The optometrist recommended seamless bifocals. I have a very painful nerve condition in my face (atypical trigeminal neuralgia), so this is what I need with glasses: the lightest weight frames possible- known as ultra light- with the lightest weight lenses possible and automatically darkening lenses so I don’t need the weight of sunglasses. The cheapest frames brought the total to $250 on the site the insurance worked with.
The frames are $20 on the cheap site. Everything else in the cost is the lenses.
As for why I have to buy them online- I don’t want anyone touching my face unless it’s absolutely necessary. The exam was painful enough.
American for-profit healthcare is fucking awesome.
Seamless bifocals=Progressives. I got mine at Zenni Optical for like $145 all in.
Yeah, sorry, that’s what I meant. They used to be called ‘seamless bifocals’ back in the 90s and I still think of them that way.
I always just go to America’s Best. $80 for an eye exam and two pairs of glasses is hard to beat.
As far as I know, that’s not around here. But the eye exam was only $30, so at least the insurance helped there. It would have only been $10, but they said if I gave them an extra $20, they’d do some imaging thing which meant they didn’t have to dilate my eyes. Totally worth an extra $20.
Check out Firmoo, I’ve gotten really cheap prescription glasses on there multiple times.
Never heard of them. I’ll check them out. Thanks.
I got mine for $30, they can make them mute expensive, but for just glasses, it’s perfect.
When I got LASIK I wasn’t allowed to wear contacts for a few weeks before the surgery. I bought the cheapest pair of glasses from Zenni. I had new glasses for $17 + $10 shipping.
If I had to do it again I would have my IPD measured by a proper optometrist first. I just guessed at it and got ones a little too small, so they had a kind of fisheye effect.
Still, for <$30 it was a great bargain
So far my $30 glasses is going strong for 5 years now.
I have bought at least 10 pair from Zenni optical and they were just fine.
I have had less than stellar results with Zenni, ymmv
I bought one pair from them and they were pretty crumby. Also getting the pupillary distance is tricky.
Measuring your own PD is ehhh. You can have the optometrist give you PD at your exam.
Good luck. Then the front of the store won’t get any business.
When I’ve gone to America’s Best for an eye exam, yeah, they were none too happy when I wouldn’t also buy glasses from them, but I got my prescriptions to go. Fuck em. Didn’t have a single problem with the optometrist office in the Target. I’m also pretty sure that the optometry part and the retail frames and lenses part of these stores are at least somewhat separate from each other, business-wise.
The down side of the online “cheap glasses” places is that when your frames show up all bent and twisted, you have to adjust them yourself, and if there’s a problem with the lenses, that’s a whole thing. Buying from a storefront, they’ll handle all that for you. I’m capable of running my plastic frames under hot water to straighten them out and adjust them to my crooked head.
I used them and they were great good-enough glasses.
I second this, but OP says they have special lens needs. That’s what stacks the price.
I got mine with their HD lenses, no-line bifocals with antiglare coating, and the total came to $135 shipped.
While my initial reaction to this was “wholly fuck that’s expensive” I realize that all those modifiers would make it close to a grand at a glasses shop.
Yay the conglomerate that owns glasses production and distribution.
It’s not just the US, Essilor is a virtual monopoly.
That said, my glasses are 50% less online than at a local shop.
Also, thank insurance companies for inflating prices
Essilor monopolizes lenses, Safilo monopolizes frames – neither offer direct sale
Why is it always luxottica
I understand your frustration. This sucks major league. I know a fairly cheep German glasses company who ship worldwide (production for most glasses worldwide is Thailand, that’s where the company gets their products as well). They’ve got a very generous refund policy as well. If you want to, I can pm you their website.
Please do, thank you.
Done under my original comment.
Got it. Thanks!
The international (english) site is: Glasses24.com
Done under my original comment.
Can you please post that here publicly so everyone can benefit?
Can you pm me the link as well?
Unless they hiked up their prices or went out of business in the past 2 years, the link should be grand.
If you need help regarding navigation around the website or how to put in the data for the glasses, please let me know.
I tried bifocals, and they are just not for me. I work on a computer all day, and having to jog my head around in order to have appropriate focus sucks.
So … when I go to get an eye exam, I have them give me two prescriptions. One for distance (driving, movies, whatever), and another for about six inches past arm’s length - how far away my main monitor is. Then I get two pair of glasses online for ~$40 each, and a pair of distance sunglasses for $50.
I like the distance sunglasses better than transitions lenses, because they’re darker than the transitions would ever get. Adding other fancy coatings will certainly increase the price of the lenses, but I think I only did scratch resistant on my regular distance pair, since I’m not doing somersaults while on the computer.
This is what I did through Zenni as well. Only, I intend to get a third pair of glasses. The distance at which you read a computer screen compared to a physical book is very different.
Zenioptical it’s like 75 for every option and I wear them more than the glasses I paid hundreds for
Just to give you a little something:
My glasses cost around 500€ to 700€ per glass (so around 1200€ plus frame) and I have to pay them myself.
I’m honestly not sure which frustrates me more. That teeth and eyes are not considered important enough aspects of health to be covered under normal health insurance. Or the shit insurance that’s available even when you pay for additional policies to cover them.
The lack of coverage of teeth and eyes in standard health insurance is because of dentists and optometrists opting out when insurance was becoming a thing.
IIRC it’s because there isn’t really much of a point to add those to insurance. With health insurance some people will need very expensive treatments but lots of people don’t. It works because you spread the risk over many people. The people who don’t need expensive treatments pay more than they would without insurance, the ones that do need those treatments pay a lot less. Since you don’t know which one of those you will be insurance is a good idea.
With dental and glasses this is not the case. There isn’t too much variation in how much a person will need to spend on those during their lifetime.
If you get additional insurance for either you’ll see that the maximum payouts are pretty much the same as what you pay extra during the same period. You might as well just put the money in a savings account.
There isn’t too much variation in how much a person will need to spend on those during their lifetime.
Presbyopia literally means “old eyes” and the risks of periodontal disease increases roughly linearly with age and closer to exponentially if your a long term nicotine user; to name but one example for each.
They eyes are also often the first place to (outside of specific blood tests that are not routinely run) see signs of diabetes, thyroid disease, and certain types of brain tumors. The mouth is the leading cause of sepsis. So both are important for people of all ages from a preventative medicine standpoint.
This is a preview of America in early November. Everyone seems to have forgotten that all the swing states now have Trump loyalist election officials who campaigned on refusing to allow a Democrat to win.
This is a post about glasses. Are you lost?
Fuckin a I’m lost, sorry.
I buy from glassesshop, I think the cheapest pair is $50 for frame and lenses. I went all in on the thinnest lenses and transitions, I think it was $150.
Target optical does vision tests for $75 IIRC, and I go there to get a prescription that I give to glassesshop and pick up a cheap pair and a nicer pair. Still not free.99, but much cheaper than other routes without insurance.
Okay, I’m going to go against the grain here and say “Don’t go with the really cheap online glasses”.
I used eyebuydirect, Zenni, and a couple of others for many years, and was pretty happy with them, especially for the price. However, one thing I’d always noticed is that they’d wind up being pretty beat up with some large scratches in the coatings, or they’d just fail and start flaking off by around the 1 year mark (I’m pretty hard on my glasses, tbf) and I absolutely had to get new ones. I just kind of accepted that I was very hard on my glasses, and that’s what happens.
However, I started going to Costco just because my insurance wouldn’t cover any of the online places, and the quality of the lenses and coatings are absolutely night and day. I’ve had 10 pairs now (sunglasses and normal lenses), and only had one with a single scratch in the lenses, after having them go flying across a cement floor due to me doing something quite stupid.
I don’t think you need a membership for their optical center either, but I’m not 100% sure.
I’ve had the exact opposite experience. Last time trying glasses at a local place, they hurt my eyes and couldn’t figure out how to adjust them properly. Every pair I’ve purchased on Zenni has lasted multiple years of me sleeping in them or doing contact sports in them. I still have multiple pairs kicking around my house or car as spares.
…you sleep with them on? How?
I don’t know, I have since I was a kid. My eyes are REALLY BAD so I think I just hated waking up blind and disoriented, so I just learned to sleep in them.
I do this quite a bit too. I can fall asleep insanely quickly, so sometimes I’m just chilling on the couch watching something, and then I’m out. Then when I wake up I have to go digging through my couch to figure out where the heck my glasses went
I recently went for glasses and eye exam. Near sighted with astigmatism, and now I need bifocals on top of it. Bifocals with line aren’t common now so doctor suggested progressives. I’m fine with that.
I’m also a special kid who can’t wear polycarbonate lenses because I’m hypersensitive to chromatic aberration. So need Trivex lenses as well. Throw in an anti-glare coating and my cost (with insurance) is like $460.
The sad part is given my needs and how few carry Trivex in my area, I consider it a decent deal.
That’s insane. I’m really sorry to hear it.
Don’t be. I’m fortunate to be able to afford it comfortably, and it’s just part of the cost of living to me. In my 40s now and been wearing glasses since I was 10yo.
I’m just happy I’ll be able to read fine print and see stuff close again without needing to take off my glasses.
Expensive lenses are expensive. My glasses also cost about $350 after insurance covers them. I go for all the expensive lenses and digital lens tech because my prescription is quite strong and it improves quality of life, but my vision could be corrected with the basic stuff.
Maybe your doctor can make the case to your insurance that these are medically necessary to be so lightweight. Otherwise, the improvements are a nicety, not a necessity.
Except in every other Western nation, where they aren’t expensive.
I would say $250 is fairly cheap, in Scandinavia you can easily pay $1000+ for special lenses.
For me the cheapest with okay quality costs $500 for a deal with two pairs from SpecSavers.
You sound very entitled.
Why are medical care/devices less expensive in other places, such as Europe? In large part because taxes are so high. US taxes are relatively low, meaning a different economic system and personal financial planning strategy.
My spouse is from a European nation with high taxes. It’s not all roses there. There are pros and cons to each system.
Also, see the other comment from a Scandinavian person. They seem to contradict your sentiment.
My spouse is from a European nation with high taxes. It’s not all roses there. There are pros and cons to each system.
Cool. I’m thousands of dollars in medical debt. The ‘cons’ I always hear are the long wait times. I’ve had to wait months to get procedures done here in the U.S.
One of the cons is that even with the taxes and long wait times, you often still have to pay a lot.
Besides, I gave a suggestion above about working with your doctor to make the case about medical necessity. Have you tried that?
Edit: medical debt is also dischargeable through bankruptcy, which is not to be undertaken lightly, but may be something for you to consider.
You sure don’t in Canada.
And yes, my case is very medically necessary. Without going into details because plenty of people have heard them way too many times, I’m close to one year without eating any solid foods.
That is on top of the neuralgia, which is mostly dealt with, but still requires me to see a neurologist. She can only see me twice a year. She’s also the only one in town.
Oh, and we have supposedly good insurance.
Cool how you’re comparing that to the U.S. which will have all those costs on top of the care Canadians don’t have to pay for. Not at all dishonest.
