big head.
Worth noting that if you have a strong prescription, you're going to pay more wherever you buy them. I have a -4.5 cyl number, and the glasses I wear now cost around $100, despite the frames starting at like $25
Zenni, until I learned the V.A. makes glasses.
Whatever is convenient for the exam and first pair of frames/lenses are covered by my insurance so I'll do those at the exam place.
After that, Zenni.
I've bought countless pairs from Zenni for more than a decade and they've always been pretty good. Sometimes some frames might feel a little cheap but that seems to have gotten better. For kicks I just bought a pair from EyeBuyDirect and was very pleased. They had them to me in about a week and they are perfect. For the prices, especially for single vision, you could try with very little risk. One thing that I'd note is make sure you get your Pupil Distance measured accurately. I've tried at home and was off. Any doc will do it at an exam.
Zenni their prescription sunglasses are really 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.
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.
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
Online. Some vendors are crazy cheap
Which vendors specifically?
Zenni is one
Local optometrist.
I did buy some sunglasses online from EyeBuyDirect, but they cost about as much as they would have at the optometrist. That is, after adding on the coatings and things that I want.
The frames definitely felt cheaper than the nicer name brand frames. But theyve held up for when I use them in the car.
GlassesUSA.com and Warby
For frames, check out the brand Silhouette. They’re so lightweight you can’t feel them.
Walmart
I bought from Walmart before. As far as I know they don't use Luxottica. Both pairs I had from there lasted me many years and were cheap. I can't say I recommend them though since it would be supporting Walmart.
Do reading glasses count? I just buy mine at the pharmacy.
39dollerglasses.com
We've tried online but had bad luck figuring out the PD number at home. Not sure if anyone has tips to measure it more accurately
Ask for the PD when you get your exam.
Zenni will ship you a PD ruler for free and I think has a pdf of one.
I still get eye exams at my Dr. I make sure they send me with my rx including PD.
My wife is bad at using the pd ruler
I feel like they have tried to tell us we couldn't have the PD because they knew we were going to buy glasses online.
Just ask the optician to do it for you. Or the ophthalmologist. Or whoever you're seeing. The medical professional has a duty to give you your biological data. That's above selling glasses.
There are apps that will scan your face and tell you your PD
As long as you know your perscription (the three numbers) Glassesusa.com is where its at. Never had an issue with them really. If you have a big head make sure to order large frames. The medium frame is a little tight for me but I actually like that my glasses aren't slipping off my face cobstantly which had always been an issue.
I got one pair from Zenni and they were junk, definitely "get what you pay for" level crap.
I got my most recent pair from Eyeconic just because it's connected to my insurance company somehow, and even though it cost around twice as much I'm definitely more than twice as satisfied with them.
You're not wrong. I would say they're functional junk. They're definitely cheap, but they got my prescription spot-on , and it took me like 4 months to notice the slight warping on the lens. If they weren't all I can afford, I would buy from elsewhere, but they aren't the worst thing I've had to compromise on for price. I wish my cheap junker car worked as well as these glasses.
I've pretty much purchased glasses exclusively from Zenni for the last 8 years or so. They have frames that every level, but they're cheap enough that you can just try different frames till you find the ones you want. I'm pretty cheap, so I order the $8 frames. And now I've settled on a style I like and I just reorder it every time. So I've got a drawer full of zenni glasses now.
Being inexpensive is a good thing, that way I can have throw away glasses for trips and backups and backups and backups. And an extra pair for the car and an extra pair for the other car. Cheap is amazing
Can also vouch for Zenni, have gotten my last few prescription glasses from there. Only thing you gotta be aware of is the size of the glasses you're getting
I’ve been in a rough spot lately, so my glasses are about 8 years old now. Hopefully I can get some insurance this year to get a new prescription, at which point I’ll be shopping wherever it’s cheapest and insured!