I need new glasses, and i have seen some coupons in the paper for discounts on frames, lenses & exams. Plus i am a member of a discount plan that offers single vision lenses for $35 & 45% off the price of frames. However, i have no real comparison to find out how much i would be saving as i have no idea how much a regular set of single vision lenses, frames & an exam costs.
So to anyone who has been, what was charged for an exam, frames & myopic lenses?
Well, in my experience it’s about $100 for an eye exam/glasses fitting/contact fitting, plus about another 100-150 for the glasses/contacts themselves.
So you’re looking at 200-250 bucks, I’d say.
$50 for eye exam, $25 more for contacts exam. eyeglass lens kinda depends on how much correction you will need and if bifocals are needed, my eyes are pretty bad so I tend to get better lens as they are not as thick and are lighter, check an online seller of eyeglasses if you know your current prescription and see what yours would cost
I don’t know how much visiting a doctor elsewhere costs, but I had a contact lens/eyeglasses examination at Costco yesterday, and it cost $80. Technically I went in for just a contact lens prescription, but the glasses prescrip was included.
As for the glasses and contacts, I recall my glasses costing between $150-200. Whether they were from Lenscrafters or Sears or my opthamologist’s shop, they’ve always been in that range. I don’t order any protective lens coatings or bifocals, or any extra stuff, nor do I pick out fancy frames. Contacts have been cheaper, usually less than $150. I wear non-soft and non-disposable lenses, so if you wear soft disposables your cost is likely to be less.
The big ticket item is the frames…I’m sure you’ll find that your coupons say “certain styles only”. Sometimes you can find a pair that looks decent in those “certain styles”, but I’m convinced that eyeglass stores stock up on butt-ugly $75 frames to convince you that the $200 frames are really the better choice.
-lv
It’s been a long time since I spent less than $200 on glasses with lenses. But I have to get the ultralight lenses (my lenses are very thick in the normal weights) and that costs a bit more.
If you can walk out of the store with near 20/20 vision paying only double digits US dollars, you’ve got yourself a deal!!
I can’t believe how much money I’ve spent on opticals during my lifetime… damn eyes!! The cheapest I’ve ever paid was $60, including eye exam + lenses + the UGLIEST FRAMES on the store (this was around 1994).
There have been some eyeglass stores around here running competing sales on exam + lenses + frames. They seem to bottom out at around $69. But let me warn you, not only will you find almost no frames available that are included in the package, but most lenses will require “severe refraction” or some damn term that means they won’t be in the package either. And if you can find lenses and frames that work, the lenses will be the cheapest, most scratch-prone plastic in the world.
My advice, go to Wal-Mart. At least around here, they have all their prices clearly posted. Get a rough idea of the price for a package you like, then shop around.
Just spent $235 at Wal-Mart, so let’s say $215 before sales tax - about $45 for exam, $110 for frames, and $60 for lenses, or something pretty close to that.
Goto the store, find the ones you like, get all the numbers, model number, measurements etc. Buy em online for what probably’ll be half the price. (you can find cheaper places if you look, but this website is particularly well made).
I spent about $250 at Lens Crafters for exam, glasses (with ultralight lenses so they’re not crooked), and sunglasses, but I had some coupons from AAA.
August of 2000 I paid about $400 for exam, regular glasses and sunglasses at Lenscrafters.
I was at Sam’s Club today and they had their exam rates listed at $45. Their cheaper frames were about $57 plus about $60 for lenses. They didn’t have much of a selection for frames for sunglasses they could fit with prescription lenses which bummed me out because I saw a really cool pair of Oakleys that I really wanted.
Think I have the record so far, at $489 a pair - but my lens are kind of complex. Last time I paid $79 for the exam, $110 for the frames (hey, if the lenses are that costly might as well get good frames). So, as you can see, the big cost in my case are the lenses.
You get what you pay for as far as lenses and frames are concerned. My optometrist charges now only $50 due to competition from these discount places. However, the glasses I am now wearing have titanium frames. That together with my lenses, which are transistional (the diopters gradually change to accomodate closer work), also darken with the degree of sunlight (I don’t recall the name for this right now - a senior moment), plus a special type of lens ran the bill to $650. You don’t need transistional or bifocals. You also don’t need the darkening effect. However, scratch resistance is important and there’s an extra price for that. You can get a cheap pair of plastic frames, and the whole ball of wax will be not much over $100. But you get what you pay for. The special type of lens (again, a senior moment - I forgot the name) allows a fairly large refraction in a thin lens that can fit in a thin frame. The titanium frame is very, very thin and light. Lightest frames I’ve ever worn. But they are strong. It has been hit with tennis balls and fallen to the ground without any damage to the lens or frame. My right eye correction is -3 diopters, but you can’t tell by looking at the lens. Both lenses are paper thin.
I just got out of the eye Dr for $340. My wife’s insurance covered all except $25, for the shatter-resistant plastic. Half of me thinks it’s a rip, the other half likes to see.
hrh
Calling IMHO…
$140.57 last september. I think the exam was $40 or $50.
The lenses are high index (thinner for the same prescription) but otherwise normal. Metal frames. Single vision, no astigmatism, -5.75 IIRC.
Brian
wtf? I feel totally ripped off 
I have a $300+ bill here from LensCrafters for lenses (astigmatism + small prism), frames and $70 clip on sunglasses. That’s after a slew of discounts too. I forget how much the Dr. visit was.
sulking
$300+ from LensCrafters? $489? $650?? Egads… This makes my LASIK seem positively frugal at $1200 per eye, never to be spent again, scratched, or sat on.
Last year, I spent $65 at Costco for what was essentially a disposable pair of glasses. Exams there are $40, but I had the Rx from the LASIK surgeon. (After wearing contacts for 18 years, I needed to be without them for two weeks prior to the LASIK procedure so my eyes would be at their natural shape.) At least my partner was able to recycle the frames as a spare pair of glasses.
You are aware that some of us are very poor candidates for LASIK?
With -8.75 diopters for the myopia and astigmatism my lenses are going to cost more than average because they’re a little more complicated to make. Add in the high index lens - well worth it, because the alternative is oozing divots on the side of my nose - UV protection and scratch resistant coating it’s going to cost some money.
Or, I could go to some cheap place, get “almost-right” lenses for a lot less, and put up with eye strain, raging headaches, and a lot of discomfort.
What really hurt was having the eye doc prove to me the photo-gray lenses were screwing up my night vision and I had to get prescriptiion sunglasses (because I couldn’t find clip-ons that would fit over even my high-index lenses)
Sure, I pay about $500 a pair, but I wear these things 16-18 hours a day and a pair of lenses usually lasts me at least 2 years. Heck I know people who spend more on their morning coffee over the course of a year. It’s worth it to have my vision corrected properly and be comfortable.
(And no, I don’t go to Lencrafters. I go to a private optometrist practice)
My optometrist used to be a researcher, so he has all the latest gadgets and gizmos. Quite a change from my previous doc, who gave me my first pair of glasses at age 7 and retired only a few years ago.
Anyway, I pay the new guy about $90 for my annual exam. Lenses (extreme myopia, astigmatism, high index plastic) are $159. I forget how much my current frames cost, but I’ll guess around $200.
When I was a poor college student I tried Shopko (discount retailer in the Midwest, like Kmart). Never again.