Eyeglasses for Less

Do you need glasses? Not so much meaning "are you in need of corrective lenses?" (you should probably see a doctor if this is an issue), but more "are you in need of a new pair of glasses?" Because if you are, I have a site you should check out.

I bought a pair of glasses online a couple of years back (if you are thoroughly bored, or just new here, you can use the right-side navigation to go back to January 2008 and read the whole saga starting with the post called "Seeing Red"). It went okay, all things considered: the glasses cost half of what I would have paid in a local optometry shop, but Frames Direct did screw up the first time around, forgetting the anti-reflective coating and adding another couple of weeks to the whole process.

Some time later I came across a blog called Glassy Eyes (link over there on the right) dedicated to helping consumers avoid getting ripped off at places like Lenscrafters, a noble mission that I certainly support. Out of curiosity I visited all the sites that Glassy Eyes recommends and links to, and I could not find one pair of glasses, regardless of price, that met my needs in terms of shape, size, and style. Not a single one. Granted, I'm incredibly fussy, but still.

In December I was browsing Frames Direct after receiving an email from them, and I spotted a pair of frames I really liked. They were acetate, in a decidedly retro style. I hadn't had frames that were not metal in over twenty years, so I thought it might be time for a change. But I wanted to see if maybe I could find them for less somewhere else, so I spent some time searching online, and came across another online eyeglass site called CoolFrames.com.

Their total cost on the frames and lenses worked out to about half of what Frames Direct would have charged. It took longer for them to make the glasses (I suspect they order the frames from manufacturers only when a customer orders the glasses from them), but they were optically correct, which is what's most important. (As an added bonus, I now look more like my cartoon avatar up there in the top right corner.)

I'm happy with these glasses, but even so, I find myself wishing I'd had more options. There's the bottom end, represented by places like 39DollarGlasses or EyeBuyDirect; if you just want the cheapest possible glasses, and you aren't too fussy about shape or color, you can do well at sites like those. If you are looking for something more specific, you can take the routes I've used. But it would be great if there was a middle ground of sorts, a place that offered more stylish options at a lower price point.

There's a feature on eyeglasses in the March issue of GQ, and it mentions a new company called Warby Parker. They are taking a very customer-friendly approach to selling glasses online. All styles cost $95, including prescription lenses. If you are not sure what styles will look good on your face, they will send you up to five frames to try on, free of charge. You get a prepaid return label and seven days to send them back. If you decide to order glasses, those will also be free of shipping charges, and they will also include a return label in case anything is not to your liking. If you don't have the details of your prescription, they will contact your eye doctor.

This is all brilliantly simple, and I wish I'd known about them before I ordered my most recent glasses. There's no guarantee they would have what I wanted, but a couple of their styles are pretty close to what I ended up getting. At the moment their selection is a bit limited (currently 19 styles for men, 27 for women) and there's no way to get prescription sunglasses, but I imagine that as time goes by, they will add some new styles and colors.

By the way, I'm not shilling for Warby Parker or anything like that. I don't know them, and they don't know me. I just think this is a good idea that deserves some notice. Everyone likes getting a good deal, and I like sharing good deals with you. I may give them a try at some point anyway, to see if they are as good as they sound.