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!

53 points

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.

permalink
report
reply
21 points

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply
15 points

Been using Zenni for years. Hell of a lot cheaper than any brick and mortar and I’ve never had any issues.

permalink
report
parent
reply
9 points
*

I’m -7 in one eye and the thinner plastic to deal with that can get kinda expensive (even at Zenni) compared to the crazy deals folks with better eyesight can get…but it’s still something like $70ish, compared to the $300/pair it was at brick and mortar stores.

So yeah, Zenni all the way for me.

(I also haven’t found them to be junk like another poster suggested. I suppose it’s true I’ve never had a really high end pair of glasses, whatever that comprises, but I’ve worn Zenni for years with no unusual breakage.)

Edit: The one downside to Zenni is there’s no good way for me to find sunglass-capable frames for my small PD and high prescription. I’ll see a frame and go, “That’d be cute as sunglasses!” and once I enter my info in it tells me my prescription is too strong or my PD too small. :(

Like, why can’t they auto-filter frames out using my info? They FINALLY added something like that for PD, but not prescription. It sure would be nice to hide glasses I can’t buy b/c of my prescription.

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

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?

permalink
report
parent
reply
5 points

IIRC, my dad bought progressives from Zenni and said they were as good as the ones he got from an optician.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points
*

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?

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

I’m hoping someone answers you. I need progressives too.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points
*

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

For that I’d go with an opticians, my dad had issues with his from Zenni because they didn’t get the lenses quite right. He did have issues with his eyes though that required some complex glasswork though, so that could have contributed.

permalink
report
parent
reply
25 points

Bought a couple of pairs from Costco.

permalink
report
reply
8 points

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

permalink
report
parent
reply
6 points

Came here to say Costco, too.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

Costco really is the best

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

I didn’t want to prompt this but I was thinking about going this route. I’ll check them out, thanks.

permalink
report
parent
reply
5 points

Got two pairs from Costco recently. Definitely impressed with how quickly they were ready and the overall quality.

permalink
report
parent
reply
15 points

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.

permalink
report
reply
11 points

Either Zenni or EyeBuyDirect.

permalink
report
reply
9 points

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.

permalink
report
reply
2 points

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.

permalink
report
parent
reply

Asklemmy

!asklemmy@lemmy.ml

Create post

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it’s welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

Icon by @Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de

Community stats

  • 10K

    Monthly active users

  • 5.9K

    Posts

  • 319K

    Comments