Thursday, April 11, 2013

Saving Money by Buying Glasses Online



 

Do you wear glasses? Is the expense wrecking your budget? Even when your insurance states vision coverage. It seldom covers the real expense of getting new glasses. My insurance does pay for the exam. Most insurance does, but it doesn’t pay for the other tests your doctor might want. My doctor took snapshots of my eye with his brand new machine to check for diabetes-related degeneration. I never had diabetes, nor does anyone in my family.  By the end of my appointment, I had a bill of $480. No bifocals either, I picked out the cheapest frames and refused the special UV coating.
My daughter took advantage of her paid vision exam, and ordered her stylish new glasses from Coastal Eyewear. The first pair were free; she paid about $20 for postage, which beat my $480 dollars. Have you been thinking about buying glasses online?  Glasses USA will ship your first pair of glasses at 70% off, but you have to apply for the newsletter to get the coupon. The starting price for frames is $38.50.
The reason we buy glasses in expensive stores is to try them on to see how we might look in them. Warbyparker.com will let you order up to five frames to test. Return the unused ones in a postage paid box. Glasses cost $95 with free shipping.
Do you only need reading glasses? Instead of picking them up at the local drugstore, pick from over 500 frames at PEEPERSPECS.COM. A pair usually runs $21, and if you buy two pairs, you get free shipping.
Good Housekeeping recommends Glassesshop.com for the best bargain. An average single vision pair with anti-scratch and UV protection runs about $46.88
Eyeglasses.com receives high ranks from Top Ten Reviews of online eyeglass companies for service and styles, but tends to be more expensive.
Most online companies don’t offer bifocals or progressives. Be careful, which one you go with because not all can correct astigmatism. According to Good Housekeeping test, Warbyparker and Glassesshop can.
The ones I listed offer the lenses and frames. Some sites offer frames only. Accidentally, broke your glasses, Glassesshop will replace broken frames within 90 days of purchase.
Do your research. Do get a current eye exam; don’t order off an old prescription. Remember online sites mainly deal with single vision and reader glasses only. Your insurance might limit you to specific optometrists, but your flexible medical spending account might cover it. Often when I tried to take advantage of specials the optometrist had, I was told my insurance wouldn’t cover it because it was too cheap. So remember my $480 glasses, insurance paid $120 on them. I paid the other $36O, less than six months later, I lost them.
This time I’ll order my glasses online.

4 comments:

  1. The woman at the Starbucks drive-thru had the cutest glasses. She wrote down the Online carrier for me. zennioptical.com
    I have a difficult prescription so I don't think any of these are an option for me. I absolutely feel your pain with the cost of glasses. I'm sure I need new ones and am not going to consider it until I see if I have money leftover in the flex plan this year. The thing is, the flexible medical spending account is still my money, you know? It saves on taxes but it's still costly any way you figure it.

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    1. I saw Zenni online, but it wasn't a top scorer. That could have been because of cost, shipping or no live chat option.

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  2. Wow! Really amazing collection of beautiful frames. I like it.

    Glasses Online

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