# Buying glasses online **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2019, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500 "2019-04-13T16:42:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/21 "2019-04-18T14:34:09Z")
I’ve gotten about a half dozen pairs from Zenni over the years. Mostly prescription sunglasses. Definitely not top-shelf quality, but I’ve never had an issue, and if I ever did, it only cost me $60. At that price, I’ll give them a lot of leeway on the quality. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/22 "2019-04-18T15:06:22Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I was an optician for 15 years. It is physically impossible to get all the necessary measurements to make prescription eyewear properly without the optician and patient being together during the process - not just when ordering but also when the eyewear is dispensed. Especially so for progressives. The tolerance for placement of optical centers in progressive lenses is very small - less than two millimeters - and they cannot be measured properly without the optician seeing the frame on the patient. > > Just to give you an idea of what’s necessary to properly fit progressives, here is a series of videos aimed at new opticians: > > [https://www.walmanoptical.com/palfitting](https://www.walmanoptical.com/palfitting) This. My optician was a meticulous artist when it came to adjusting frames. And always happy to make continuous adjustments. He could tune-up your glasses, and they always felt better after these adjustments. And, oh so clean! But, then my employer paid for eyewear. You folks that order online, do you adjust your own frames? Or what do you do when they need to be tweaked? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/23 "2019-04-18T15:11:03Z")
I’ve been wearing glasses for the past thirty years and can’t remember ever needing adjustments to my frames. I won’t say it’s never happened but it wasn’t significant enough for me to remember it. ---
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/24 "2019-04-18T15:13:07Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I was an optician for 15 years. It is physically impossible to get all the necessary measurements to make prescription eyewear properly without the optician and patient being together during the process - not just when ordering but also when the eyewear is dispensed. Especially so for progressives. The tolerance for placement of optical centers in progressive lenses is very small - less than two millimeters - and they cannot be measured properly without the optician seeing the frame on the patient. > > Just to give you an idea of what’s necessary to properly fit progressives, here is a series of videos aimed at new opticians: > > [https://www.walmanoptical.com/palfitting](https://www.walmanoptical.com/palfitting) Is this why my mail-order progressive sunglasses have little in-focus peripheral vision? I used a new prescription but had to do that pupillary distance measurement myself. I wear them (and have got somewhat used to them) but I have to turn my head quite a bit to see clearly left and right. I saved quite a bit of money but I won’t do this again. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/25 "2019-04-18T15:17:25Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > You folks that order online, do you adjust your own frames? Or what do you do when they need to be tweaked? Occasionally the temple tips need to be bent a little further. I dip them in hot water for a few seconds and bend them by hand as necessary. Once got a pair of steel wire framed glasses with a nose pad arm that was welded on slightly out of place, and I just used a pair of needle-nose pliers to bend it until it rested comfortably on my face. I don’t have progressives. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/26 "2019-04-18T16:00:58Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > You folks that order online, do you adjust your own frames? Or what do you do when they need to be tweaked? I tweak them. Huge fan of Zenni, though I only wear single-prescription lenses. I am currently wearing a pair of metal half-frame glasses with a non-glare and hydrophobic coating, that came with clip-on sunglasses in a tint of my choice, and cost me a grand total of $27. My ‘nice’ glasses are from Zenni, I have a pair of Oakley-clone sunglasses with a prescription insert, another pair of sunglasses, and another other pair of wire-framed glasses. I think that’s all. I would guess the entire collection has probably set me back $150. And if something happens to one, so what? $20 and two weeks later, I can have an exact replacement, while relying on one of my 3 backup pair. ETA: To be fair, for one pair I guessed on the pupillary distance. Those made me nauseous, and I’m guessing it was either that or just a messed up prescription. So yes, things can go wrong. Total waste of $20. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/27 "2019-04-18T16:59:24Z")
> [@I.Dunno](#): > > Is this why my mail-order progressive sunglasses have little in-focus peripheral vision? I used a new prescription but had to do that pupillary distance measurement myself. > > I wear them (and have got somewhat used to them) but I have to turn my head quite a bit to see clearly left and right. > > I saved quite a bit of money but I won’t do this again. Possibly. I have been wearing progressives for years and have noted a couple of things… 1. If any measurement is off, either from the process of taking the measurement or from an error in manufacturing, the effects can be totally wonky. I had a pair made once where due to a transcription error, the PD was off by 1mm. The side to side effect was a noticeable problem, even if I couldn’t identify the issue. Spoke to my optician, they rechecked everything, found and fixed the issue for free. 2. There is a huge difference between grades of progressive lenses and the width of the corridor. As with anything, you can find people on internet forums arguing endlessly about which brand and product is best, but there are clear tiers. I tried Costo digital progressives a couple of years ago and they were unmistakeably worse in corridor width than my previous expensive lenses. I ditched 'em. My current optometrist has been dispensing progressives made by Shamir, from their Autograph Intelligence line. I am not prepared to summarize the technical arguments for and against their grinding methodology, but the rabbit hole is out there should you want to spend a day reading the details. I can say that I have sharp enough vision to read with my eyes turned full left and right. I am not stuck turning my head to look at everything. Not cheap, but I wear these glasses all day every day so I don’t mind the investment. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/28 "2019-04-18T22:00:07Z")
> [@I.Dunno](#): > > Is this why my mail-order progressive sunglasses have little in-focus peripheral vision? I used a new prescription but had to do that pupillary distance measurement myself. > > I wear them (and have got somewhat used to them) but I have to turn my head quite a bit to see clearly left and right. > > I saved quite a bit of money but I won’t do this again. Yes. To get a proper PD for progressives the optician has to be face to face with you. It’s also not possible to accurately measure your own PD, even if you’re a trained optician. Similar to lawyers, a man who is his own optician has a fool for a patient. And it’s not just the PD, there’s vertical placement, and facial wrap and angle of the frame have to be taken into account. All of which require the optician sitting down with the patient and the frame. That’s not even getting into the quality of the materials. I’ve seen the crap that online outfits sell. Good quality frames and lenses wholesale for more than what the online places sell. And the sad thing is that good quality glasses are really not that expensive in the long run. My current specs cost me just short of $700, but I’ll be wearing them for at least two years. That comes out to less than a dollar a day to be able to see. It’s the cheapest necessity of life I have by a long shot. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/29 "2019-04-18T23:29:53Z")
I just ordered from Zenni. Half-rim aviators(767512) with Transition lenses, $155. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/30 "2019-04-18T23:40:36Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I just ordered from Zenni. Half-rim aviators(767512) with Transition lenses, $155. Let us know how they work out. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/31 "2019-04-18T23:59:13Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Yes. To get a proper PD for progressives the optician has to be face to face with you. It’s also not possible to accurately measure your own PD, even if you’re a trained optician. Similar to lawyers, a man who is his own optician has a fool for a patient. And it’s not just the PD, there’s vertical placement, and facial wrap and angle of the frame have to be taken into account. All of which require the optician sitting down with the patient and the frame. > > That’s not even getting into the quality of the materials. I’ve seen the crap that online outfits sell. Good quality frames and lenses wholesale for more than what the online places sell. And the sad thing is that good quality glasses are really not that expensive in the long run. My current specs cost me just short of $700, but I’ll be wearing them for at least two years. That comes out to less than a dollar a day to be able to see. It’s the cheapest necessity of life I have by a long shot. Your eyeglasses are [expensive](https://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-why-are-eyeglasses-so-expensive-20190122-story.html) because they’re priced expensively. Your ‘high quality’ $700 frames cost a fraction of that to make. So if you like paying a gigantic markup to feel better about your glasses, I’m glad you’re happy. On top of that, optometrists make…or made…scads of money off of selling frames/lenses. In much the same way [dentists](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/05/the-trouble-with-dentistry/586039/?utm_source=pocket-newtab) make money off of procedures. Frames/glasses (except for specialty ones) are expensive because they’re expensive. Optometrists want you to believe they are the only ones you should get glasses from, because they have special little pliers to adjust your nose-pieces or something. I can understand someone with complicated eyewear being professionally fitted. But my wife is going to get her eyes checked soon, and I told her to be sure have them measure her pupillary distance, grab a scrip, and come on home. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/32 "2019-04-19T00:09:06Z")
Yeah, once you get your pupillary distance measurement, you can assume it’s not going to be changing. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/33 "2019-04-19T01:47:06Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Your eyeglasses are [expensive](https://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-why-are-eyeglasses-so-expensive-20190122-story.html) because they’re priced expensively. Your ‘high quality’ $700 frames cost a fraction of that to make. So if you like paying a gigantic markup to feel better about your glasses, I’m glad you’re happy. > > On top of that, optometrists make…or made…scads of money off of selling frames/lenses. In much the same way [dentists](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/05/the-trouble-with-dentistry/586039/?utm_source=pocket-newtab) make money off of procedures. > > Frames/glasses (except for specialty ones) are expensive because they’re expensive. Optometrists want you to believe they are the only ones you should get glasses from, because they have special little pliers to adjust your nose-pieces or something. > > I can understand someone with complicated eyewear being professionally fitted. But my wife is going to get her eyes checked soon, and I told her to be sure have them measure her pupillary distance, grab a scrip, and come on home. I’ve been in the business, and I know what the markup is. It’s nowhere near what the article claims. If it were, I would have retired a wealthy man years ago. It’s about the same as most any retail goods, the retail price is roughly double the wholesale cost. My $700 glasses had a wholesale of about $350, and the bulk of it was the lenses, not the frames. The highest markup I’ve ever seen was 3 times wholesale at an optometrist’s office. > **[Rule the Market: 14 Retail Pricing Strategies (2023) - Shopify](https://www.shopify.com/blog/pricing-strategies)** > > Finding the best pricing strategy for your products is a balancing act. Here are 15 pricing strategies to help you pick the perfect price for your products. > [@](#): > > Many retailers benchmark their pricing decisions using keystone pricing (explained below), which is essentially doubling the cost of the product to set a healthy profit margin. However, in many instances, you’ll want to mark up your products higher or lower, depending on your specific situation. Anyway, it’s not optometrists you should be going to for your glasses, it’s opticians. (The fedral Eyeglass Rule requires your prescriber to [give you a copy](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2016/05/ftc-issues-warning-letters-regarding-agencys-eyeglass-rule) of your prescription even if you don’t ask for it.) And it’s the optician who should be measuring your PD, not the optometrist, because ultimately the optician is responsible for proper fitting. If I’d ever blindly accepted what an optometrist wrote down as the PD I’d have been fired on the spot, largely because as likely as not it would have been wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/34 "2019-04-19T03:22:31Z")
Lemme correct my post above. Anywhere I said ‘optometrist’, sub in ‘optician’. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/35 "2019-04-19T03:46:27Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > Lemme correct my post above. Anywhere I said ‘optometrist’, sub in ‘optician’. Thank youuuuuu… Now I dread the thread where we have the opportunity to confuse a pedorthist with a podiatrist. ---
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/36 "2019-04-19T16:09:04Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Yes. To get a proper PD for progressives the optician has to be face to face with you. It’s also not possible to accurately measure your own PD, even if you’re a trained optician. Similar to lawyers, a man who is his own optician has a fool for a patient. And it’s not just the PD, there’s vertical placement, and facial wrap and angle of the frame have to be taken into account. All of which require the optician sitting down with the patient and the frame. > > That’s not even getting into the quality of the materials. I’ve seen the crap that online outfits sell. Good quality frames and lenses wholesale for more than what the online places sell. And the sad thing is that good quality glasses are really not that expensive in the long run. My current specs cost me just short of $700, but I’ll be wearing them for at least two years. That comes out to less than a dollar a day to be able to see. It’s the cheapest necessity of life I have by a long shot. Thanks for the information. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/37 "2019-05-30T14:10:04Z")
Thanks to this thread, I was reminded to go get an updated Rx & order some new glasses, now that I have health insurance again. Purchased 2 pairs through Zenni, since I already have an account with them. Quite happy with both. Total cost, including extra for anti-blue-light, was a little over eighty bucks. I was expecting to wait, like, a month, but they arrived in about a week and a half. Each comes in its own hard shell case with a microfiber cleaning cloth. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/38 "2019-05-30T16:41:50Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > My current specs cost me just short of $700, but I’ll be wearing them for at least two years. That comes out to less than a dollar a day to be able to see. It’s the cheapest necessity of life I have by a long shot. Of course, if you can get the same experience for $100 then you’re paying 14¢ a day to be able to see. And, since I don’t know of an eyeglasses place that let you pay on a per day basis, the difference in upfront costs is very significant. Certainly makes it worth it to explore all of your options (and the consensus in this thread for experiences with online shopping is rather positive). ---
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/39 "2019-05-30T23:11:24Z")
I’ve bought a couple dozen pairs of glasses from Zenni over the years. Single vision, bifocal, progressive, readers, sunglasses. The issues that I have had aren’t quality - they’ve been size. It took a few really big or small frames to get dialed into what fits me. But now that I’ve got the basic dimensions of the frames figured out, I don’t have that problem anymore. Perhaps I’ve been extraordinarily lucky. But the progressives have been fine. When I hear an optical professional talk about the benefits of buying glasses only from a professional dispenser, it sounds the same to me as a car dealership telling you that only the dealer can service your vehicle properly. Clearly, there’s a market for that kind of service. But in my way of calculating value, the incremental increase in the level of service and product is not worth the massive pricing premium one has to pay. Call me an unsophisticated optical consumer. I like mail order glasses just fine. I feel I’m getting the best value for the dollars I spend. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500/40 "2019-05-30T23:32:40Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I was an optician for 15 years. It is physically impossible to get all the necessary measurements to make prescription eyewear properly without the optician and patient being together during the process - not just when ordering but also when the eyewear is dispensed. Especially so for progressives. The tolerance for placement of optical centers in progressive lenses is very small - less than two millimeters - and they cannot be measured properly without the optician seeing the frame on the patient. > > Just to give you an idea of what’s necessary to properly fit progressives, here is a series of videos aimed at new opticians: > > [https://www.walmanoptical.com/palfitting](https://www.walmanoptical.com/palfitting) I don’t doubt what you’re saying but the average patient has no idea whether the optician knows what they are doing. I bought progressives from Hour Eyes and I ended up having to tilt my head back to get the right focus when I drove, which was the main reason I got the glasses. I didn’t know enough to take them back because it was my first pair of progressives. So being in front of an optician is no guarantee. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-glasses-online/832500.md?page=1)